Gender sensitivity is the act of being sensitive to the ways people think about gender, so that people rely

less on assumptions about traditional and outdated v iews on the roles of men and women. In language and the humanities, gender sensi tivity often gets expressed through people s language choice. People can choose mo re inclusive language that doesn t define gender, and many new words that are gend er neutral have entered languages like English to substitute for more gender spe cific terms. For centuries, many words referring to all people were specifically masculine. T erms like man, and mankind, exclude females. While some people argue that such terms encompass women, it s been argued that true gender sensitivity moves past these t erms to include all and exclude none. Many of the early feminists built this cas e, and it continues to be asserted that gender-exclusive terms have a belittling effect on women. It is further contended by experts in gender sensitivity that use of such terms are by no means innocent, and have a negative cultural effect felt beyond the wo rds. By making women either absent or non-apparent in terms like mankind, they bec ome worth less and society will see them as possessing less value. This societal view in extreme forms is of detriment and corresponds to discrimination and eve n, arguably, things like greater violence against women.In language and the huma nities, this argument is accepted and a number of substitute words like humankind , express the gender sensitivity of the present. In the late 1980s, when Star Tre k: The Next Generation began to air, a noted and more gender sensitive substitut ion differed from the original series. The opening narration changed so that wher e no man has gone before, become where no one has gone before, with a great deal of emphasis on the word one. Some feminists suggest changing basic words with a masculine element to those wi th a specifically feminine element. Terms like herstory have been proposed for hist ory. This substitution lacks gender sensitivity and merely transfers the power fr om masculine to feminine, disregarding the male gender. A common compromise is t o use gender-neutral terms so that males and females are both included. Such terms can be obvious, like fire fighter and police officer, in place of fir eman or policeman. Pronouns are often considered carefully, too, and writers may take several tactics to remain gender neutral. They may oscillate back and fort h between male and female pronouns, use plural pronouns which lack gender bias, or they use terms like one. Being gender sensitive with pronoun choice takes work. At the core of gender sensitivity in language is the goal of stripping away assu mptions about limits of gender, and this benefits men and women. A stay at home parent isn t automatically a mom, but can be a dad too. Such sensitivity from a la nguage basis offers more choice and gives people the opportunity to view each ot her as individuals with different capacities, shedding assumptions about the tra ditional roles men and women may fill. There may be some men that might have a problem with it because they want to be the A Night in shining armor for the women. They want to feel like they are providing for their family and that the women ne eds him. I think that the dynamic of a women earning more money might challenge the status quo and cause friction in a relationship. English is a naturally sexist language. Words like Chairman, manhole, waiter etc . The Chairman is now known as Chairperson so not to offend a lady who might act ually be in charge. So, to use a word like Chairperson instead of Chairman is to be sensitive to the other sex: ie Gender Sensitive. It goes further, though; Gender Sensitive could also mean you refrain from telli ng jokes at the expense of the the opposite gender. If you had to say: "Women ne

ed men like goldfish need electric guitars," that would be offensive to a man an d thus you would not be gender sensitive. Gender sensitizing "is about changing behavior and instilling empathy into the v iews that we hold about our own and the other sex."[1] It helps people in "exami ning their personal attitudes and beliefs and questioning the 'realities' they t hought they know." Gender sensitivity is not about pitting women against men. On the contrary, educ ation that is gender sensitive benefits members of both sexes. It helps them determine which assumptions in matters of gender are valid and which are stereotyped generalizat ions. Gender awareness requires not only intellectual understanding and effort but als o sensitivity and open-mindedness to change one s views and limited perspectives and values. It opens up the widest possible range of life options for both women and men and builds t heir capacities to be more wholesome and humane. Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and buildin g good governance. Women as a group have particular needs which differ from those of me n as a group, not only because of women s triple work role, but also because of their subordinate position to men in most societies. The once mystical women have fallen from being worshipped as goddesses and posse ssors of the mystery of child birth1 to mere child bearers. If females are the o ppressed among humans, perhaps they can take heart from the fact that failing to escape after mating, the male gets eaten by the bigger and stronger female blac k widow spider.2 The strong oppress the weak which is in concordance with the la ws of nature, and the same goes for humans. But humans are supposed to be at l east a cut above the other animals. They are supposed to care for the weak and p rotect them from harm. Women, generally weaker physically than the men, are supp osed to be taken care of by their men. This attitude, while embracing the highes t ideal of humanity is fundamentally wrong in that women are assumed weaker and this assumption extends to not just being weak physically but in all other areas , and sows the seeds of discrimination. It has been a challenge to the humans to figure out a way for two vastly unequal groups to live as equals. We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to rais e our sons more like our daughters. How important it is for us to recognize and ce lebrate our heroes and she-roes! Society tells the woman: You are a Peacemaker. The World is your home, build and keep it Safe. Yet rejects her when she takes Action in War time to Protect, Pre serve and Provide for her Home. Society tells a man: You are a Warrior, the world is yours to Conquer. But never prepares him for 'fall-back' action when that fai ls. I love to be individual, to step beyond gender. When you talk about gender awareness You talk about absolute fairness It s all about peace and equality Divine justice in reality Exploring your self and expanding your vision Listening to your conscience and making decision You learn to conquer as well as to surrender

