MODULE 1

UNIT 3 GENDER AND SEXUALITY AS A SUBJECT OF INQUIRY

INRODUCTION
Good day learners! Join me in this new journey where we are going to
enter another door of learnings and will lead us to another door because learning
will never stop. So, yeah! Let’s dig in!

Learning Compass

At the end of the unit, the students will be able to:

1. Define gender studies
2. Discuss its historical origins
3. Explain its importance in society

LET’S BEGIN

Study the pictures above. Write everything that you see and try to
figure out what the pictures are all about. Write at least five (5).

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 WE’RE ON OUR WAY

Y’all good!? Take a

deep breath coz’ we’re
Be like Dora! Always still starting!
shows enthusiasm in
learning new things!

Now, Imma give you

notes and activities to
start with.

Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analyzing gender

identity and gendered representation that includes women's studies like feminism, gender,
and politics, and also men's studies.

.
Why do you think gender and sexuality studies were subject of inquiry?
Meaning why it was being investigated or questioned? Write at least five(5)
sentences.

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 Let’s dig deeper

Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to

analyzing gender identity and gendered representation that includes
women's studies like feminism, gender, and politics, and also men's
studies.

The purpose of the Gender Studies is to involve students in

this intellectually challenging and engaging way of examining the
world. It examines how social structures including race, class,
sexuality, and other factors impact the lived experiences of men and
women.

It may apply recent ideas in feminist theory to issues in literature,

art, psychology, sociology, or business. Gender relations have
influenced in the fields of international relations, international development, and education. This has an
important impact on the development of human behavior among students as it expands knowledge and
skills on gender issue.

In the literature, gender usually focuses on women. In general, gender

can be defined as both men and women.

As a concept, gender can be defined in two ways in which maleness and

femaleness are perceived, evaluated, and stratified in a society:
biological and social.

At the biological level, men and women are typically

distinguished by the presence of a Y-chromosome in
male cells, and its absence in female cells.
 In social perspective, gender refers to the social differences and relations
between men and women, which are learned, vary widely among societies
and cultures, and change over time.

Moreover, gender is also a belief system. It is a belief system

about the characteristics of men and women. These beliefs may or
may not be accurate, but these are powerful tool influencing how
we perceive women and men, how we interpret what they do
and how we interact with members of both groups.

Gender relation defines the relation between men and women. Gender relations
are characterized by unequal power.

‘Gender norms’ assign specific entitlements and

responsibilities to men and women - for example,
women might be expected to take on caring or
domestic duties and remain close to home, while men
may be expected to be the main breadwinner,
working outside the home, with greater freedom to
move around in public places.

Let’s take a break! You’ve come this

far. You deserve a snack.
 While eating snacks, you answer this question-
Were you given responsibilities because you’re a
man or woman? Do you think its bias?

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They say power is directly related to gender relation with regard to the distribution of responsibility and
resources. Thus, an understanding of the unequal power relations between women and men is necessary to
understand the basic problem in gender relations.

Generally, masculinity is often associated with characteristics such as

aggressiveness, competitiveness, dominance, strength, courage, and control.
These characteristics result from a combination of biological, cultural, and social
influences, and relate to our understanding of power in society.

“traditional” and “conservative” are use to describe the belief that men’s and women’s roles are distinct,
and the terms “modern” and “liberal” to describe the belief that roles are not ascribed according to sex.

men are more assertive, competitive, decisive, confident, ambitious, and instrumentally oriented
Traditional
point of women are more nurturing, empathetic, helpful, sympathetic, gentle, affectionate, and
view expressively oriented

The traditional gender roles influence negatively to masculinity and femininity.

On one hand, negative masculine and feminine behaviors affect family and society.
One of the traditional ideologies is patriarchy that creates many problems in our family
as well as society.
 In many societies, the root structure of gender inequality is often
visible at household levels and this creates many problems in family
especially violence against women. It is an ancient and universal problem
occurring because of patriarchy. Power inequalities between women and
men and the negative masculine culture are the major sources of this
violence.

It is important to note that

developing the appropriate
characteristics of masculinity and
femininity are important to
overcome many problems
currently happening in our society.
There is a positive relation between socio-cultural and
gender role. We know that gender is a set of male and
female behavioral and mental potentials that are shaped
and developed by particular societies. On the other hand,
gender roles are socially and culturally defined
prescriptions and beliefs about the behavior and emotions
of men and women.
 Column A Column B

_____ 1. Gender studies a. the social differences and relations between men and women

_____2. Women’s studies b. gender identity and gendered representation

_____3. Biological level c. characterized by unequal power

_____4. Social level d. men

_____5. Gender relations e. feminism, gender, and politics

_____6. Gender norms f. Y-chromosome

_____7. Patriarchal g. men are dominant heads in the family

WALK THE EXTRA MILE

What is the importance of gender studies in our society today? (Write at least ten (10)
sentences)