i

GEEC 111:
GENDER & SOCIETY

MODULE I

CONCEPTUAL & THEORETICAL

FOUNDATIONS

Lesson 1 The Study of Gender &

Society

Lesson 2 Gender Basics: Sex vs.

Gender

Lesson 3 Beyond Sex & Gender

Lesson 4 Theoretical Approaches

in the Study of Gender

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRELIMINARY PAGES

Title Page ............................................................................ i

Table of Contents .................................................................. vi

MODULE I. Conceptual and Theoretical Foundations ...................... 1

Introduction .............................................................. 1
Objectives ............................................................... 1
Directions/ Module Organizer ......................................... 2

LESSON 1. The Study of Gender and Society ............................... 3

Learning Activity 1..................................................... 4

LESSON 2. Gender Basics: Sex vs. Gender ................................ 7

Learning Activity 2..................................................... 9

LESSON 3.Beyond Sex and Gender .......................................... 10

Learning Activity 3..................................................... 13

LESSON 4. Theoretical Approaches in the Study of Gender ........... 14

Learning Activity 4..................................................... 14

MODULE SUMMARY ............................................................. 19

SUMMATIVE TEST ............................................................... 20
REFERENCE LIST ................................................................ 22

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MODULE 1

CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

 INTRODUCTION

If you watch popular TV talk shows (i.e. GVV, TWBA etc.), chances are
you’ll see guests discussing gender-related issues. Go to a bookstore, and you’ll
find dozens of popular advice books that promise to help you communicate
better with the “opposite sex.” Search about Miss Universe 2018 and you’re
likely to learn about Angela Ponce of Spain, a transsexual contestant in that
edition. Visit YouTube and you’ll find a number of videos that comment on
gender and gender relations. The general public’s fascination with information
about gender issues is mirrored by college students’ interest. In the Philippines
and any other countries in the world, the study of gender and society has found
its place as an expanding area of study in colleges and universities.

Studying gender and society requires courage because it involves you in

perplexing questions about your personal identities and your society at large.
You must be willing to consider new ideas openly and to risk the turmoil of
changing values and identities that are familiar to you. Furthermore, with
awareness comes responsibility. Once you are informed about gender issues, you
can no longer sit passively back as if they were not your concern. They are your
concern, both because gender affects each of you directly and because you are
part of a collective world, thus a need to study gender and society.

In this module, you will be introduced on how learning about the

relationships of concepts related to gender can empower you personally and
professionally [in the future]. By exploring these key concepts and theories, you
are ensured to gain a rich vocabulary on gender that forms the framework of the
entire course in Gender and Society.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• rationalize the need to study gender-related issues.
• define what is “gender” and relate this to the concept of “sex”.
• articulate the different elements of gender.
• articulate the difference of gender and sex by highlighting the
differences of gender in terms of language.
• articulate the different theoretical frameworks in the study of
gender.

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 DIRECTIONS/ MODULE ORGANIZER

Specifically, this module lays down the conceptual and theoretical

foundations of studying gender and society and how these concepts and theories
work together to form the basis for academic discourses in the study of gender
and society.

There are four lessons in the module. Read each lesson carefully then
answer the exercises/activities (four learning activities and a summative
test) to find out how much you have benefited from it. Work on these exercises
carefully and submit your output to your instructor in the agreed time-frame of
submission.

In case you encounter difficulty, discuss this with your instructor during
the face-to-face meeting. If not contact your instructor at any social media
platforms agreed upon by your class and your instructor.

Good luck and happy reading!!!

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Lesson 1

 The Study of Gender and Society

Courses in gender studies have grown remarkably in the US in the past

two decades (Wood, 2009), the same with the Philippines (Hega et al, 2003).
One reason for the growth is that research has created a knowledge base for
courses. In addition, more and more people today want to learn about this area
of personal and societal life.

Research on Gender and Society

Research on gender is conducted by scholars in a range of fields including

communication, anthropology, history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. In
doing their research, scholars rely on a broad array of methods. To give you an
understanding of the research that informs the field of gender, the following
discussions, based on Julia Wood’s (2009) scholarly works on gender, briefly
describe different research methods.

