GE ELECTIVE 2

WEEK 1: Intro Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

About GENDER and SOCIETY:

 INTRO
Gender and Society: A Human Ecological Approach, is an initial attempt to consolidate
the body of knowledge on sex, gender, and human sexuality as a social reality, While sex
and anything related to it are usually deemed as a controversial topic to discuss, our
experience as helping professionals in various fields has convinced us that there is a need
to engage in discussions and conversations about human sexuality and how societies view
and make sense of it.
 In the field of education, a robust understanding of gender issues and concerns provides
an anchor in making the classroom an inclusive one, with due appreciation of the
diversity and the individual uniqueness of learners and everyone involved in the
educative process.
 In the field of health, having a clear gender lens allows us to design gender-responsive
interventions that gear towards people's well-being. There can never be a genuine well-
being if we set aside the gender and sexuality dimensions of the human person.
 In the field of law, understanding gender and sexuality as an essential component of
human behavior and motivation helps us advocate for policies and programs that promote
and protect human rights und equity, Surely, a thorough appreciation of principles,
frameworks, and concepts in gender and sexuality is not limited to the aforementioned
field.
 This is divided into five modules:
o (1) Gender and Sexuality as a Social Reality: 
o (2) Biomedical Perspective; 
o (3) Psychosocial Perspective; 
o (4) Political-Legal Perspective; and 
o (5) Cross-Cutting Issues.
 Gender and Sexuality as a social reality is a huge topic which cannot be completely
contained in a reading material as this one. Notwithstanding this, we hope that this book
will engage you to contemplate (reflect and make insights). Communicate (discuss with
others), and Collaborate (work with others and co-create knowledge with them ) as we
tackle very important issues on human sexuality and gender.

LESSON 1: GENDER AND SOCIETY

MODULE 1
Introduction
What does it mean to be a male or a female, to be feminine or masculine, or to be man or
woman?
 The human mind and body are so complex such that to answer this quest we have to trace
our journey from the moment we were born and go back to the journey we humans have
across the life span.
First thing you need to understand is the complexities of defining and differentiating sex, gender,
and sexuality
 Having a clear grasp of these concepts is crucial since we will be using these terms over
and over again in succeeding discussions. Likewise, there are nuances in the meaning of
these terms, which have an implication on at which context we can appropriately use
them.
Moreover, as we start our discussion of gender ad sexuality as social realities, we also want to
understand how a person’s gender is expressed from birth to adulthood.
 Our ultimate goal is to foster understanding of the diversity of how humans experience
and express sexuality.
SEX
 Sex is the biological dimension of your gender and sexuality. Also referred as biological
sex or physical sex
 Sex is typically, determined by examining your genitals-these are external organs that are
associated with reproduction the process or the ability to create offspring.
 Among humans, sex is often assigned at birth
 If at birth, a child is observed to have a penis and testicles, then the child is categorized as
male.
 If on the other hand, a child is observed to have a vagina, then the child is categorized as
female.
 There are cases when the baby's genitals appear to be a conglomerate of male and female
organs, it may be difficult to classify the baby's sex .
 In the past, this condition is referred to as hermaphroditism (from Hermes, a male Greek
god, and Aphrodite, a female Greek goddess).
 In modern times, the term intersexuality is used to refer to this phenomenon.
Hermaphroditism or intersexuality is a naturally occurring variation in humans and
animals (1 in 1,500 births) according to the American Psychological Association (APA
(2006).
GENDER
 Humans are meaning-making organisms
 Our ability for higher order thinking and our tendency to create social norms, allow us to
attach social and cultural meanings to things, including our sex.
 Males are typically expected to be masculine
 Females are expected to be feminine
 Once parents are aware of their child's sex (male or female) during birth or through
prenatal procedures , they automatically attach social and cultural meanings to their
child's sex and in doing so, they already set an expectation in terms of how their child
should behave and how they should treat their child.
This social dimension of one’s sexuality is referred to as GENDER

There are many ways through which gender is manifested.

 As soon as a new baby arrives in the family, adults surrounding the baby manifests their
social interpretation of the baby's sex by the colors assigned to the baby.
 Throughout childhood this assignment becomes more complex as the expectations go
beyond the kind of clothes worn.
  In terms of how the person must or must not behave. There are set of behaviors that all
female individuals must follow and so with the male individuals, and all are expected to
stick to these behaviors that are aligned with their biological sex.

This phenomenon of determining the normality of a behavior based on whether it conforms or

not on the expectations relative to one's biological sex is referred to as heteronormativity.

