GENDER

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GENDER US

• Dr. Saman Y. Khan

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Definitions

• Sex biological concept
• Gender
• It is widely held that while one's sex is
  determined by anatomy, the concepts of
  "gender"--the traits that constitute masculinity
  and femininity--are largely, if not entirely,
  cultural constructs, effected by the omnipresent
  patriarchal biases of our civilization.
• The masculine in this fashion has come to be
  identified as active, dominating, adventurous,
  rational, creative the feminine, by systematic
  opposition to such traits, has come to be
  identified as passive, acquiescent, timid,
  emotional, and conventional

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Or GENDER

• is s social concept and it means the socially and
  culturally prescribed roles that men and women
  are expected to follow

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According to
Gerda Lerner in The Creation of Patriarchy
(p.238), gender is the "costume, a mask, a
straitjacket in which men and women dance their
unequal dance"
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Introduction

• Gender, the sex-role identity used by humans to
  emphasize the distinctions between males and
  females
• The words gender and sex are often used
  interchangeably, but sex relates specifically to
  the biological, physical characteristics which
  make a person male or female at birth, whereas
  gender refers to the behaviour associated with
  members of that sex

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Role recognition

• By the age of three, children tend to be aware of
  their gender they are encouraged to prefer the
  games, clothing, modes of speech, and other
  aspects of culture usually assigned to their sex
• Even as babies, boys and girls are treated
  differently from one another boys are seldom
  dressed in pink as it is considered to be a
  "feminine" color
• So even at an age at which male and female
  behaviour is indistinguishable it is seen as
  important that the child's sex is not mistaken

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Typical roles

• Stereotypical sex-associated behaviour such as
  male aggression and female passivity is derived
  at least partly from roles which are taught
  during childhood
• males are told "boys don't cry" and are given
  guns and cars as toys girls are given dolls and
  playhouses so they can mimic the traditional
  female home-making role

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Socialization Sexism

• Because gender roles vary from culture to
  culture, it appears that many of the behavioral
  differences between males and females are caused
  by socialization
• Sexism is a set of attitudes and behaviors
  towards people that judge or belittle them on the
  basis of their gender, or
• that perpetuate stereotypical assumptions about
  gender roles

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Traditional rights

• Traditionally, rights to property and nationality
  pass through the male line, with the result that
  women's legal status is generally inferior to
  that of men
• until the 20th century, women had no voting
  rights, limited rights to property, and were, in
  most respects, subject entirely to their fathers
  or husbands

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Inequality resulting from gender

• Women have lower status than men, but the extent
  of the gap between the sexes varies across
  cultures and time
• In 1980, the United Nations summed up the burden
  of this inequality Women, who comprise half the
  world's population, do two thirds of the world's
  work, earn one tenth of the world's income and
  own one hundredth of the world's property

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Result of the inequality

• Personal Image
• Educational attainment
• Income generation
• Skills accumulation
• Family ties
• Resources
• Crime
• Ottheeerss.

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Womens struggle

• Womens struggle, through out the world, has been
  to remove this inequality and bring merit and
  reward closer to each other particularly in
  WOMENS own lives
• The struggle for equal rights BEGINS here and
  feminism is born

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History of feminist movement

• First discernibly arose in Europe in the late
  18th century
• In 1975 the United Nations launched a Decade for
  Women programme, and major conferences were held
  in 1975, 1980, and 1985, and again in 1995
• The 1995 conference, held in Beijing, China,
  centered on human-rights issues relating
  specifically to women

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The Feminist movement

• This was struggle by women all over the world
• To campaign to obtain political, social, and
  economic equality between women and men
• Among the equal rights campaigned for are control
  of personal property, equality of opportunity in
  education and employment, equal suffrage (that
  is, the right to vote), and equality of sexual
  freedom

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Gains Womens suffrage

• Gained is the right of women to share on equal
  terms with men the political privileges afforded
  by representative government and, more
  particularly, to vote in elections and
  referendums and to hold public office
• Women who attained national leadership posts in
  modern times include prime ministers Golda Meir
  (Israel), Indira Gandhi (India), and Benazir
  Bhutto (Pakistan) and President Corazon Aquino of
  the Philippines (all Asians)

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Gains 2

• equal legal rights
• expanded access to jobs and other economic
  resources
• a voice in government policies
• shared responsibility by men for household work
  and child care

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GAINS/3

• Increasingly, girls take on games previously
  associated with boysbut the reverse is still
  less in evidence
• Similarly, many boys and girls tend to excel only
  in the areas of study traditionally attributed to
  their sex, and this may partly explain male
  dominance in many fields such as science and
  engineering

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Therefore

• Although most women throughout the world had
  gained many rights according to law, in fact
  complete political, economic, and social equality
  with men remains to be achieved

