Gender Concept

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Gender Symbol
Female (left), Male (right). From symbols for
Venus and Mars.
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Gender Concept

• Gender, in common usage, refers to the
  differences between men and women.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that gender
  identity is "an individual's self-conception as
  being male or female, as distinguished from
  actual biological sex."
• Historically, feminism has posited gender roles
  to be socially constructed, independent of any
  biological basis.
• Many languages have a system of grammatical
  gender.
• The word gender in English means kind.
• In Modern French word genre (type, kind) and the
  Greek root gen- (to produce), appearing in gene,
  genesis and oxygen.
• As a verb, it means breed in the King James
  Bible.
• The first edition of the Oxford English
  Dictionary (OED1, Volume 4,1900) notes that
  original meaning of gender as 'kind' is already
  obsolete.
• Gender masculinity or femininity. The use of
  gender to refer to masculimity and feminity as
  types is consided in Modern English from about
  14th century.

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Gender Concept

• Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, used the terms
  masculine, feminine, and neuter to classify
  nouns, introducing grammatical gender. Gender
  became attested more widely in context of grammar
  than in making sexual distinction.
• Gender sexual stereotype. Over 1970s, feminist
  movement took the word gender into their own
  usage to describe their theory of human nature.
• Earlier gender was used consistent with English
  and its derivation of the root.
• By the end of the decade, consensus was achieved
  in both theory and terminology. The theory was
  that human nature is essentially epicene (stage
  of loss of gender distinction) and social
  distinctions based on sex are arbitrarily
  constructed. Matters pertaining to this
  theoretical process of social construction were
  labelled as matters of gender.

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Gender Concept

• Biology of Gender became subject of studies over
  the late 20th century. One of the earliest areas
  of interest was Gender Identity Disorder (GID).
• The term "gender role" appeared in print first in
  1955.
• The term "gender identity" was used in a press
  release, November 21, 1966, to announce the new
  clinic for transsexuals at The Johns Hopkins
  Hospital. It was disseminated in the media
  worldwide and soon entered the vernacular
  (language or dialect).
• The definitions of gender and gender identity
  vary on a doctrinal basis. Popularized and
  Scientifically debased usages are
• Sex is what you are biologically
• Gender is what you become socially
• Gender Identity is your own sense or conviction
  of maleness or femaleness and
• Gender role is the cultural stereotype of what is
  masculine and feminine.
• Causality to gender identity disorder might be
  subdivided into genetic, prenatal hormonal,
  postnatal social, and post-pubertal hormonal
  determinants, etc. There is no comprehensive and
  detailed theory of causality.
• Gender coding in the brain is bipolar.
• In gender identity disorder, there is discordancy
  between the natal (birth) sex of one's external
  genitalia and the brain coding of one's gender as
  masculine or feminine.

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Gender and Social Categories
Freedom from traditional U.S. female Gender Roles
during World War II
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Gender and Social Categories

• John Money termed gender role in 1955
• "The term gender role is used to signify all
  those things that a person says or does to
  disclose himself or herself as having the status
  of boy or man, girl or woman, respectively. It
  includes, but is not restricted to, sexuality in
  the sense of eroticism."
• Elements of gender role include clothing, speech
  patterns, movement, occupations and other factors
  not limited to biological sex.
• Social aspects of gender can normally be presumed
  to be the ones of interest in sociology. So, as
  closely related disciplines, gender role is often
  abbreviated to gender in literature, without
  leading to any ambiguity in that context.
• Most societies have only two distinct gender
  roles male and female and these correspond
  with biological sex.
• However, some societies explicitly incorporate
  people who adopt the gender role opposite to
  their biological sex, for example the Two Spirit
  people of some indigenous American peoples.
• In sociological terms they comprise a third
  gender, more or less distinct from biological sex
  (sometimes the basis for the role does include
  intersexuality or incorporates eunachs. One such
  gender role is that adopted by Hizras of India
  and Pakistan. The Bugis people of Sulawesi,
  Indonesia have a tradition incorporating all of
  the features above. Joan Roughgarden argues that
  in some non-human animal species, there can also
  be said to be more than two genders, in that
  there might be multiple templates for behavior
  available to individual organisms with a given
  biological sex.

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Gender and Social Categories

• Dynamics of societies mentioned above prompted
  debate over the extent to which differences in
  male and female gender roles are learned
  socially, or reflect biology.
• Social constructionists argued that gender roles
  are entirely arbitrary, and biological
  preferences and aptitudes are irrelevant.
• Social constructionism essentialists (the view
  that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a
  set of characteristics all of which any entity of
  that kind must have) argued that gender roles are
  entirely determined by biology, unmodified by
  social adaptations.
• Both are now rare in the peer reviewed literature
  published by SSSS Society for the Scientific
  Study of Sexuality).
• Contemporary sociological reference to male and
  female gender roles typically uses masculinities
  and femininities in the plural rather than
  singular, suggesting diversity both within
  cultures as well as across them.