HETERONORMATIVITY
 Heteronormativity is a concept used by sociologists and other social scientists to describe
the way that sex and gender are used to hierarchically organize people in our society.
 Heteronormativity is the belief that a romantic and sexual attraction on the opposite sex,
is the only normal sexual orientation. Other sexual identifies are considered unnatural and
are sometimes even legally prohibited.
 Heteronormativity enforces not only strict norms about sexuality but also reinforces strict
gender roles within society.
 In the Filipino culture, girls are expected to have characteristics of being gentle, caring,
and loving ...
 Boys are encouraged to be strong, rough, and assertive. These expectations also extend to
how men and women are expected to behave, the college courses they take, and the jobs
they apply to.
 However, there are people who do not follow culturally-accepted standards of
masculinity and femininity like girls not wanting to wear dresses and boys not wanting to
play rough sports.
 This is a natural variation of the human gender expression. Social and cultural practices
change through time. Just 60 years ago, women could not wear pants without social
disapproval, and now wearing pants is already an accepted fashion trend among people of
different genders.
 How we express our gender is largely based on our social and cultural setting.
 Most are comfortable with their sex and gender, men who are masculine and women who
are feminine.
 Each culture also has different standards on how to be a man and a woman and how they
should present themselves according to their sex and gender.

GENDER IDENTITY
One important aspect of our gender is our sense of who we are: Do we see and experience
ourselves as a man, a woman, or neither. This refers to our gender identity. Typically, male are
comfortable identifying as a man and females are comfortable identifying as a woman.

There are cases wherein a person's biological sex does not align
with one's gender identity.
 People with this experience are referred to as transgender.
 Male who does not feel comfortable identifying as a man (transgender woman)
 A female who is not comfortable identifying as a woman (transgender man).
 Transgender people may undergo gender reassignment surgery to align their physical
characteristics to their gender identity.
  However, due to many factors such as belief systems, culture, and economics, some do
not opt for surgery.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION
 Another aspect of our gender pertains to our emotional and sexual attraction to a person.
 This aspect refers to our sexual orientation.
 According to the Psychological Association of the Philippines, typically at ages 6 or 8,
we experience or develop attraction to other people. By adolescence, we already know
who we are attracted to and would experiment through dating and relationships.
 Everyone's sexuality is different and deeply personal. Our capacity for emotional and
sexual attraction is diverse and complex, but there are a few common terms or labels for
us to use.
 People who are attracted to the opposite sex are called 'heterosexuals' or "straight."
 People who are attracted to people of the same sex are called "homosexual," "gay" or
"lesbian."
 "Bisexual" or "bi" people are attracted to both sexes, male or female.
 LGBT refers to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community

APPRECIATING DIVERSITY
 According to the American Psychological Association (APA), nature and nurture plays a
complex role in shaping our sexual orientation.
 Homosexuality and heterosexuality of the human sexuality and is a large part of the
human experience.
 Identifying as a heterosexual, lesbian, bi, gay, or transgender is a deeply personal process,
so it may be more difficult for others to come out' or for them to become comfortable
enough with their sexuality that they feel sale to share it with other people.
 For others it comes early in adolescence while for some, it may take time to understand
and discover themselves.
 According the Psychological Association of the Philippines, "we can only truly tell if the
person is gay lesbian, or bisexual if the person shares with us his or her experiences and
feelings of attraction towards them.
 That is why it is important for everyone to feel safe as they share their sexuality since it is
a personal and sensitive topic.
 We can do that in an environment wherein we do not feel judged and discriminated upon.
People who experience prejudice and discrimination suffer negative psychological effects
(APA), so we must work towards an inclusive environment where everyone feels safe.

LESSON 2
GENDER AND SEXUALITY ACROSS TIME
 Society has progressed so much in a way that information and knowledge is available to
everyone. This gives us an opportunity to examine our social and political conditions in
more detail than when information was scarce and limited to only a few individuals.
 Historical accounts show that across time, human’s conception of gender and sexuality
has also changed
  Archeological artifacts reveal that in the distant past, during the dawn of civilizations,
human societies have high regard for women.
 The concept of the divine feminine (the sacredness of the woman due to her ability to
conceive children) has prevailed, and thus, women are treated equally with men. This
make societies egalitarian (men and women have equitable power and roles).
 For the longest time, societies have privileged men over other genders, mainly because of
the preferential given to them in the productive sphere (world of public work)
 Women who have been revered due to their ability to conceive have been viewed as
capable only of reproductive affairs (world of the home and related tasks such as suckling
solely the young, child rearing, and home
 The gender disparity was intensified by the Industrial era when factors were built and
men were preferred because they did not have to rear children for nine months and
because of their perceived physical strength.

How did really the conceptualization of gender and sexuality change?

- This lesson tackles movements in history which shows how men, women and people of other
genders are viewed in human societies.

