GNED 10 – Gender and Society

Difference between Sex and Gender What is GENDER ROLE?

SEX GENDER – is a learned behaviors in a given society or community of
- is biological - refers to differentiated social groups and
characteristics of being a roles, attitudes and – influenced by perceptions and expectations
female or a male. values – arising from cultural, economic, environmental, social and
- Physical attributes - assigned by culture and
religious factors
pertaining to a person’s society to women and
body contours, features, men Women Men
hormones, genes, - refers to expectation  cooking  leader
chromosomes and held about the  childcare  providing income for the
reproductive organs. characteristics,  housekeeping family
- generally permanent aptitudes, and likely
- universal behaviors of both Institutions that Affect gender Role Socialization
- categorize as male and women and men. (5 Agents of Socialization)
female - socially constructed 1. Family – child-rearing as mechanism of gender role
- attributes are equally - changing, time and socialization
valued place bound
 Manipulation – boys and girls are treated and
- present in both women
and men handled differently
- categorize as feminine  Canalization – children’s attention is focused on
and masculine gender-appropriate objects
- attributes are marked  Verbal Appellation – words used to boys and
by inequality
girls to tell them what they are and what are
expected of them
Primary Sex Characteristics refers to the sexual and
 Activity Exposure – children are exposed to
reproductive organs.
gender-appropriate
Women = uterus, ovary (estrogen and
2. School – schools can magnify or diminish gender
progesterone), ovum, fallopian tubes, cervix, vagina,
differences by providing environments that promote
clitoris, etc. !WOMEN CAN BECOME PREGNANT!
within-gender similarity and between-gender
Men = penis, testes (androgen and testosterone),
differences or the inverse
scrotum, sperm, vas deferens, etc.
3. Religion – is a powerful social institution that shape
Secondary Sex Characteristics refers to stage of growth and
the concept of gender in society
development (puberty).
4. Mass Media – projects social expectations and
Women Men
promotes gender stereotypes (e.g. endorsement,
 development of the  the body become more
breast muscular social media)
 pelvic widens & hips  shoulder & chest 5. Society – culture, traditions and even language
broaden become broader shape expectations among women and men as well
 voice deepens slightly  adam’s apple grows as people’s gender ideology
 hair grown under the  vocal cord enlarge Gender Ideology affects the ways people view gender. The
arms & in the pelvic  underarm, pubic hair &
end goal is for people to reshape gender perspectives and
region hair on the face, chest &
 ovaries start to function shoulders star to grow realize that gender norms may be transformed
 regular menstruation  penis & testes enlarge
 testes begins to make What is GENDER STEREOTYPING? – it can be defined as the
sperm overgeneralization of characteristics or differences or
attributes of a certain group based on their sex.
What is SEX ROLES? – is a function in which a male or female
assumes because of the basic psychological or anatomical GENDER STEREOTYPE – a form of prejudgment, bias or
difference between sexes. limitation given to roles and expectations of males and
Female Male females
 child-bearing  ovum fertilization
 lactation  produces spermatozoa
 gestation which determine child’s
sex
GNED 10 – Gender and Society
Gender involves the differentiations attributed by a given FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE
culture to women and men, in the following aspects: Feminism – is a theory that men and women should be equal
1. Physical Appearance politically, economically and socially
Women Men Branches:
 Should be slim and short  Should be tall, stout,  Cultural Feminism – theory that there are
compared to men with broad shoulder, fundamental personality differences between men
 Expected to grow hair wide chest
and women, and that women’s differences are
 Expected with short hair
special and should be celebrated. This theory of
2. Social roles – “women should follow the rules and men
feminism supports the notion that there are
should govern”
biological differences between men and women. For
Women Men
example, “women are kinder and more gentle than
 Takes care of the house  Provides financially for
and children the family men,” leading to the mentality that if women ruled
 Works as nurse, teacher,  Works as managers, the world there would be no wars.
secretary construction builders,  Ecofeminism – a theory that rests on the basic
 Portrayed as followers engineers principal that patriarchal philosophies are harmful to
 Portrayed as leaders women, children, and other living things. They feel
3. Capacities
that the patriarchal philosophy emphasizes the need
Women Men
to dominate and control unruly females and the
 Good in arts and less  Good in math and
unruly wilderness.
intellectual pursuits science
 Physically weaker and  Physically strong  Material Feminism – a movement began in the late
fragile  Firm decision-makers 19th century focused on liberating by improving their
 Wishy-washy or fickle material condition. This movement revolved around
minded in decision- taking the “burden” off women in regards to
making housework, cooking, and other traditional female
4. Traits and Characteristics
domestic jobs.
Women Men
 Amazon Feminism – focuses on physical equality
 Passive  active
and is opposed to gender role stereotypes and
 Loving  aloof
 Peaceful  aggressive discrimination against women based on assumptions
 Dependent  independent that women are supposed to be, look, or behave as
 fearful  brave if they are passive, weak and physically helpless.
Amazon feminism rejects the idea that certain
TYPES OF STEREOTYPES: characteristics or interest are inherently masculine
1. Masculinity – refers to the behaviors, attributes, (or feminine), and upholds and explores a vision of
attitudes, norms, hierarchy of values, manners, heroic womanhood. This tends to view that all
occupations, social rules and relations associated with women are as physically capable as all men.