To celebrate success as well as to accept failure It s all about humanity Living together in tranquillity Where no one is powerless and powerful Its land of beauties Beautiful ! Through female glasses, male behavior looks a certain way, [and visa versa] and sometimes what seems wrong may be simply different. Men [and women] often need f ar more understanding CREDIT: Often credit is available formally only to men because they hold asse ts which are recognised as collateral, such as title to land. Women, who do n ot control land, cannot gain direct access to formal credit. Such patterns arise, again, from institutional and legal determinants. EDUCATION: In many societies, education is more available to boys than to girls. Sometimes this is because there are traditional factors determining girls mobility or their ability to interact with boys or men in public places. Sometimes, eco nomic factors determine that girls are more often required to carry out hou sehold productive tasks than boys are.

There is insufficient awareness insufficient awareness(ofgender(of gender and ot her aspects o fdiversity)amongst affin and other aspects of diversity)gender iss ues are still widely understood as women s issues only. The biological differences between men and women do not normally change; people are either male or female. However, the characteristics they are perceived to ha ve, and the roles and responsibilities assigned to them, differ among societies, cultures, and historical periods. Gender roles are the activities ascribed to men and women on the basis of percei ved differences. "Division of labor" is a term used in gender literature to mean the roles and tasks assigned to women and men on the basis of perceived gender characteristics and attributes, instead of ability and skills. Men's Roles Today, in the world's more industrialized countries there are few lines of demar cation between men's and women's occupations. However, in many less industrializ ed societies men have more visible and recognized roles than women, largely beca use men are paid for their productive work and women are not. In these societies , men's roles usually involve jobs which are assessed and counted in national ce nsuses and accounting systems. Men do not usually perform domestic or household tasks. If they have community management roles, these tend to involve political organiz ation and leadership. Women handle community organization and hands-on activitie s.

Women's Roles Women's roles in most societies fall into three categories: productive (relating to production of goods for consumption or income through work in or outside the home), reproductive (relating to domestic or household tasks associated with cr eating and sustaining children and family), and community management (relating t o tasks and responsibilities carried out for the benefit of the community). Wome n must balance the demands of these three different roles and should be recogniz ed for their contributions. The tasks women usually perform in carrying out their different roles do not gen erally earn them an income. Women are often defined exclusively in terms of thei r reproductive roles, which largely concern activities associated with their rep roductive functions. These reproductive roles, together with their community man agement roles, are perceived as natural. But because these roles do not earn inc ome, they are not recognized and valued as economically productive. Women's cont ributions to national economic development are, therefore, often not quantified and invisible. In many societies, women also carry out productive activities such as maintainin g smallholder agricultural plots in farming systems. These tasks are often not c onsidered work and are often unpaid. Women may also perform many roles which att ract wages in both the formal and informal economic sectors. But women's economi cally productive roles, in contrast to men's, are often undervalued or given relatively little recogniti on. Gender roles and responsibilities vary among cultures and can change over time. For example, in India, unskilled labor is considered "women's work" while in Afr ica it is "men's work." In Europe and the United States, the contribution men ma ke to domestic activities is becoming increasingly important and visible. Gender sensitization against Sexual harassment in campuses is a sine qua non of peaceful and respectful living. Sexual harassment can happen at work places, ins titutions, in the family or on the streets. Even in an enlightened institution l ike a university campus (including the JNU campus), sexual harassment cannot be very uncommon. Bad people are everywhere and often the wolves are in sheep s cloth ing. To sum up, the role of student community in gender sensitization against sexual harassment, its prevention and prohibition is immense. Without the active partic ipation of the students no formal mechanism can succeed in any democracy or camp us administration. Prevention, prohibition and sensitization can be fully achiev ed only through the regular unstinting cooperation and support of the student co mmunity. gender is a social construction consisting of the socially acceptable and prescr ibed roles that men and women are supposed to follow. Gender stereotyping and ge nder roles should also be emphasised upon, how it is difficult for a parent to e ncourage their child to step out of the social mould. Gender roles and how these are incorporated in our lives from the very beginning were discussed. Examples of school textbooks which always show a mother in the kitchen while the father i s with a briefcase. the prevalent inequality in our society was discussed as to how a woman faces op pression and inequality from Womb to Tomb . It was explained how issues like female foeticide, treatment at home and society, domestic violence and little opportun ities provided treat the women differently. The cycle of oppression . The move comes amid a growing national debate on the societal upbringing and edu cation of the nation s boys and what shapes mindsets that have led to increasing c rimes against women.The truth is that in a country where little girls are killed before they are born, it is difficult to feel hope. The fact that we pray for t