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Feminism and Gender Studies

• The philosopher and feminist Simone de Beauvoir
  applied existentialism to women's experience of
  life "One is not born a woman, one becomes one.
  In context, this is a philosophical statement,
  however, it is true biologically a girl must
  pass puberty to become a woman and true
  sociologically mature relating in social
  contexts is learned, not instinctive.
• Within feminist theory, terminology for gender
  issues developed over the 1970s. In the 1974
  edition of Masculine/Feminine or Human, the
  author uses "innate gender" and "learned sex
  roles",but in the 1978 edition, the use of sex
  and gender is reversed. By 1980, most feminist
  writings had agreed on using gender only for
  socioculturally adapted traits. Trait theory is
  an approach to personality theory in psychology.
  
• In gender studies the term gender is used to
  refer to proposed social and cultural
  constructions of masculinities and femininities.
  In this context, gender explicitly excludes
  reference to biological differences, to focus on
  cultural differences. This emerged from a number
  of different areas in sociology during the
  1950s from the theories of the psychoanalyst
  and in the work of feminists.

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Feminism and Gender Studies

• A person's sex as male or female has legal
  significance sex is indicated on government
  documents, and laws provide differently for men
  and women. Many pension systems have different
  retirement ages for men or women. Marriage is
  usually only available to opposite-sex couples.
• The question then arises as to what legally
  determines whether someone is male or female. In
  most cases this can appear obvious, but the
  matter is complicated for transgender people.
• Different jurisdictions have adopted different
  answers to this question. Almost all countries
  permit changes of legal gender status in cases of
  intersexualism, when the gender assignment made
  at birth is determined upon further investigation
  to be biologically inaccurate.
• Gneder Assignment, when there are indications
  that genital sex might not be decisive in a
  particular case, is normally not defined by a
  single definition, but by a combination of
  conditions, including chromosomes and gonads.
  Thus, for example, in many jurisdictions a person
  with XY chromosomes but female gonads could be
  recognised as female at birth.

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Gender and Development

• Gender, and particularly the role of women is
  widely recognized as vitally important to
  internationalm development issues. This often
  means a focus on gender-equality, ensuring
  participation, but includes an understanding of
  the different roles and expectation of the
  genders within the community.
• Directly addressing inequality, attention to
  gender issues is regarded as important to the
  success of development programs, for all
  participants. For example, in microfinance it is
  common to target women, as besides the fact that
  women tend to be over-represented in the poorest
  segments of the population, they are also
  regarded as more reliable at repaying the loans.
  Also, it is claimed that women are more likely to
  use the money for the benefit of their families.
• Some organizations working in developing
  countries and in the development field have
  incorporated advocacy and empowerment for women
  into their work.

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Gender and God

• In Taoism, Yin and Yang are considered feminine
  and masculine, respectively.
• In Christianity and Islamism, God is described in
  masculine terms.
• In theKabbalh (Jewish mysticism) the Shekhinah
  represents the feminine aspect of God's essence.

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Gender and God

• In Hinduism
• One of the several forms of the Hindu God Shiva,
  is Ardhanarishwar (literally half-female God).
  Here Shiva manifests himself so that the left
  half is Female and the right half is Male. The
  left represents Shakti (energy, power) in the
  form of Goddess Parvati (otherwise his consort)
  and the right half Shiva. Whereas Parvati is the
  cause of arousal of Kama (desires), Shiva is the
  killer. Shiva is pervaded by the power of Parvati
  and Parvati is pervaded by the power of Shiva.
• This mythology projects the inherent view in
  ancient Hinduism, that each human carries within
  himself both male and female components, which
  are forces rather than sexes, and it is the
  harmony between the creative and the
  annihilative, the strong and the soft, the
  proactive and the passive, that makes a true
  person. Such thought, leave alone entail gender
  equality, in fact, obliterates any material
  distinction between the male and female
  altogether.

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Gender Approach to Water
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Our water is better managed when women and men
make decisions together
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We can be different AND be equal
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United We Stand and Divided We Fall
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For Sustainable Water Development, both Men and
Women must be Involved in Decision Making
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At All Decision Making Levels and Processes, a
Gender Perspective is essential and not
Additional
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Together We are Stronger
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Conceptual Framework

• Equity as goal,
• Gender Ideology as force,
• Human Resources as part of Agricultural System
  and
• Gender Relations (more or less equal) as Outcome.

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Gender and Water

• Water resources management should be based on a
  participatory approach. Both men and women should
  be involved and have an equal voice in managing
  the sustainable use of water resources and
  sharing of benefits. The role of women in water
  related areas needs to be strengthened and their
  participation broadened.

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Gender and Water

• Why Gender and Water relationship is so important
  in water resources management?

