Describe The Concept of Gender and Sex Recognize The Difference Between Gender and Sex Explain The Terms Gender Dynamics

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WEEK 2
TOPIC/ CONTENT
Gender Concepts and Terminology
 Definition of Gender
 Difference between Gender and Sex
LEARNING OUTCOME/ OBJECTIVE
 Describe the Concept of Gender and Sex
 Recognize the difference between Gender and Sex
 Explain the terms gender dynamics
LESSON 1: GENDER CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are created in our families, our
societies and our cultures. The concept of gender also includes the expectations held about the characteristics,
aptitudes and likely behaviours 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. It is not biologically predetermined nor is it fixed forever.
The concept of gender needs to be understood clearly as a cross-cutting sociocultural variable. It is an
overarching variable in the sense that gender can also be applied to all other cross-cutting variables such as race,
class, age, ethnic group, etc. Gender systems are established in different socio-cultural contexts which
determine what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman/man and girl/boy in these specific contexts. Gender
roles are learned through socialization processes; they are not fixed but are changeable. Gender systems are
institutionalized through education systems, political and economic systems, legislation, and culture and
traditions. In utilizing a gender approach the focus is not on individual women and men but on the system which
determines gender roles / responsibilities, access to and control over resources, and decision-making potentials.
The gender concept implies:
• A rejection of the underlying biological distinction in the word “sex” and in the expression “sexual
inequality”, which appears as “an ideological alibi for maintaining domination, the alibi of nature”.
Women are no more part of nature and no less part of culture than men;
• Grouping together all the differences identified between men and women, be they individual
differences, differences in social roles or cultural representations, i.e., the grouping together of all that is
variable and socially determined;
• The non-homogenous nature of the category of women, which is transcended by differences of class,
ethnicity and age;
• The basic asymmetry and hierarchy between both groups, sexes and genders - one of them dominating
and the other dominated - which is the basis of male power; Related terminology and concepts include:
• Gender roles: The particular economic, political and social roles and responsibilities that are considered
appropriate for men and women in a culture.
• Gender equality: The absence of discrimination on the basis of a person's sex in authority,
opportunities, allocation of resources or benefits, and access to services.
• Gender equity: The process of being fair to women and men. Sometimes this involves measures to
redress historical disadvantages that have prevented men and women from having equal access to rights
and privileges. Equity leads to equality. Gender equity also implies that health needs, which are specific
to each gender, receive appropriate resources.
• Gender awareness: Understanding that there are socially determined differences between men and
women, and that these influence access to and control of resources.
GEE 2: GENDER AND SOCIETY
INSTRUCTOR: REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT
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• Gender Sensitivity: The ability to perceive existing gender differences and issues, and to incorporate
these into strategies and actions. Contrast with gender blindness.
• Gender analysis: Identifies the inequalities that arise from the different roles of men and women, and
analyzes the consequences of these inequalities for their lives, health and well-being.
• Gender Mainstreaming: The process used to ensure that women’s and men’s concerns and experiences
are integral to the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all legislation, policies and
programmes.
• Gender Parity: A numerical concept concerned with the relative equality in terms of numbers and
proportions of women, men, girls and boys. In education, this means that the same number of boys and
girls receive educational services at different levels and in diverse forms.
Definition of Gender
Gender is defined by FAO as ‘the relations between men and women, both perceptual and material.
Gender is not determined biologically, as a result of sexual characteristics of either women or men, but is
constructed socially. It is a central organizing principle of societies, and often governs the processes of
production and reproduction, consumption and distribution’ (FAO, 1997).
Gender has been defined as: "The commonly shared expectations and norms within a society about
appropriate male and female behavior, characteristics and roles. Gender can be considered a social and cultural
construct that differentiates females from males and thus defines the ways in which females and males interact
with each other. These roles and expectations are learned and they can change over time as well as vary within
and between cultures."
Difference between Gender and Sex
The terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are closely linked, yet they are not synonyms. Robert Stoller, in the 1960s,
has drawn the distinction between them. He suggested that the word
‘sex’’ be used to refer to the physical differences between men and women, while the term ‘gender’ be used in
connection to the behaviour and cultural practices of men and women.
Sex: ‘Sex’ refers to the biological characteristics or natural biological differences between men and
women, for example, the differences in the organs related to reproduction.
A person’s sex is biologically determined as female or male according to certain identifiable physical features
which are fixed. Women’s marginalisation has often been seen as ‘natural’ and a fact of their biology.
Gender: Gender refers to the cultural, socially constructed differences between the two sexes. It refers
to the way society encourages and teaches the two sexes to behave in different through socialization. ‘Gender’
and the hierarchical power relations between women and men based on this are socially constructed, and not
derived directly from biology. Gender identities and associated expectations of roles and responsibilities are
therefore changeable between and within cultures. Gendered power relations permeate social institutions so that
gender is never absent. The following are difference between sex and gender with respects to some attributes.
Difference between Sex and Gender
Attributes Sex (Biological Difference) Gender (Social Difference)
Definition Biological or cosmological Social not natural difference
difference
Meaning Refers to physiological Refers social, cultural expectations and
characteristics actions.
Aspect of Change Difficult to change the sex when born as

Can be changed since gender identity is
male or female determined by society
Aspect of role Throughout history and across cultures,
At different times in history and in
sex differences exist. different societies, gender roles are
different.
Aspect of policy Policies respond to sex Policies can respond to gender
differences in areas to do with the stereotype and traditional gender roles.
physical body.

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ACTIVITY SHEET FOR WEEK 1

ACTIVITY #1
ESSAY. Write your own idea, opinion or reflection about the statements below. Refrain from copying from the internet
otherwise your answers will not be recorded.
1. What are the differences between Gender and Sex basing from your own words aside from what is
stated above? List at least 3 differences of the two. (10 points)
2. Compare and Contrast Gender Equality, Gender Equity. How does this comparison make impact to your
view of Gender? Relate your answer in 3-5 sentences. (5 points)
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LESSON 1: GENDER CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

Aspect of Change Difficult to change the sex when born as

GEE 2: GENDER AND SOCIETY

ACTIVITY SHEET FOR WEEK 1

GEE 2: GENDER AND SOCIETY

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