PATRIARCHY

A close exanimation of our society can lead us to see the invisible layers of oppression in our
society like patriarchy a system based on the control and oppression of women wherein they are
perceived to be the weaker sex. In is a structure that upholds male supremacy in the law, at
home, in the work place, and in society.

 is from the Greek word Patriarkhes which means “the rule of the father". It is a social
system where men primarily hold power in the political and the private spheres. This
means that in this social system, society is organized and maintained in a way that men
rule over women and their children.
 In the social, legal, political, and economic spheres, men are expected to lead while
women are expected to obey and are relegated to house chores, bearing children, and
child care.
  A patrilineal society often follows a patriarchal society; this means only men can inherit
property and the family name. Women were left with no inheritance and are expected to
marry a man who can support her economically. In fact, women were not allowed to go
to schools, or even vote, because they are viewed as a weaker sex and should not concern
themselves in learning science or politics. Women had to fight for the right to vote, to go
to school, to go to work, and even participate in politics.
 Patriarchy is viewed by most Sociologists as a social construct and not as a biological
phenomenon.
 This is because history proves that in the prehistoric hunter gatherer tribes and
civilization, they prioritized equality of all members, male and female.
 History suggests an egalitarian system rather than a patriarchal system. Men and women
contribute to society and they enjoy the same social status.

Friedrich Engels
 A German philosopher and sociologist, argues that patriarchy came about when people
started having private property instead of a communal living. The development in
agriculture and domestication of animals led to creating product surplus which allows
people to have private property. As a way to control the excess wealth generated by these
advancements, male dominance was inserted over women so only the male heir can
inherit family wealth.
Historical Views on Gender
 Aristotle, Plato, and other Greek philosophers viewed women as the inferior sex and are
properties of men whose only job was to obey their husbands, hear children, and take
care of the household. They were forbidden to learn philosophy, politics, and science.
Egypt
 Herodotus, a Greek historian, observed the Egyptian civilization citing that Egyptian
women enjoyed higher social status than Greek women because they can inherit property
and engage in trade and politics. However, Greek influence quickly spread in Egypt
through the conquests of Alexander the Great across Asia and Africa.
China
 Confucianism has stringent written rules that dictate how women should conduct
themselves. The written documents titled "Three obedience's and four virtues" and
"Precepts of women" states that women should obey their father, when married she is to
obey her husband, and when widowed she is to obey her son.
Gender bias in our society
 Gendered biases in ancient patriarchal societies were very strict, heavily enforced,and
often violent. Imagine not being able to go to school just because you are a woman, not
being able to express your opinion on important matters even when it concerns your
future, and not being able to say no to any man.
 Women have come a long way since the ancient times through the feminist movement,
however, patriarchy has taken on subtle forms of oppression that often go unnoticed such
as
 sexism - prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination based on sex:
 gender pay gap - men earn more that women;
 underrepresentation in politics, military, executive positions, etc;
 rape on women and the stigma making women ashamed to report the crimes
  very conservative expectations on women on how they behave;
 unrealistic depictions of women in fiction, often very sexualized;
 Women do more housework and childcare;
 boys were trained to be leaders while women were trained to do house chores

Women Empowerment
 Women's liberation movement, or feminism is a continuing series of social movements
that aim to challenge the patriarchal society that creates these oppressive political
structures, beliefs, and practices against women.
 It started at different decades in different countries, some are far more advance in their
struggle while others are still starting a movement.
 During the 19th and early 20th century, first-wave feminism spread across the western
countries as women demanded for their right to vote or participate in elections and to be
able to legally own property.
 In France, Simone de Beauvoir wrote book titled "The Second Sex" in 1949. It outlined
how the patriarchal society disadvantaged women by slowly raising her into submission
and hindering their productivity and happiness by relegating them lo housecleaning.
 This inspired many women to write and speak their truths, such as Betty Friedan (The
Feminine Mystique, 2963). Kate Millet (Sexual Politics, 1969), and Germaine Greer (The
Female Eunuch, 1970). Beauvoir's book was instrumental in awakening women about
their plight as the "wife-servant" to their husbands in her famous quote "one is not born,
but rather becomes, a woman".
 Le Mouvenent de Liberation des Femmes or the women’s liberation movement was
formed in Europe and they sought
the right to education, right to work,
and right to vote in the 1940s.
Later, they also won women's right
to decide on their own bodies and
their sexualities. This liberation
movement views the
intersectionality of economic status
or class to patriarchy.

 The United Nations reports that women do more work than men because even when they
work at the office, they are still expected to do household tasks. Another report from UN
Women states that "women perform 66 percent of the worlds work, produce 50 percent of
the food, but earn 10 of the income and own 1 percent of the property". This is because in
agricultural countries, women participate in making the produce, but only the father or
the male head of the family controls the income.
 `To put simply, feminism demands equality. Here are a few salient points that feminism
demands.