GENDER ISSUE IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The term gender is used to describe the various characteristic assigned to

women and men by a given society.

Definitions of sex

- Sex is defined as the state of being male or female. It is biologically

determined.
- Sex is the biological differences/characteristics between individual that
made them male or female. It also refers to sexual activity, including
sexual intercourse.
- Sex is the biological definition of who we are as male or as female. At
birth, boys are identified by the presence of penis and girls have the
vulva.
- People are born male and female but learnt to be boys and girls who
develop into men and women
- They are taught what the appropriate behaviour roles and activities for
them and how they should relate to other people. These learned
behaviour is what makes up gender and determine gender roles. Sex
and its associated functions are programmed genetically. Definitions of
Gender: Gender refers to the socially constituted roles and
responsibilities of women and men within a given culture or location
- Gender refers to roles, attitudes and behaviours and values ascribed by
the society to males and females. These learned behaviour is what
makes up gender and determines gender roles.
- Gender describes the characteristics of men and women which are
socially constructed in contrast to those characteristics which are
biologically determined. While the terms for gender are masculine and
feminine (man and woman) people are born male and female but learnt
to be boys and girls who develop into men and women. They are taught
 what the appropriate behaviour and attitudes, roles and activities for
them and how they should relate to other people.
- Gender is how an individual or society defines 'females' or 'male'

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEX AND GENDER

Sex (male/female) is biologically determined while gender (Man or woman) is

socially and culturally constructed, learned and transmitted during the
process of socialization.

- Sex is universal while gender differs within/between cultures.

- Sex is permanent. Gender is dynamic and it changes over time, it is
influenced by a wide range of socio-economic factors,
- Sex and its associated biological functions are programmed genetically
while gender and power relating are learned, changeable over time and
have wide variations within and between cultures
- Gender attitudes and behaviours are learnt and can change. It
determines how individual act as men and women, our dressing, values
beliefs etc.
- Gender identity of who we are as man or as woman differs from culture
to culture some parts of Eastern and Southern Nigeria, this is not
practicable in the north. Also while Fulani men plait their hairs and wear
earnings this is not culturally practiced in the Southern part of Nigeria.
- Gender determines to a large extent women's and man's differential
access to resources and power and these are related in the political,
economic and social structure of a society.

SEX AND GENDER ROLES

Sex Roles

These are roles performed by males or females as a result of their

biological attributes. Sex roles in a function which a male or female
assumes because of the basic physiological or anatomical differences. It is
biologically determined and is performed by only one of the sexes e.g.
women give birth to children while men make women pregnant.

Gender roles:

Gender roles reflect the behaviours and relationships that societies

believe are appropriate for an individual based on her sex. These
gender roles are learned, rather than inherent, and vary from culture to
culture and from generation to generation. They are subject to changes over
a period of time by socio-economic, religion and political dictate of the
society.

Gender roles refers to society's evaluation of behaviour as masculine or

feminine e.g. cooking to feminine while hunting is masculine in most
societies. Gender roles includes those responsibilities assigned to individuals
on the basis of socially determined characteristics such as ideologies, value
attitudes, beliefs and practices, for example, traditionally, women are
assigned to organizing support work while men are given high status tasks,
decision making and energy demanding jobs Gender roles are a powerful
feature of social organizations, not only describing how man and women
expected to behave but also influencing power relations decision-making
authority and individual responsibility.

Gender stereotypes:

The term emerges from the confusion between sex roles and gender roles. IT
is the rigidly held und over uplifted belief's that mains and females possess
distinct physiological traits and characteristics.
Gender stereotypes results when it is believed that gender roles are based
on biological differences rather than socially constructed expectation.

Examples of sex and gender roles:

- Women are more emotional than men

- Men are more logical and rational than women
- It is more important for boys to go to school than for girls
- Men should not display their emotions
- The place for a woman is at home and (Kitchen) taking care of her
children
- Men should make decisions in a family
- Women are not expected to express their sexual desires or talk about
sex

Examples of sex and gender roles:

Sex roles:

Males:

- Produce sperm
- Impregnate women

Female:

- Produce ova
- Carry pregnancy
- Deliver babies
- Breast feed babies

Gender roles:

Male:
- Hunt
- Provide for the family
- Do construction work
- Should always be in control and never show emotions.
- Must never take "No" for an answer from a sexual partner.
- Must be the head of the home and make decisions.
- Must never accept infertility as his fault as its never the man's fault to if
a woman fails to conceive
- Can only determine the number of children.
- Must always have his way wherever he wants regardless of the woman's
state of health

Females:

- Man must bear male children and never accepts that he is the
determinant of a male child.
- Fetch water
- Cook food.
- Rare and care for the children.
- Must be emotional and must be very sensitive.
- Most always yield to partners sexual demand
- Must be obedient to decisions taken by spouse
- Must bear/accept responsibility for her infertility as a man cannot be
infertile
- Must have as many children as society/spouse demands regardless of
her health
- Must never complain about sexual harassment
- Must accept responsibility for not bearing a male child

GENDER ISSUES THAT AFFECT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Discrimination: This is unequal or unfair treatment of females based on their
sex (female) rather than on their skills, talents and capabilities.

- Society expects women to give birth and rear the child irrespective of
her fertility status
- Men are traditionally decision makers regarding the number of children
a woman should bear md whether or not she can use family planning
methods
- On the same note opinion of adolescent girls are generally not sought
even on those issues that affect them directly e.g. time to marry, who to
marry and when to have children
- Access to family planning can be difficult for a woman because of her
restricted mobility
- Women are not expected to express themselves sexually
- Economic needs sometimes force women into situations where their
health can be compromised v exchanging sex for money or promotion.

Education:

- Girls do not have the same opportunities for education as boys do.
Girls are withdrawn more frequently from school for economic reasons,
early marriage and other reasons than boys. Until recently certain
school subjects such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry were
regarded as male subjects while social sciences, home economics and
language were considered female subjects.
- Male-Child preference: Male children are valued more than female
children. Most families prefer have male children instead of females.
This is the result of Nigeria's patriarchal system which emphasizes the
role of a male child in ensuring that the family lineage is maintained
many homes line broken because wives have been boosted out of their
matrimonial homes especially by fathers and mothers in-law for not
bearing male child or children. Male siblings are given more and better
opportunities than female siblings.
- Poorly paid/Unpaid jobs: More value is attached to the tasks men
perform, and they also get better pay for performing those tasks like
cooking, child care, sweeping, hawking and others assigned to
girls/women.

Nutrition

Some cultures place taboos on foods that have high nutritional value for girls
e.g. bush meat, snails.

- Food sharing: men and boys are given greater and better portion of food
than women or girls.
- Politics: Female participation in politics is low because of the long
history of their exclusion from public decision making which is preserved
exclusively for men. Women in politics are often referred to as people of
easy virtue.

IDENTIFYING GAPS IN GENDER ROLES

- Unequal or limited access to resources e.g. women perform two-thirds

(2/3rds) of the world’s work.
- Where-as women can 1/10 of the world's income.
- Discriminatory employment opportunities against women or lack of
employment opportunity.
- Poor educational status of the girl-child
- Lack of or, in-effective girl child policy.
- Negative socialization process of the girl-child and the boy-child.
- Non-implementation of International/National instrument on women
fundamental rights including reproductive health rights.
- Women are less fairly/favorably treated compared to men. Virtually. It
includes all ranging from right to life, inheritance, education,
participation in decision making, political structures of the society.