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Water and Civilization

• Ancient Civilization in Africa and Asia was
  developed around rivers.
• River played the most vital role in the
  development of all civilizations.
• Water and Society was inherently correlated.
• Water, culture and religion were also
  interrelated.
• Destruction of old civilization was also due to
  inability of proper water management.
• In the context of complex inter-sectoral water
  demand, the role of society in water management
  has been felt more intensively than ever before.
  
• Only Engineers are not capable to handle the
  problems related with water management in the
  society.
• Society is to come forward, where social value,
  perception, culture, attitude, social knowledge,
  etc. are the basic indicators, which are to be
  taken into consideration through social studies
  or surveys.

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WORLD WATER SCARCITY MAP
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Water Condition in India

• Indias Water Economy Bracing for a Turbulent
  Future, by John Briscoe, senior water adviser at
  the World Bank.
• India may run out of water by 2020 World Bank.
• Unless water management practices are changed
  and changed soon India will face a severe water
  crisis within the next two decades, the report
  says.
• The implicit philosophy has been aptly described
  as Build-Neglect-Rebuild. Much of what currently
  masquerades as investment in irrigation or
  municipal water supply is, in fact, a belated
  attempt to rehabilitate crumbling
  infrastructure, the report says.
• Some 90 per cent of Indias territory is drained
  by inter-state rivers. The lack of clear
  allocation rules imposes high economic and
  environmental costs.
• Sewage and waste water from rapidly growing
  cities have turned many rivers into smelly
  sewers. Climate change projections show that
  Indias water problems are only likely to worsen.
• Urgent Actions Needed
• Indias dams can store only 200 cubic metres of
  water per person. Other middle-income countries
  like China, South Africa, and Mexico can store up
  to 1000
• New infrastructure needs to be built, especially
  in underserved areas such as the water-rich
  Northeast
• India has used only about 20 per cent of its
  hydropower potential, as compared to 80 per cent
  in developed countries

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Water Activities in India and Effects in
Bangladesh

• Farakka Barrage, Ecological Hazards and
  International Dispute
• Indian River Linking Project and Ecological
  Disasters in Bangladesh
• Tipaimukh Barrage and Disaster in North-Eastern
  Region of Bangladesh
• Water Interventions in international rivers from
  India to Bangladesh
• Any kind of water related activities in the upper
  riparian country is to impact on the lower
  riparian country.
• Environmental hazards, ecological hazards are to
  lead to social hazards and instabilize the
  society as a whole.

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BANGLADESH AND RIVER SYSTEM
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Aral Sea in the Central Asia
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The Aral Sea after
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Cross-Cutting Water Thematic Issues

• Key messages for Gender Inclusions are
• 1. Womens substantial contribution to
  agriculture needs to be recognized and
  consequently rights to land, water and services
  to be granted.
• 2. Womens knowledge needs to be tapped for more
  efficient, effective and sustainable NRM
  management.
• 3. For high water productivity, sustainability
  and poverty reduction policies should be
  supportive to small mix farming systems with
  integrated management of water resources.
• 4. The future investment in terms of money,
  energy and time should be in institutional
  development, capacity building, policy
  strengthening and stakeholders accountability
  rather than water infrastructure.
• 5. Water management in agriculture needs to take
  womens and mens interest in domestic water use
  into account, therefore an Integrated Water
  Resource Management approach is preferred.
• 6. All data regarding agriculture and water use
  need to be collected in a gender segregated way.

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Water Sectors and Gender

• Rainwater management in Agriculture
• Irrigation
• Groundwater
• Fish
• Rice Vegetables
• River Basin
• Water Productivity
• Ecosystems
• Livestock
• Water Supply Sanitation
• Poverty
• Policy and institution
• Climate Change, Health and Gender meet

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• Most of the literature on gender and water
  highlight the hardship and concerns of women in
  water management in access, control, and use of
  water resources, as well as the ways that water
  affects lives, health, and well-being of men and
  women.
• Approaches in 1990s were largely to promote a
  package of tubewell installation, latrine
  provision, and hygiene education in order to
  address the water and sanitation (watsan) goals
  of development. Such programs targeted women, due
  to their roles in household hygiene and water
  provision tasks.
• There is less involvement of women in the stages
  water management involving design/conceptualizatio
  n, technology choices, location, and formation of
  institutions. Women are generally seen as
  rational users of water, who will benefit from
  whatever water options are made available.
• In studying gender-water relations, it is
  important to look at who does what with which
  type/source of water and why, where, and what
  such relations mean for broader social relations.
  Womens interests in water management are
  generally linked to livelihoods concerns (both
  material and symbolic) and not some natural
  affinity to water.
• There is the danger of tokenism in the gender
  component of many water projects without real
  attention to gender relations in context.

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Mark Distribution on Gender and Water

1. Class Attendance 10
2. Class Test 15
3. Class Performance/Presentation 10
4. Mid Term Exam 25
5. Final Exam 40