LESSON 1: BASIC CONCEPTS OF GENDER
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of the lesson, the student must have:
discussed gender and other gender concepts;
differentiated gender roles as ascribed by the society
understood gender equality and gender bias
Understand gender equality and gender bias.
INTRODUCTION
This lesson explains the concepts of gender and other social
roles that define masculinity and femininity in the society. The
learners will gain an understanding of the gender roles ascribed by
the people around them starting from their own home to the school
and to the community where they belong. They will gain further
knowledge on the gender bias and inequality present in society.
ACTIVITY
Picture Collage. The pictures below speak of different tasks and
roles of men and women in the society. List down the tasks or jobs
done or associated to being a male or female.
Process Question:
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Give your own reaction. Do you think those roles and traits are
confined only to them or can be acted upon or done by their
opposite sex? Why
ANALYSIS
1. What do you feel when your opposite sex will do the things
you are doing?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________
2. Is friendship with opposite gender is different from your
friendship with the same gender? How and Why?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________
3. Do you change your actions and activities when you’re in
the presence of the other gender? How and Why?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________
ABSTRACTION
What is Gender?
Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and
women that are created in our families, our societies and our
cultures
(UNESCO, 2003). The concept of gender also includes the
expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely
behaviors of both women and men. The word “gender” came into
common use as an alternative to the word “sex” in the United
States in the 1970s (Krieger, 2003). Using the word “gender” was
a way for researchers and activists to counter the belief that our
masculinity and femininity were biologically determined. The term
“gender” distinguishes the set of learned expectations, behavior
and attitudes about being a man or a woman from our biologically
determined traits – collectively termed “our sex”.
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Sex and Gender
Other Gender Concepts
Gender Identity – is how you feel inside and how you express
your gender through clothing, behavior and personal
appearance. It’s a feeling that begins very early in life. Your
gender identity is how you feel inside and how you express those
feelings. Most people feel that they’re either male or female.
Some people feel like a masculine female, or a feminine male.
Some people feel neither male nor female.
Gender Roles – are expectations society and people have about
behaviors, thoughts, and characteristics that go along with the
person’s assigned sex. Our society has a set of ideas about how
we expect menand women to dress, behave, and present
themselves.For example, girls and women are generally
expected to dress in typically feminine ways and be polite,
accommodating, and nurturing. Men are generally expected to
be strong, aggressive, and bold. From an early age we have a
clear idea of gender roles which include what things we like,
behaviors and choices that are associated with being male or
female. We then conform to those roles and identify with them.
These ideas come from all sorts of sources – our families, school,
the media, and what we see in our world. Parents even speak
differently to baby boys and girls and our cultural beliefs re-
enforce what is seen to be acceptable behavior of males or
females.
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Gender Gap – is the difference in any area between women
and men in terms of their level of participation, access to
resources, rights, power and influence, remuneration and
benefits. Of particular relevance related to women’s work is the
“gender pay gap”, describing the difference between the
average earnings of men and women.
Gender Stereotype – is a widely accepted judgment or bias
about a person or a group – eventhough it’s overly simplified
and not always accurate. Stereotypes about gender can cause
unequal and unfair treatment because of a person’s gender.
There are four basic kinds of gender stereotypes:
- Personality traits – for example, women are often expected to
be accommodating and emotional, while men are usually
expected to be self-confident and aggressive.
- Domestic behaviors – for example, some people expect that
women will take care of the children, cook, and clean the
home, while men take care of finances, work on the car, and
do the home repairs.
- Occupations — some people are quick to assume that
teachers and nurses are women, and that pilots, doctors, and
engineers are men.
- Physical appearance — For example, women are expected to
be thin and graceful, while men are expected to be tall and
muscular. Men and women are also expected to dress and
groom in ways that are stereotypical to their gender (men
wearingpants and short hairstyles, women wearing dresses
and make-up.
Masculinity – (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of
attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with boys and men.
As a social construct, it is distinct from the definition of
the male biological sex. Standards of manliness or masculinity
vary across different cultures and historical periods. Both males
and females can exhibit masculine traits and behavior.
Femininity – is a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally
associated with girls and women. It is a socially constructed, but
made up of both socially-defined and biologically-created factors
(Martin, 2010).
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Gender Equity is the process of allocating resources, programs
and decision-making fairly to both males and females. Ensuring
that everyone has access to a full range of opportunities to
achieve the social, psychological and physical benefits that
come from participating and leading in sport and physical
activity. It does not necessarily mean making the same
programs and facilities available to both males and females.
Gender equity requires that girls and women be provided with a
full range of activity and program choices that meet their needs,
interests and experiences. Therefore, some activities may be
the same as those offered to boys and men, some may be
altered, and some may be altogether different.
Gender Equality – means that men and women have equal
conditions for realizing their full human rights and for
contributing to, and benefiting from, economic, social, cultural
and political development. Gender equality is therefore the
equal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of
men and women, and the roles they play. It is based on men
and women being full partners in their home, their community,
and their society.
Gender Analysis – the study of differences in the conditions,
needs, participation rates, access to resources and
development, control of assets, decision-making powers, etc.,
between women and men in their assigned gender roles.
Gender Awareness – the recognition of the fact that life
experience, expectations and needs of women and men are
different, that they often involve inequality and are subject to
change.
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Application& Assessment
Venn diagram.List down in the diagram below the social roles
attributed of being a male and a female and list also roles that can
be performed both by a male and a female. Answer the questions
that follow.
1. How do you feel when the social roles you are performing is
being done by your opposite sex?
2. Do you feel awkward doing the roles of your opposite sex?
Why?
References
Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. ISBN 978-1-4419-1695-2.
Gender, Women and Health: What do we mean by "sex" and "gender"?". World Health
Organization. 2014
Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming
(2017)http://www.ekvilib.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/01_Gender_Concepts.p
df
Martin, H. (2010). Masculinity and Femininity in the MMPI-2 and MMPI-A. University of
Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-2445-3.
Udry, R. (1994). "The Nature of Gender" Demography. 31 (4): 561–
573. doi:10.2307/2061790. JSTOR 2061790. PMID 7890091
UNESCO’s Gender Mainstreaming Implementation Framework (2003)
Winjngaard, M. (1997). Reinventing the sexes: the biomedical construction of
femininity and masculinity. Race, gender, and Science. Indiana University
Press. ISBN 0-253-21087-9.
What is Gender Equity? https://www.caaws.ca/gender-equity-101/what-is-gender-
equity/
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https://othersociologist.com/sociology-of-gender/
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