Quantitative research methods gather data that can be quantified and

analyze the data to draw conclusions. These methods are most closely
associated with the social sciences. Three of the more common quantitative
methods are descriptive statistics, surveys, and experiments. Descriptive
statistics describe populations, proportions, and frequencies. They answer
questions such as: How often do women and men interrupt in conversations?
How much are men and women in the same professional positions paid? How
much hours of child care do mothers and fathers perform? What are the key
concerns of men in their 50s? Surveys, which may be written or oral (interview)
ask people to report their feelings, thought, experiences and so forth. Surveys
could ask women and men: What do you do with your close friends? How often
do you argue with friends? Experiments are controlled studies that manipulate
one thing (called an independent variable) to determine how it affects another
thing (called a dependent variable). Experiments have been conducted to find
out what happens to women’s self-esteem when they look at fashion magazines;
whether different images come to people’s minds when they see the words
“urban man” and “urban people”; and whether people who view pornography
are more likely to engage in violence against women than people who do not
view pornography.

Qualitative research methods, sometimes called interpretive methods,

aim to understand the nature or meaning of experiences that cannot be
quantified. These methods have grown out of the humanities and remain most
closely tied to humanistic disciplines. Two of the most popular qualitative
methods are textual analysis and ethnography. As the name applies, textual
analysis involves describing communication texts and interpreting their
meaning. Communication scholars have a broad view of texts that includes
written, oral, and nonverbal symbolic activities. Ethnography relies on extensive
and sensitive observation of human activity to discover what things mean to

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humans. Ethnography has helped us understand how different cultures define

and enact gender and how those enactments support specific cultural values.
Ethnography study has also provided precise descriptions of women’s and men’s
flirting behaviors and how they are interpreted.

Critical research methods identify and challenge inequalities and

problems in social life. In this way, scholars engaged in critical research hope to
raise awareness of inequalities and problems and to motivate change. These
methods are particularly associated with disciplines in the humanities and
liberal arts. Critical research has given us insight into ways in which
communication practices sustain male dominance in conversations and ways that
organizational structures and practices create hostile work environments for
women and minorities.

Mixed research methods are exactly what the name implies--- mixture of
two or more methods. Some scholars find it useful to combine methods to get
multiple types of information. For example, a scholar might document the
frequency (descriptive statistics) of men’s and women’s smiling in social
situations and then interview men and women (qualitative method) to learn why
they smile and how they interpret smiles from other women and men.

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Interdisciplinarity of Gender Studies

Gender studies have grown out of the need to address some of the big
issues in everyday life as well as on the global arena of international politics in
which cultural, economic, political and social inequalities are played out
(Woodward, 2015). Gender awareness has become integral to disciplinary fields
as diverse as history, literature, science, sociology and economics, as well as
emerging as a field of studies, which goes much further than the mainstreaming
of gender.

The interdisciplinary nature of gender studies means not only that

scholars can draw upon the distinctive methods of particular disciplines but also
they are well placed to create new approaches, including mixed methods. By
starting with questions about what shapes gender relations and how sexual
politics shape experience and social, economic and political relations, gender
studies demand robust empirical evidence, including statistical, quantitate data
as well as qualitative, ethnographic, critical, discursive and psychosocial
approaches that seek to understand some of the ambivalence and contradictory
aspects of sex, gender and sexuality.

The following social science disciplines have been crucial in the

development of gender studies, with each of them asking relevant questions
using their distinct approaches and frameworks:

• Sociology: as the study of the society, sociologists ask “how society

‘constructs’ gender roles?” They investigate how social institutions such
as family and religion socialize us on our gender roles.

• Anthropology: anthropologists are mainly concern with the study of

humans and their culture and tend to ask “where did gender roles
originated and how gender relations evolved and developed?” Their focus
may include pointing-out men domination during the stone-age period
and compare this to modern day situation.

• History: historians are very much fascinated with the recorded events of
the past and may ask questions such as “why is there gender inequality in
a particular historical period?” A historian interested in Chinese women
history, for example may investigate the role of “concubines” in the
history of Chinese empires and dynasties.

• Political Science: scholars following political science framework may

want to know “how is ‘power’ allocated between different and diverse
genders?” A political analyst may want to research on the power dynamics
during the fight for women suffrage.