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Current Movements focus

• The movement falls broadly into three strands
• exploration of solidarity and consciousness-raisin
  g, which facilitates the assessment of political
  and social position
• campaigning on public issues, such as abortion,
  equal pay, childcare, and domestic violence and
• the academic discipline of women's studies, which
  attempts to provide a theoretical analysis of the
  movement

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WID VERSUS GAD

• The philosophical debate in the movement
• Its practical push
• Its link to sustainable development
• Link to Millennium Development goals

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Women in Development (WID)

• Fulfilling practical needs and
• Part of the initial womens movement
• Practical needs are identifiable by
• Tend to be immediate and short-term   
• Are unique to particular women and men    
• Involve women and men as beneficiaries rather
  than active participants.
• Are easily identifiable by women and men
• Can generally be addresses without changing
  traditional gender role

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But argued by WID advocates that

• The benefits of development had not reached
  women
• In some economic sectors womens position was
  undermined
• So women MUST be integrated into the design and
  implementation of development programs through
  legal and administrative change

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So

• Although WID improved opportunities for women but
  not the power sharing
• So for gender and development to move further
• And link with sustainable development
• Empowerment is needed

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Strategic needs are

• Are long-term
• Are common to almost all women and men
• Involve women as agents, or enable women to
  become agents
• Relate to womens disadvantaged position in
  society, subordination, lack of resources and
  education, vulnerability to poverty and violence.
  
• Are not easily identified by women and men
• Can empower women and transform gender relation

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Empowerment

• Empowerment may be defined as
• A process through which women and men in
  disadvantaged positions increase their access to
  knowledge, resources, decision-making power, and
  raise their awareness of participation in their
  communities, in order to reach a level of control
  over their own environment

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Gender analysis

• In order to insure that both practical needs and
  strategic interests are being met for all people
  in a community it is important to gather
  information.
• This information is commonly referred to as a
  Gender Analysis
• The information collected should come from the
  first person
• Information gathered second or third hand becomes
  less and less valuable

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3 steps

• Who does what
• Who has access to resources
• Who has control over the resources
• If practical needs and strategic interests are
  not being met one can usually determine why not
  after answering the above 3 questions

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Or

• The
• Activity Profile
• Access and Control Profile
• Influencing Factors Profile

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Emphasis

• In development programmes, the effort is for
  bring women out of the women and children
  category (social welfare) into that of productive
  workers whose contribution is regained formally
• There is global overwork of women (2/3rd of all)
• And global under rewards (10 of income and 1
  of property)

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Millennium development goals

• 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• 2. Achieve universal primary education
• 3. Promote gender equality and womens
  empowerment
• 4. Reduce child mortality
• 5. Improve maternal health
• 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• 7. Ensure environmental sustainability
• 8. Develop a global partnership for development

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Enough ?

• For women advocates, the MDGs are a set of
  minimal goals that are necessary, but not
  sufficient, for human development
• They do not represent full vision of gender
  equity, equality and womens empowerment or
  poverty eradication and structural transformation
  envisaged in UN conferences and human rights
  instruments
• Nor do they reflect the broad, universal reach of
  these commitments but only the most basic
  requirements of the Least Developed Countries

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Nonetheless

• The time-bound targets offer an avenue of
  engagement to women advocates monitoring the
  implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action
  and other key international policy agreements of
  the 1990s

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Accountability

• Advocates for gender equality and womens
  empowerment can play an important role in holding
  their governments accountable for reaching the
  Millennium Development Goals. Make gender
  equality central, not only to goals 1, 3, and 7
  on poverty eradication, gender equality, and
  environmental sustainability, but to all eight
  goals

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Black feminism

• Gender related to race
• Men are not the enemy
• Paid work site of contradiction rather then
  freedom
• Family is not the primary place of oppression
• Black feminist have highlighted the phrase
  personal is political

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• In the IMF and World Bank, the Board of Governors
  is made up of senior economic government
  officials, such as Ministers of Finance and
  Central Bank heads, with each member country
  represented. The Board of Directors is the chief
  decision-making body within each of the IMF and
  World Bank. In practice, the Board of Directors
  delegated powers make it the primary
  policy-making body in each organization.

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Change

• Conflict is inevitable whenever a change is being
  promoted. Men will invariable feel as though
  power is being taken away from them when women
  start to be included in the upper levels of the
  Womens Empowerment Framework
• Women may be resistant to change due to the
  conflict it will bring. They may be afraid of
  violence in the home as a result of the change

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Backlash

• In the 1990s, the women's movement has been
  examining the possibility that Western society is
  demonstrating a so-called post-feminist backlash
  against legal and social gains made by women.
  on how gains previously made as a result of the
  feminist movement are now being eroded.
• This is thought to be exemplified by recent
  opposition, especially in the United States, to,
  for example, abortion

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Conclusion

• From search engines, some key search words to use
  to get more information on this topic
  aregender and developmentwomen and
  healthsustainable human developmentwomen in
  developmenthuman rightsUnited
  NationsOXFAMCEDPAUNICEF

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Thank you