men within a particular society.
2. Feminity – refers to the behaviors, attributes, attitudes, “ANTI-VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN
norms, hierarchy of values, manners, occupations, social R.A 9262 OF 2004” – refers to any act or a series of acts
rules and relations associated with girls or women within committed by any person against a woman who is his wife,
a particular society. former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has
Women Men or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a
 Weaker, less  More tolerant, common child, or against her child whether legitimate or
competitive, less acceptable, tough, etc. illegitimate, within or without the family abode.
adaptable to harsh  More aggressive,
environment etc. dominant, etc.
 Shy, passive, submissive  Expected to be usually Types of Violence:
 Expected to be more lazy, messy, etc. 1. Physical violence – refers to acts that include bodily
concerned about or physical harm.
cleanliness 2. Sexual violence – refers to an act which is sexual in
nature, committed against a woman or her child.
GNED 10 – Gender and Society
3. Psychological violence – refers to acts or omissions
causing or likely to cause mental or emotional
suffering of the victim such as but not limited to
intimidation, harassment, stalking, damage to
property, public ridicule or humiliation, repeated
verbal abuse and mental infidelity. It includes
causing or allowing the victim to witness physical,
sexual or psychological abuse of a member of the
family to which the victim belongs, or to witness
pornography in any form.
4. Economic abuse – refers to acts that make or
attempt to make a woman financially dependent
Children – defined under RA no. 7610 as those below 18
years of age or older but are incapable of taking care of
themselves.
How to Apply for a Protection Order?
- Must be in writing, signed and verified under oath by the
applicant
- May be filed as independent action or as incidental relief
in any civil or criminal case the subject matter or issues
thereof partakes of a violence as described in this act
- Standard protection order application form, written in
English with translation to the major local languages,
shall be made available to facilitate applications for
protections order, and shall contain, among other
PROTECTION ORDERS
 Barangay Protection Order (BPO) – issued by the Punong
Barangay ordering the perpetrator to desist from
committing acts under Sec. 5 (a) and (b) of this Act. This
shall be effective for 15 days.
 Temporary Protection Order (TPO) – issued by the court
on the date of filing of the application after ex parte
determination that such order should be issued. A court
may grant in a TPO any, some or all of the reliefs
mentioned in this Act and shall be effective for 30 days.
 Permanent Protection Order (PPO) – issued by the court
after notice and hearing
WID to GAD History:
- In the last four decade, three development paradigms
(WID-WAD-GAD) have offered explanations why women
have not fully benefited from development, just as much
as men.
- Origin of development:
1940 = WWII, women took over industries as men were
sent to war.
= after the war, soldiers returned and assumed
work in the industries as supervisors and managers;
rewarded with higher posts and better salaries
- United Nation was created on October 24, 1945 in
Geneva, Switzerland, to ensure international order and
prevent another world war.
- 1945 = equality between women and men started
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) = adopted
in Paris, France on December 10, 1948; a roadmap
needed by UN to guarantee the rights of individuals
everywhere
WID – Women in Development
- Started in 1970s with 1975 Int’l Women’s year and 1976-
1985 as the United Nations Decade on women
- About the first-world countries (America, Canada,
Europe)
- Problem: women do not participate instead they focus
only on their productive roles in home
- Advocates that women, who constitute half of the
productive force, cannot be excluded from the
development process. They need to be included for a
more efficient, more effective development process.
- Projects focusing on women were developed, but WID
projects involved only women participants and
beneficiaries and eventually the project failed
- Result: women continued to be marginzalized
WAD – Women and Development
- Emerged in the 2nd half of 1970s
- Focused on the third-world countries (Latin America,
Asia, Africa)
- Began to examine the relationship between men and
women and the role of the both development process
- Focused on productive and income generating projects
to involve women in development
- Problem: WAD approach tended to lump women’s
concerns together without consideration of class, race
orethnicity
Analysis:
Both WID and WAD were less successful in improving
the overall situation of women. While both approaches
promoted the visibility of women in development, both also
failed to adequately consider the inequalities between men
and women.
GNED 10 – Gender and Society
GAD – Gender and Development
- Originate in the early 1980s as a tragic response to the
limitation of WID and WAD approaches to improve the
status of women (does not focus only on women)
- a development perspective anchored on right-based and
people-centered development (recognizes the legitimacy
of gender equality as a fundamental value that should be
rejected in developmental choices)
- Focuses on social, economic, political and cultural factors
that determine how differently women and men
participate in benefit, from, and control resource and
activities
- Shifts the focus from the need to include women in
development to examination of socially determined
relations between women and men

Philippine Commission on Women (PCW)

- Policy-making and coordination body on women and
gender equality concerns
- Aug. 14, 2009 = PCW
- Jan. 7, 1974 = NCRFW (Nat’l Commission on the Role of
Filipino Women)
- Expanded by the enactment of RA 9710, aka Magna
Carta of Women (MCW)

Article II of UDHR:
“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth in this declaration, without distinction of any kind,
such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status.”