• Economics: economists try to analyse how societies produce, consume,

distribute and allocate scarce resources and in by doing so may ask the
question “how is the division of labor distributed among and between
gender?” Modern day economists may want to focus their work on issues
related to women workers’ rights.

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• Psychology: psychologists are very much concern with human behaviour

and may raise questions such as “why do behavioral differences occur
between men and women and those in between?” They may want to find
out why women are described as “emotional” while men are “stiff”?

Virtually, all disciplines contribute to the growing theorizations about

gender, to make sense out of the differences, explain the diversity and
somehow predict social processes. Whatever course in college may be, there
will always be a relevant question where gender issues can be of great concern!

Why Study Gender and Society?

Learning about gender serves at least three important goals according to

Julia Wood (2014), a scholar in the field of gender studies. She summarizes
these three key-points:

1. Studying gender and society enhances one’s appreciation of complex ways

in which cultural values and practices influence one’s views of
masculinity and femininity and men and women. By appreciating these
complex ways, one becomes tolerant of differences thereby becoming
more respectful of others’ views, orientation and identification to
specific gender.

2. The study of gender and society enhances one’s insight into his or her
own gender, both as it is now and as one decides to revise it. One will
become more aware of ways cultural expectations of gender are
communicated in daily life. In turn, this awareness will allow an
individual to think more critical about whether there are cultural
expectations that he or she would want to accept or challenge.

3. Last but not the least, studying gender strengthens one’s membership to
the society. Learning about general differences in gender categories will
enlarge one’s ability to appreciate the distinct validity of diverse gender
identities. This allows an individual to understand and adopt to the ways
of getting along with other members of the society that may differ from
one’s own gender.

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Lesson 2

 Gender Basics: Sex vs. Gender

Gender is widely used in indicating an individual’s biologically determined

“sex” (i.e., male or female) which cannot fully address the complex nature of a
concept such a gender (Cohen and Harvery, 2007). People tend to ask “what is
your gender?” which is a misconception of “what is your sex?” Without prior
learning about the thin line that separates these two confusing terminologies,
more people tend to mis-use these words.

Cohen and Harvey (2007) provide clarification on these terminologies as

discussed in the following sections.

Sex as Biologically Determined

In its broadest sense, “sex” refers to the biological and physiological

differences between male and female. The term sex is a physical differentiation
between the biological male and the biological female. Therefore an infant is
labeled “boy” or “girl” upon birth depending on their sex, the external genital
between their legs. The basis of such characterization is the genital differences
between male and female. There are, however, some people who are born with
sex organs that do not clearly fit their category, known as intersex.

A person is socialized according to its specific gender expectations and

roles. For example, biological males are subject to masculine roles (i.e., strong,
aggressive, and bold) while biological females are subject to feminine roles
(i.e., polite, accommodating, and nurturing).

Gender as Socially Constructed

Gender is a social classification based on one’s identity, presentation of

self, behavior, and interaction with others. Sociologists view gender as learned
behavior and a culturally produced identity, and as such, it is a social category.
According to WHO, “Gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of
women and men, such as norms, roles, and relationships of and between groups
of women and men. It varies from society to society and can be changed.”

Unlike sex, gender denotes the social and cultural role of each sex within
a given society. Environment, including family interactions, the media, peers,
and education often helps people to develop their gender roles (Cross, 2018).

Gender can be divided into number of different components relating to

ideas of masculinity and femininity: Gender identity, gender presentation, and
gender roles.

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Gender Identity

Gender identity is the sense of ourselves as men, women or other

gendered beings. It is how a person sees himself or herself regardless of her sex.
A person’s gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-
assigned sex. For example, a person’s biological sex is male but its definition of
oneself is a woman. Gender identity shapes how we think about others and
ourselves and it influences our behaviors.

Gender Presentation/ Expression

Gender presentation or expression refers to how a person publicly

expresses or presents their gender through the way they dress, hair, make-up,
body language and voice. For example, you may be identified as woman and
dress in masculine way or vis-à-vis. Gender identity and gender presentation are
not necessarily related. A person may dress on whatever they are comfortable
with regardless of their biological sex or gender identity.