he blessings of a hundred sons for young mothers while claiming to be a country th at worships women says it all. We The People are part of the problem It is this honour our society seeks to protect, not individual women. It is time for us as a people to feel the searing shame our society has until now only imposed on its female victims. The men are always placed in a more advantageous position than women in Southand South East Asian region especially in India. Gender, as a determinant of a soci alrelation that legitimizes and sustains men s power over women, is inheritantly a boutrelations between women and men, as well as relations among groups of women andamong groups of men. Across differences of class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age andreligion, one of the few commonalities that men share, as a distinct grou p , is theirgender privilege. Achieving gender equality is not possible without ch anges in men slives as well as in women s. The most painful devaluation of women is the physical and psychological violence that stalks them cradle to grave. The de valuation of women begins even before life begins. Starting from the stage of bi rth, women are discriminatedin areas like access to nutrition, childcare, educat ion and work etc. Circumstances Related to Gender The preference for son over daughter, which isassociated with many socio-cultura l factors and economic reasons. This is the main perpetrator that induces the human being to kill the female child in mother s womb toensure that the child born must be a male one.Selective abortion of female fo etuses with the help of several modern diagnostictools to test the baby in mothe r s womb is the main reason for imbalance in sex ratio.Such practices have become very easy with the increasing availability of ultrasoundtechnology especially in the mid 1980s. Discrimination in EducationGirls are discriminated not only in the womb andchildhood, but while giving her access to education also. The education differencesbetween females and males are among the most significant indicators of genderinequality, as it is one of the most important sources of opportunity in any society.Schools provide entry into other opportunities. Political office, social dominance and jobswith higher stat us and higher pay are nearly associated with higher level of education.But women are not given equal opportunities in education as to the men. Parents in manyco untries including India are more willing to let a daughter than son drop out of school,because they see less value in daughter s education. A son s education in con trast, maybe valued as an investment that will bring his parents higher income i n the future and willensure them a more secure old age. But the experience of ma jority of old people isdifferent. Many well to do people in Old Age homes says t hey are always cheated bytheir sons but not by their daughter In most societies, women s working lives are quite different from those of men.Sex segregation by occupation and gender inequality within the workplace are the co rereasons why women s job often have lower pay and status. Women s working lives are also quite different from those from those of men. Women often put in more work thanmen, bur many of these hours are unpaid or are not counted in official labou r statistics. Women in Indian Society from the beginning sacrifies many ways. Even in themoder n era gender issues like female feoticide, incomplete schooling, discrimination in work prevail in our society. Gender sensitization is the process of changing the stereotype mindset of men an d women- a mindset that strongly believes that men and women are 'unequal entiti es' and hence have to function in different socio economic space. It tends to cr eate a mindset in men that no longer sees women as 'weak and unequal entities' R ather they are seen as responsible and equal parterners. Women's talents and cap abilitities that went unnoticed and unexplored became subject of attention. The message that gender sentisation conveys is loud and clear. Women do posses wisdo m and therefore they should be terated with dignity and given equal chance.

Stating that in the Kumbh Mela there was much talk against cow slaughter but no concern was being aired over attacks on women within and outside the four walls of their homes.One rural Bengali aphorism compares a woman s virtue to a Pandora s b ox-like closed fist that cannot be forced by others but once opened by its owner loses its contents forever. It is to be remembered that in a patriarchal society like India, women are still considered to be primary care-giver. Her nurturing role has been given undue im portance. In such a society equal distribution of household domestic chores betw een couples do not take place. It is true that while women have negotiated with men to work in the public sphere, similar negotiations have not taken place by m en to work in the domestic sphere. As a result women are 'over burdened' with th eir unpaid, unrecognized domestic chores. The energy of a woman gets sucked as she struggles to balance both the public an d the private sphere. It is to be remembered that gender sensitization does not imply male versus female or anti-women. The aim of gender sensitization is to ma ke people aware of the power relation between men and women in society and under stand the social relationship between men and women in a given social context. I t refers to an endeavor to create a balance in social relationships between both men and women in both the public and the private sphere and to understand the i mportance of affording women and men equal opportunities and treatment. It is ne cessary to recognize and sensitize the members of the society to the special nee ds of women and try to understand their perspective.

Let woman or man NOT walk BEHIND or AHEAD of each other but BESIDE each other, f or they were meant to be equals : with MAN - "WO" becomes "woman", and from "WOM AN" - "MAN" came to be. Girls are 50% of the population. We deserve to represent 50% of the heroes. When woman is lost, so is man. The truth is, woman is the window to a man s heart and a man s heart is the gateway to his soul. A society that fails to protect the rights of women is not a free society. - Laura Bush Wherever you find a great man, you will find a great mother or a great wife stand ing behind him -- or so they used to say. It would be interesting to know how ma ny great women have had great fathers and husbands behind them.