Module 1: Glossary of Terms

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this module, the students should be able to:

• explore some of the key ideas and issues in Gender and Development and their implications to policy
and practice
• explain the different gender terms and
• discuss the various definitions based on varied sources.

PRETEST:

• Define the following terms:

A. Gender and Development Terms

Selected concepts central to Gender and Development thinking are explained here. These are intended to
help you explore some of the key ideas and issues in Gender and Development and their implications for policy and
practice. The brief and clear explanations are neither comprehensive nor definitive.

● Culture - The distinctive patterns of ideas, beliefs and norms which characterize the way of life and relations
of a society or group within a society.
● Gender - Identifies the social relations between men and women. It refers to the relationship between men
and women, boys and girls, and how this is socially constructed. Gender roles are dynamic and change over
time.
● Gender Analysis - The systematic gathering and examination of information on gender differences and social
relations in order to identify, understand, remedy and correct inequities based on gender.

Gender Analysis is the methodology for collecting and processing information about gender. It provides
disaggregated(separate) data by sex, and an understanding of the social construction of gender roles, how
labor is divided and valued. Gender Analysis is the process of analyzing information in order to ensure
development benefits and resources are effectively and equitably targeted to both women and men, and to
successfully anticipate and avoid any negative impacts development may have on women or on gender
relations. Gender analysis is conducted through a variety of tools and frameworks.
● Gender Awareness - Awareness is an understanding that there are socially determined differences between
women and men based on learned behavior. These affect their ability to access and control resources. This
awareness needs to be applied through gender analysis into projects, programs and policies.
● Gender-blind - Gender blindness is the failure to recognize that gender is an essential determinant of social
outcomes impacting on projects and policies. A gender blind approach assumes gender is not an influencing
factor in projects, programs or policy.
● Gender Discrimination - The systematic unfavourable treatment of individuals on the bases of their gender,
which denies them rights opportunities or resources.
● Gender Division of Labour - The socially determined ideas and practices which define what roles and
activities are deemed appropriate for women and men.
● Gender Equality - denotes women having the same opportunities in life as men, including the ability to
participate in the public sphere.
Gender equality is the result of the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex in opportunities
and the allocation of resources or benefits or in access to services.
● Gender Equity - entails the provision of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities
between women and men. The concept recognizes that women and men have different needs and power
and that these differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies the imbalances
between the sexes.
Gender Equity denotes the equivalence in life outcomes for women and men, recognising their different
needs and interests, and requiring a redistribution of power and resources.
● Gender Issues - Is a problem by women and men, which can be attributed to the gender norms and
practices in society or a community. Gender issue in a program design articulates the extent of disparity of
women and men over benefits from the contribution to a program, it points to gaps in the capacity of an
organization, a program or project to respond to the different needs and interests of beneficiaries or clients.
● Gender Mainstreaming - Gender mainstreaming is the process of ensuring that women and men have equal
access and control over resources, development benefits and decision-making, at all stages of the
development process and projects, programs and policy.
Gender Mainstreaming is an organisational strategy to bring a gender perspective to all aspects of an
institution’s policy and activities through building gender capacity and accountability.
Gender Mainstreaming is the technical and political processes and procedures necessary to implement
gender-sensitive policy.
● Gender Needs - shared and prioritized needs identified by women that arise from their common experiences
as a gender.

Leading on from the fact that women and men have differing roles based on their gender, they will also have
differing gender needs. These needs can be classified as either strategic or practical needs.

● Practical Gender Needs (PGN)

Practical gender needs are the needs women identify in their socially accepted roles in society. PGNs
do not challenge, although they arise out of, gender divisions of labor and women’s subordinate
position in society. PGNs are a response to immediate and perceived necessity, identified within a
specific context. They are practical in nature and often concern inadequacies in living conditions such
as water provision, health care and employment.
 ● Strategic Gender Needs (SGN)

Strategic gender needs are the needs women identify because of their subordinate position in society.
They vary according to particular contexts, related to gender divisions of labor, power and control, and
may include issues such as legal rights, domestic violence, equal wages and women’s control over their
bodies. Meeting SGNs assists women to achieve greater equality and change existing roles, thereby
challenging women’s subordinate position. They are more long term and less visible than practical
gender needs.

● Gender Planning -refers to the process of planning developmental programs and projects that are gender
sensitive and which take into account the impact of differing gender roles and gender needs of women and
men in the target community or sector. It involves the selection of appropriate approaches to address not
only women and men’s practical needs, but which also identifies entry points for challenging unequal
relations (i.e. strategic needs) and to enhance the gender – responsiveness of policy dialogue.
● Gender Relations - Hierarchical relations of power between women and men that tend to disadvantage
women.
● Gender Roles - are learned behaviors in a given society/community, or other special group, that condition
which activities, tasks and responsibilities are perceived as male and female. Gender roles are affected by
age, class, race, ethnicity, religion and by the geographical, economic and political environment. Changes in
gender roles often occur in response to changing economic, natural or political circumstances, including
development efforts.

