NORTH CENTRAL MINDANAO COLLEGE NCMC logo

Maranding, Lala, Lanao del Norte

Topic

LEVELING OFF: GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Rationale

This course critically examines the ways Gender informs the social world in which
we live. This course exposes the “common-sense” world of gender around us;
considers how we develop our gendered identities; explores the workings of the
institutions that shape our gendered lives, and leads to an understanding of the
relationship between and the social structures.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Ordained by Nature: Biology Constructs the Sexes.

ILO 1: Understand and define the terminology used in sexology and psychology of
human sexuality:

ILO 2: Understand the biological basis of human sexuality:

ILO 3: Use psychological and sexological techniques to explain various aspects of

human sexual experience and behavior including gender and gender roles.

ILO 4: Identify gender stereotypes and the problems stereotyping brings.

Activity/Activities

Virtual Class Thru Google meet and Google Classroom, Online Quiz via Google Form
 Discussion

OUR PURPOSE:
The purpose of the Gender Studies program is to involve students in this
intellectually challenging and engaging way of examining our world. Gender studies
courses examine how social structures including race, class, sexuality, and other
factors impact the lived experiences of men and women.

LEVELING OFF: GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Sex and gender are two very essential yet underrated parts of human life. They
affect all aspects of our lives, from how we look at and act in the jobs we take to
how we regard the laws and values of our society. This chapter will establish the
difference between sex and gender, define gender roles and relationship according
to the United Nations and other relevant national bodies, and determine how
gendered interaction at various levels within the family, workplace, community, and
larger society.

What is sex?
* Sex in the biological sense is a category for living beings specifically related
to their reproductive function.
* For most living creatures, there are two sexes, the MALE and the FEMALE
* The female sex is determined by the following characteristics: produces egg cells
which are fertilized by another sex, and bears the offspring.
* The male sex, on the other hand, produces sperm cells to fertilize the egg cells.

What is chromosome?
* Are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells.
Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA). Passed from parents to offspring. DNA contains the specific instructions
that make each type of living creatures unique.
* In human, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46.
Twenty-two of these pairs, called AUTOSOMES, look the same in both males and
females. The 23rd pair, is the sex chromosomes, differ between males and females

WHAT ARE GENITALIA?

* Is the organs used for reproduction, and secondary sex characteristics are
largely influenced by one’s X and Y chromosomes. These chromosomes determine
whether someone’s body will express itself as a “female” or a “male”.
* Genitalia: The male or female reproductive organs. ... The female external
genitalia are the labia minora and majora (the vulva) and the clitoris. The male
internal genitalia are the testes, epididymis, and vas deferens. The male external
genitalia are the penis and scrotum.
* Chromosomes XX equates to female, and XY equates to male. The copulation or the
union of the sexes (XX & XY or male and female), produces offspring.

WHAT IS HORMONES?

* A hormone is a chemical that is made by specialist cells, usually within an

endocrine gland, and it is released into the bloodstream to send a message to
another part of the body. It is often referred to as a ‘chemical messenger’.

OTHER FEATURES:
* Physical features related to secondary sex characteristics are also influenced by
hormones. Both male and female have ESTROGEN, TESTOSTERONE, AND PROGESTERONE but
in varying amounts.
* Usually male have more amount of testosterone.
* Female have more amounts of estrogens

DEFINITION OF TERMS
ESTROGEN
The female sex hormones, and one that teenager girls knows all too well, is
responsible for setting off puberty. Produced primarily in your ovaries, estrogens
regulate your menstrual cycle, maintains pregnancy and keeps bones strong for women
and men too.

TESTOSTERONE
Plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such
as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristics such
as increased muscle and bone mass, and the growth of body hair.

PROGESTERONE
Is a female sex hormone. It’s produced mainly in the
ovaries following ovulation each month. It’s a crucial part of the menstrual cycle
and maintenance of pregnancy. But its main job is to get your uterus ready for
pregnancy.

What is gender?

* Is a socially learned behavior usually associated with one’s sex

* Gender is also based on how people see themselves and on their tendency to act
along either the masculine or the feminine line.
* Gender is a social construct that determines ones roles, expected values,
behaviors, and interaction in relationship involving mean and women. It affects
what access is available to men and women to decision- making, knowledge, and
resources.

Table 1: Main Differences Between Sex And Gender

SEX

GENDER

PHYSIOLOGICAL
RELATED TO REPRODUCTION
CONGENITAL
UNCHANGING

SOCIAL
CULTURAL
LEARNED BEHAVIOR
CHANGES OVER TIME
VARIES WITHIN A CULTURE / AMONG CULTURES

GENDER ROLE SOCIALIZATION

* Is defined as the process of learning and internalizing culturally approved ways
of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It starts as soon as one is born and manifest
from the color associated with one’s gender to the roles one sees his or her gender
performs the most. Socialization affects all parts of one’s identity by dictating
what is acceptable to do because of one’s educational background, class, religion,
and gender. Thus, female and male gender roles develop.
GENDER STEREOTYPES:
* Develop when different institutions reinforce a biased perception of a certain
gender’s role. These institution include the family, the church, the school, the
state, and the media. These beliefs can be limiting if seen as prescriptive a
gender’s role rather that descriptive of the many possible roles one can have.

Definition of terms:

* STEREOTYPES
In social psychology, a stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular
category of people.

GENDER STEREOTYPES ARE OF FOUR TYPES

* SEX STEREOTYPES
Are a generalized view of traits that should be possessed by men
and women, specifically physical and emotional roles? These stereotypes are
unrelated to the roles women and men actually perform.
* SEXUAL STEREOTYPES
Involve assumption regarding a person’s sexuality that reinforce
dominant views. For example, a prevalent views is that all men are sexually
dominant. Another notion is heteronormativity, or the assumption that all person
are only attracted to the sex opposite theirs.
Two types of sexual stereotypes
HETERONORMATIVITY
Is defined as the notion that being heterosexual, or the
attraction to the opposite sex, is the standard for correctness.

HOMONORMATIVITY
Is the nation organizing for gay marriage, but not for trans live.
Is a set of rules used to decide which people in the queer community
are the best.
* SEX-ROLE STEREOTYPES
Encompass the roles that men and women are assigned to base on their
sex and what behaviors they must possess to fulfill these roles.

* COMPOUNDED STEREOTYPES
Are assumptions about a specific group belonging to a gender.
Examples of groups subject to compounded stereotypes are young women, old men,
single men or women, women factory workers, and the like.

Exercise
Guide questions for discussion:

1. What is the meaning of gender and society?

2. How does gender play a role in society?
3. How does culture affect gender?

Assessment
ESSAY: Provide brief, yet complete, answers to the following questions.

1. What is the difference between gender roles and gender stereotypes?

2. What are gender stereotypes and how they influence the society?
3. What are the gender issues in education?

Reflection

How is gender identify influenced?

Resources

* . Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, by Joseph F. Healey

* Sex and Gender: A References Handbook ( Contemporary World Issues)

Prepared By

LOID JAY B. KADILE, LPT

CED Faculty