Gender Role

Gender role in society is how a person is expected to act, speak, dress,

and groom based on the assigned sex given when a person is born. For example,
girls and women are expected to be typically feminine such as being polite,
accommodating, and nurturing. On the other hand, men are expected to be
strong, aggressive, and bold. Gender role may vary depending on the society,
ethnic group, and culture.

Gender Stereotype

Stereotype is a biased judgment about a person or group and is not

always accurate. Stereotypes in gender can cause unequal and unfair treatment
because of a person’s gender. For example, a girl was cheated by his boyfriend
and that made her concluded that all man are cheaters. Though, it is true that
her boyfriend cheated on her but it does not mean that all man cheaters. There
are four basic kinds of gender stereotypes:

• Personality traits – for example, people expects that women are weak,
meek, and dependent, while men are usually strong, aggressive, and
independent. This example is considered gender stereotype because not
all women are weak and dependent. Actually, most women in this century
is more independent than men.

• Domestic behaviors – for example, women are often expected to take

care of children, wash the dishes, clean the house, do the laundry and
etc, while men are often expected to take care of finances, do home
repairs and etc. This is considered as gender stereotype because in this
generation, men and women share the responsibilities with each other.
Though some still is traditional.

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• Occupations – for example, people tend to think that nurses, teachers,

and etc. are for women only while pilot, engineer, doctor, and etc. are
for men. This gender stereotype is true years ago but now either gender
can have their own profession base on their preferences.

• Physical appearance – for example, women are usually thought to be

thin, graceful, and sexy while men are masculine and tall. Also, women
are supposed to wear dresses that are appropriate to their assigned sex
same goes with men. Though the examples given are true but in this
generation, people now have different perspectives regarding what
should men and women look like or how should men and women be
presented with the way they are dressed.

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Lesson 3

 Beyond Sex and Gender

Sex is the biological difference of a male and female such as their

genitalia and genetics, while gender is the socially constructed behavior,
interests etc., of a person. As discussed in lesson 2, one’s gender can be
different from its identified sex, which resulted to the evolution of LGBTQ++
community. A rich discussion on the emergence of these different terms is
provided in the works of England (n.d.) and Iovannone (2018), and are
summarized and discussed in the following sections.

Gender Revolution: Emergence of LGBTQ+ Terminologies

Since the 1960’s sweeping changes in the gender system sometimes called
a “revolution”. Looking with it since the 1900’s, women has become the sole
image of gender revolution, for example, women were able to caught up with
what men are doing, like, employment, college degrees, rates in college
graduation, politics and more. In this gender revolution that solely focuses on
women began affecting other genders like the LGBTQ+ and even men itself
(England, n.d.)

The LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and
more. During the late-nineteenth century, the concept of distinct gender
identity merely does not exist. However, gay identity just fully emerge on the
mid-twentieth century (Iovannone, 2018)

According to Havelock Ellis as cited in Beccalossi (2012), a person who is

attractive to the same sex and that gender presentation contrast to their
assigned sex is referred as “sexual inverts”, or we would identify them now as
gay or transgender.

Ulrich(as cited in Iovannone, 2018)claims that “Urning” is another gender

between male and female, which he describes as the third gender whom today
we describe as gay, trans, or genderqueer. According to Ulrich as cited in
Iovannone (2018), male urnings were “male-bodied” with the souls of women
and women urnings were “women-bodied” with the souls of men. The term
homosexual was not yet popular until the mid-twentieth century when
homosexual activists preferred the term “homophile” over “homosexual”
because the term homosexual is derogatory.

The term “gay” came into popular usage in the 1960s, which emerged as
an underground term in the early-twentieth century. Though today “gay”
typically refers to men who are attracted to men but historically, “gay” was a
broad term that comprise entirely the modern LGBTQ+. Lesbian comes from the
Greek island of Lesbos that is associated with the poet Sappho on which they