Both men and women play multiple roles in society. The gender roles of women can be identified as
reproductive, productive and community managing roles, while men’s are categorized as either productive
or community politics. Men are able to focus on a particular productive role, and play their multiple roles
sequentially. Women, in contrast to men, must play their roles simultaneously, and balance competing
claims on time for each of them.

● Productive roles - refers to the activities carried out by men and women in order to produce goods and
services either for sale, exchange, or to meet the subsistence needs of the family. For example, in
agriculture, productive activities include planting, animal husbandry and kitchen gardening.
● Reproductive roles - refers to the activities needed to ensure the reproduction of society’s labor force.
This includes child bearing, rearing, and care for family members such as children, the elderly and
workers. These tasks are done mostly by women.
● Community managing role - these are activities undertaken primarily by women at the community level,
as an extension of their reproductive role, to ensure the provision and maintenance of scarce resources
of collective consumption such as water, health care and education This is voluntary unpaid work
undertaken in ‘free’ time.
● Community politics role - these are activities undertaken primarily by men at the community level,
organizing at the formal political level, often within the framework of national politics. This work is
usually undertaken by men and may be paid directly or result in increased power and status.
● Triple role/multiple burden - these terms refer to the fact that women tend to work longer and more
fragmented days than men as they are usually involved in three different gender roles – reproductive,
productive and community work.
 ● Gender-sensitivity - Gender sensitivity encompasses the ability to acknowledge and highlight existing
gender differences, issues and inequalities and incorporate these into strategies and actions.
● Gender Training - A facilitated process of developing awareness and capacity on gender issues, to bring
about personal or organizational change for gender equality.
● Gender Violence - Any act or threat by men or male-dominated institutions, that inflicts physical , sexual, or
psychological harm on a woman or girl because of their gender.
● Intra-household Resource Distribution - The dynamics of how different resources that are generated within
or which come into the household, are accessed and controlled by its members.
● National Machineries for Women - Agencies with a mandate for the advancement of women established
within and by governments for integrating gender concerns in development policy and planning.
● Patriarchy - Systemic societal structures that institutionalize male physical, social and economic power over
women.
● Sex - Identifies the biological differences between men and women, e.g., women can become pregnant.
● Sex Disaggregated Data -For a gender analysis, all data should be separated by sex in order to allow
differential impacts on men and women to be measured.
● Sex and Gender - Sex refers to the biological characteristics that categorize someone as either female or
male; whereas gender refers to the socially determined ideas and practices of what it is to be female and
male.
● Social Justice - Fairness and equity as a right for all in the outcomes of development, through processes of
social transformation.
● WID/GAD - The WID (or Women in Development) approach calls for greater attention to women in
development policy and practice, and emphasizes the need to integrate them into the development process.
In contrast, the GAD (or Gender and Development) approach focuses on the socially constructed basis of
differences between men and women and emphasizes the need to challenge existing gender roles and
relations.
● Women’s Empowerment - A “bottom-up” process of transforming gender power relations, through
individuals or groups developing awareness of women’s subordination and building their capacity to
challenge it.

CHED Terminologies

As defined in the CHED Memorandum Order No. 01 Series of 2015. Establishing the Policies and
Guidelines on Gender and Development and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), the following shall be understood
to mean:

● Beijing Platform for Action (BFPA) – refers to the resulting document of the Fourth World Conference on
Women in Beijing, China in 1995 adopted in consensus by the United Nations. It represents the international
community’s commitment towards the promotion of women’s welfare and aims at accelerating the
implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. (PCW)
● Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – refers to the
international bill of rights of women adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Consisting of
a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women sets up an agenda for
national action to end such discrimination. (www.un.org).
● Discipline – refers to the field of study
● Gender – refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are created in the family, society
and culture. The concept of gender also includes the expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes
and likely behaviors of both women and men (femininity and masculinity). Gender roles and expectations
are learned. They can change over time and they vary within and between cultures. Systems of social
differentiation such as political status, class, ethnicity, physical and mental disability, age and more, modify
gender roles. The concept of gender is vital because, applied to social analysis; it reveals how women’s
subordination (or men’s domination) is socially constructed. As such, the subordination can be changed or
ended. Gender is not biologically predetermined nor is it fixed forever. (UNESCO)
● Gender Analysis – refers to a framework to compare the relative advantages and disadvantages faced by
women and men in various spheres of life, including the family, workplace, school, community and political
system. It also takes into account how class age, race, ethnicity, culture, social and other factors interact
with gender to produce discriminatory results. (PCW MC 2011-01)
● Gender and Development (GAD) – refers to the development perspective and process that are participatory
and empowering, equitable, sustainable, free from violence, respectful of human rights, supportive of self-
determination and actualization of human potential. It seeks to achieve gender equality as a fundamental
value that should be reflected in development choices; seeks to transform society’s social, economic, and
political structures and questions the validity of the gender roles ascribed to women and men; contends that
women are active agents of development and not just passive recipients of development assistance; and
stresses the need of women to organize themselves and participate in political processes to strengthen their
legal rights. (MCW)
● GAD Focal Point System – refers to an interacting and interdependent group of people in all government
instrumentalities tasked to catalyze and accelerate gender mainstreaming. It is a mechanism established to
ensure and advocate for, guide, coordinate, and monitor the development, implementation, review and
updating of their GAD plans and GAD-related programs, activities and projects. (PCW MC 2011-01)
● GAD Plan and Budget – refers to a systematic approach to gender mainstreaming carried out by all
government instrumentalities through the annual development and implementation of programs, activities
and projects, and addressing gender issues and concerns in their respective organizations, sectors and
constituencies by utilizing at least 5% of their budget allocation. (PCW MC 2011-01)
● GAD Resource Center (GRC) – refers to institutional mechanisms employed earlier by the PCW, then still
called the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, as depositories of gender-related
information and materials in select state universities and colleges in the regions. (GAD Planning and
Budgeting – Adding Values to Governance: GAD Budget Policy Compliance Report 2001-2002. NCRFW,
2002)
● Gender Equality – refers to the principle asserting the equality of men and women and their right to enjoy
equal conditions realizing their full human potential to contribute to and benefit from the results of
development, and with the State recognizing that all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights.
(MCW and PCW MC 2011-01)
● Gender Mainstreaming – refers to the strategy to make women’s as well as men’s concerns and
experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and
programs in all political, economic, and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and
inequality is not perpetuated. It is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any
 planned action, including legislation, policies, or programs in all areas and at all levels. (MCW and PCW MC
2011-01)
● Gender – Responsive Curricular Program (GRCP) – refers to a curriculum that shall prevent all forms of
gender-based discrimination in instruction, research, extension, as well as in marketing methods and the
use of promotional materials. It ensures the promotion of “women’s empowerment” to be undertaken
through the “provision, availability, and accessibility of opportunities, services, and observance of human
rights which enable women to actively participate and contribute to the political, social, and cultural
development of the nation.” (CHED)
● Gender – Responsive Research Program (GRRP) – refers to a collaborative, purposive research activity or
activities conducted by various members of HEIs to contribute to the empowerment of identified
communities that they may eventually by themselves, achieve gender-responsive development and
inclusive growth. It envisions a community of people possessing the core value of gender equality. GRRP is
part of the GAD and Research programs of HEIs that are intended to initiate, catalyze and sustain the
development of various individuals or communities using institutions’ expertise and available resources.
(CHED)
● Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No. 9710) - refers to the Philippines’ comprehensive women’s human
rights law that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling and
promoting the rights of women, especially those in marginalized sector. The law, which is a consolidation of
Senate Bill No. 2396 and House Bill No. 4273, was passed by the Senate and the house of Representatives
on May 19, 2009 and May 20, 2009, respectively. It was signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo on August 14, 2009. (PCW and Civil Service Commission)
● Marginalized – refers to the basic, disadvantaged, or vulnerable persons or groups who are mostly living in
poverty and have little or no access to land and other resources, basic social and economic services such
as health care, education, water and sanitation, employment and livelihood opportunities, housing, social
security, physical infrastructure, and the justice system. (MCW)
● Sex-Dissaggregated Data – refers to data that is collected and presented separately on men and women.
(UNESCO)
● Social Protection – refers to policies and programs that seek to reduce poverty and vulnerability to risks and
enhance the social status and rights of all women, especially the marginalized by promoting and protecting
livelihood and employment, protecting against hazards and sudden loss of income, and improving people’s
capacity to manage risk. Its components are labor market programs, social insurance, social welfare, and
social safety nets. (MCW)
● StuFAPs – CHED’s Student Financial Assistance Programs
● Substantive Equality – refers to the full and equal enjoyment of rights and freedoms contemplated under
the Magna Carta of Women. It encompasses de jure and de facto equality and also equality in outcomes.
(MCW)
● Women’s Empowerment – refers to the provision, availability, and accessibility of opportunities, services,
and observance of human rights which enable women to actively participate and contribute to the political,
economic, social and cultural development of the control of production, and of material and informational
resources and benefits in the family, community, and society. (MCW) It is the process and condition by
which women mobilize to understand, identify and overcome gender discrimination so as to achieve equality
in welfare and equal access to resources. In this context, women become agents of development and not
 just beneficiaries, enabling them to make decisions based on their own views and perspectives. (PCW MC
2011-01)
● Violence Against Women – refers to any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in,
physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. It shall be understood to
encompass, but not limited to, the following:

A. Physical, sexual, psychological, and economic violence occurring in the family, including
battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, and other
traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence, and violence related to exploitation;
B. Physical, sexual, and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including
rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere,
trafficking in women, and prostitution; and
C. Physical, sexual, and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it
occurs. It also includes acts of violence against women as defined in Republic Acts No. 9208 and 9262.
(MCW)

Reference

UP Gender for Women’s Studies Foundation Inc., 2016

PREPARED BY:

_____________________

FLEUR DE LIZ P. ZRIQAT