Gender and Power

Prepared by: Crizel Potante E4K

Gender and Power

Gender and Power

Gender Refers to the different ways men and women play in society, and to the relative power they wield.

 Power It is a basic fabric of society and is possessed in varying degrees by social actors in diverse social categories individuality of one person or group of people becomes so dominant that freedom for the other is compromised.

Women and children have often been on the abusive side of power

Some causes that are often referred to are:

The greater physical strength that men tend to have creates the imbalance of power between men and women resulting from social structures and historical practices in regard to finances, education, roles of authority and decision making.

 The abuse of power by men and the failure of cultural pressures to prevent such abuse. Distorted view of sexuality and the objectification of the female.

Max Weber

He defined power as the likelihood a person may achieve personal end despite possible resistance from others.

Max Weber
He also considered ways in which power can be achieved through justice. As a group women are at a distinct disadvantage when considering both power and authority.

Determinants of Power status resources experience self- confidence

Males and female have had differing amounts of power a person. By virtue of the males greater ascribed status in society, men have more legitimate power (based on rank or position) than do women.

 The issue of womens power, relative to men, is not merely academic. Gender differences in power have real consequences for women. For example, although women have made significant gains in the workplace, with more women working than in the past and women possessing approximately a third of all management positions, women continue to experience wage discrimination, be excluded from the most powerful executive positions, advance more slowly in their careers and experience fewer benefits from obtaining education or work experience, and are included in fewer networks and exert less authority than men in similar positions.

GENDER AND EDUCATION

GENDER AND EDUCATION

The past decade has witnessed a significant increase in the importance accorded to education, with both instrumental as well as intrinsic arguments made for increasing financial investment and policy attention to education provision.

GENDER AND EDUCATION

Investing in education is seen as one of the fundamental ways in which nation states and their citizens can move toward long term development goals and improve both social and economic standards of living.

GENDER AND EDUCATION

The education of women is seen as providing the key to securing intergenerational transfers of knowledge, and providing the substance of long term gender equality and social change.

GENDER AND EDUCATION

School also reinforce gendered social roles. Researchers have documented the differential treatment accorded males and females in the classrooms that reinforces a sense of inferiority and lack of initiative among female students.

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