GENDER

1. GENDER Presentation prepared for PDG in Social Work Presented by: Anjam Singh SanjeevDahal August, 2010

2. Sex and Gender • Sex refers to the biological differences between men and women • Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women and men in a given culture or location

3. SEX AND GENDER DISTINCTIONS SEX GENDER • Biological • Universal • Born With • Generally Unchanging • Male/Female • Exercise • Socially constructed roles, responsibilities & behaviors • Culture Specific • Learned Behaviour • Varies within and between Cultures • Masculine/Feminine

4. Sex Roles and Gender Roles Sex Roles • The only roles related to sex are those associated with reproduction- male and female contribute to the transfer of genetic material. Further, women give birth and breastfeed. Gender Roles • Activities assigned to individuals on the basis of socially determined characteristics, such as stereotypes, ideologies, values, attitudes, beliefs, and practices.

5. Gender construction in society • Construction of gender through gestures, behaviours and symbolic ideologies • Gender roles: Ruth Hartley (1966) • Manipulation • Canalization • Verbal Appellation • Activity exposure

6. Gender Relations • Gender relations are relations of dominance and subordination with elements of co-operation, force and violence sustaining them. • Gender relations are socially constructed and hence, variable in time and place and amenable to change. • Gender relations follow the rules of patriarchy- an ideology and social system whereby men are considered superior to women

7. History of gender construction • Religion differentiates sexes • Hindu Religion: Prakriti and Purus • Christianity: Adam and Eve • It is difficult to point out a specific period in time when segregation of gender roles started • Traditionally there was no differentiation of work: hunting, fishing, gathering • Agricultural period: women held high; miracle of reproduction, matrilineal societies

8. With risktaking nature and physical strength, men began to conquer individuals and groups • With the advent of privatization, the first thing to be privatized were women: control of women’s mobility, behaviour and access • Gender roles and relations became more distinct and hierarchal

9. Gender roles/relations in social institutions All societies follow gender based social values and identities; maintained from social institutions and their mechanisms. • Family and Community: matriarchal and patriarchal Lerner (1986) “The family not merely mirrors the order in the state and educates its children to follow it, it also creates and constantly reinforces that order”. Marx and Engels believe that women represent the proletariat class within the family and men gain power making women dependent. • Marriage Encyclopedia of Social Science (1973) describes marriage as “ a culturally approved relationship of one man and one woman (monogamy)or one man and two or more women (polygyny) or one women and two or more men (polyandry) in which there is cultural endorsement for sexual intercourse between the married partners of opposite sex with the expectation of children from that relationship” “Maarepaap pale punya” “bachadattatwayakanyaputrathaswikritamaya” Daughter in law still ranks the lowest position in her married home (Bista, 1992)

10. Caste and Kin Collins dictionary states caste is a “ social stratification which involves a system of hierarchically ranked, closed, endogamous strata the membership of which is ascribed and between which contact is restricted and mobility theoretically impossible” Caste system does not classify women- they are given the caste of the men they are associated with: anuloma & pratiloma Structure of kinship: Matriarchal or patriarchal • Market and State Invisibility of women’s work Exploitation of female labour- paid less as compared to male counterparts Nature of jobs: Male doctor, engineer; Female: nurse, caretaker Cash flow in the hands of males (70% in agriculture) [Agarwal, 1994]

11. Global scenario

13. NLSS –Gender Review • Gender review of the Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) • Pdf file..

14. Gender as a development issue • In the areas of reproduction, production and community, women have been adversely affected by the development process. • Wide gap between high yet unrecognized economic participation and their low political and social power • Development strategies have taken the needs of the most vocal and politically active • Reproductive, productive and social roles played by women must be looked as well as the economic and social roles played by men

15. WID, WAD & GAD

17. Gender equality, equity and mainstreaming • Gender equality is defined as 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. • The concept of gender equality has evolved over time: initially, gender equality was concerned with treating everyone the same. Treating everybody the same, however, perpetuates existing inequalities. By acknowledging and addressing different needs, interests and values, health services and professional can work to overcome these inequalities and arrive at equitable outcomes.

18. Equity is generally regarded as a state of fairness and justness. It requires that the specific needs of particular groups are considered separately and acted upon accordingly • Gender equity recognizes that the playing field is not even due to social and historical disadvantages which prevent one sex, often women, to access and benefit from society's resources

19. Needs Power Life experiences Access to decision making Expectations from others Social, economic and political opportunities Men Women

20. The concept recognizes that women and men have different needs and power structures and that these differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies imbalance between the sexes • Gender equity strategies seek to achieve fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men, and recognize that different approaches may be required to produce equitable outcome

21. Gender mainstreaming is an important global strategy for achieving gender equality. • It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part 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. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.” – United Nations Economic and Social Council, 1997