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describe love and attraction between women. The advent of the late mid-
twentieth century Women’s Movement gave gay women the consciousness to
articulate how their experiences differed from both heterosexual women. Yet,
until the 1990s, the term “gay” refer to the entirety of the sexual and gender
minorities. This usage shifted with the rise of bisexual, transgender, and queer
movements giving birth to the four-letter LGBT. German sexologist Magnus
Hirschfeld originated ‘Transvestite’ in 1910 whom he later develops the Berlin
Institute. ‘Transsexual’ was coined in 1949, ‘Transgender’ in 1971, and ‘Trans’
(British term) in 1996. Persons who is not identified as ‘transsexual’ adopts the
term ‘transgender’ because ‘transsexual’ is associated with medical transition
across the gender binary. The term ‘Q’ in LGBTQ+ stands for ‘queer’ or those
who is still questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation. The term
‘queer’ literally means “odd” or “quaint”, however, these terms are still
considered as derogatory term for gays. Different initials emerged since 1990s.
One expanded the term LGBTQ+ to LGBTQQIP2SAA which stands for: lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two spirit,
asexual, and ally. However, the prolonged term truly comprised the different
gender identity or sexual orientation of someone but it is not necessarily
efficient. It is difficult to remember let alone say. LGBTQ initialism is not just a
random initial that represents identities but they tell the story of modern
LGBTQ Rights Movement.

Genderbread Person

In the world we live in everything seems to be a man and a woman. But

what does it mean to be a man or a woman? On the other hand, what does it
mean if people want to change their gender? What about if they want to dress
like the opposite sex? What about those people who is neither male nor female?
What about gays? Does being gay has something to do with changing their
gender? To know all of this, we will need a help from our genderbread person.
Below is the four aspect of gender.

Sex
Male Intersex Female

Either you are born male or female. However, a lot people do not know
that some are not born a hundred percent male or female or born with
ambiguous genitals, which we call intersex. A person can be identified as
intersex through genitals, chromosomes, gonads, and hormones. On the entire
world, only seven countries and five states in America has some sort of legal
recognition of intersex. So what is the identification card of an intersex person
is? As mention above, only few countries recognizes intersex person therefore,
people have to choose the sex of the intersex person at birth.

Gender Identity

Gender identity refers to what a person thinks of who he/she is. A person
can feel that he/she is a feminine or masculine. But just like sex, gender

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identity lies in a spectrum. Some people may feel more feminine than the other
or the other way around. Some may also feel being a male or female or neither.
There are lot of terms to define this gender identities such as, genderqueer,
non-binary, bigender, genderfluid, agender, genderneutral, pangender, and
third gender. Only oneself can identify its gender identity.

Cisgender – is a person whose sex and gender identity aligned. For

example, a person is born female and her gender identity is feminine.

Transgender – is a person whose sex and gender identity do not aligned.

The word transsexual was used to describe person who had undergone gender
confirmation surgery. However, the word transsexual is outdated and considered
as derogatory term. Further, not all transgender want to undergo surgery.

IMAGE SOURCE: https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/genderbread-person/

Gender Presentation/ Expression

Gender presentation or expression is manifested on how people express

or present themselves to the world. Just like sex and gender identity, one’s
gender expression can be either male or female. A person can express

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themselves on how they dress, how they do their hair and makeup, how they
talk, the way they walk sleep, and or what their hobbies and interest are.
Basically, everything is gendered.

Attraction

Attraction has something to do with who a person is attracted to---

whether a person is attracted to same, opposite or both sexes.

Heterosexual – is a person who is attracted to the opposite gender.

Homosexual – is a person who is attracted to the same sex.

Bisexual – is a person who is attracted to both sexes.

Human sexuality, which is related to the element of attraction, is

considered fluid, which means it could change throughout time. For example,
one person can be attracted to man or woman. Or, a person could be attracted
to man its entire life than all of a sudden is now attracted to women.

Pansexual – is a person who is not attracted to either of the two sexes

but is attracted to a person’s personality.

Asexual – is a person who is not attracted to either of the two sexes at

all. However, this does not mean that asexual person do not desire romantic
relationship or affection just no sex.

The construction of a gender is complex. It consists of great amount of

psychology, biology, sociology and etc.

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Lesson 4

 Theoretical Approaches in the

Study of Gender

A theory is a way to describe, explain, and predict relationships among

phenomena. Each of us uses theories to make sense of our lives, to guide our
attitudes and actions, and to predict others’ behavior. Among the theories that
each of us has are the ones we use to make sense of men’s and women’s
behavior.

Julia Wood (2014) suggests that theories of gender development and

behavior can be classified into four broad types: (1) biological, (2)
interpersonal, (3) cultural, and (4) critical. Within these broad categories, a
number of specific theories offer insight into factors and processes that
contribute to the gendering of individuals. Wood’s (2014) classification of
theories on gender is discussed below.

Biological Theories of Gender

Biological Theory maintains that biological characteristics are the basis

of gender differences which focus on (1) sex chromosomes, (2) hormonal
activities, and (3) brain specialization. Accordingly, they influence a range of
individual qualities (i.e. body features, thinking and motor skills).

One focus of biological theories is the influence of sex chromosomes.

Most males have an XY chromosome structure wherein the Y chromosome
determines the biological sex of males. Most females on the other hand have an
XX chromosome structure, because they inherit an X chromosome from each
parent. One significant difference of the chromosome structures between males
and females as evidences suggest include that of inheriting intelligence and
sociability. Studies show (Tanouye as cited in Wood, 2014) that several genes
that control intelligence are located only on X chromosomes. This implies that
some aspects of male’s intelligence are inherited only from their mothers,
whereas females may inherit their intelligence from both parents. Genetic
researchers have also reported that the primary gene responsible for social skills
is active only on the X chromosome (Langreth as cited in Wood, 2014). This may
explain why women, who have two X chromosomes, are generally more adept
and confortable than men in many social situations.

A second focus of biological theories is the role of hormonal activity in

shaping sex-related behaviors. Sex hormones affect development of the brain as
well as the body. For instance, estrogen, the primary female hormone, causes
women’s bodies to produce “good” cholesterol and to make their blood vessels
more flexible than those of men (Ferraro as cited in Wood, 2014). Also, estrogen
seems to impede liver functioning such that women eliminate alcohol more
slowly than men thus may react more quickly to alcohol consumption (Lang as
cited in Wood, 2014). Male sex hormones, primarily testosterone, have some

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documented effects as well. Research suggests that males who use drugs,
engage in violent and abusive behavior, and have behavior problems tend to be
at their cycle’s peak level of testosterone. Higher levels of testosterone are also
linked to jockeying for power, attempts to influence or dominate others, and
physical expressions of anger (Cowley as cited in Wood, 2014).

A third focus of biological theories of difference is brain specialization,

which appear to be linked to sex. Men tend to have better development in the
left lobe that controls linear thinking, sequential information, spatial skills, and
abstract reasoning (Andersen as cited in Wood, 2014). Women tend to have
greater development of the right lobe that controls imaginative and artistic
activity, holistic, intuitive thinking, and some visual and spatial tasks (Joseph as
cited in Wood, 2014).

Biological theories of gender attribute masculine and feminine qualities

and abilities to genetics and biology. Biological differences are quite small and
do not explain most behavioral differences between men and women.
Researchers believe that biology is also substantially edited by environmental
factors, to which the other theories rely much of their explanations.

Interpersonal Theories of Gender

A number of theorists have focused on interpersonal factors that

influence the development of masculinity and femininity. Their work has led to
development of three theories that shed light on how individuals become
gendered. Psychodynamic theory emphasizes interpersonal relationships within
family that affect a child’s sense of identity, particularly his or her gender.
Social learning and cognitive development theories [under the umbrella of
psychological theories of gender] stress learning and role modeling between
children and a variety of other people.

Psychodynamic theories assume that relationships, especially the

earliest ones with the primary caretaker, typically the mother, fundamentally
influence how an infant comes to define her or his identity via intrapsychic
processes, including gender. Between mother and daughter, there is
fundamental likeness that encourages close identification, whereas between
mother and son, full identification between them is less likely to develop.
Daughters tend to develop typical attentiveness to relationships as a result of
closer interaction with their mothers, whereas sons tend to develop
independence as a result of lesser interaction and lack of full identification with
their mothers (Wood, 2014).

Psychological theories also focus on the interpersonal bases of gender,

but they do not emphasize intrapsychic processes as do the psychodynamic
explanations. Instead, psychological theories of gender highlight the influence of
communication on gender. Social learning theory, for instance, claims that
individuals learn to be masculine and feminine primarily by imitating others and
getting responses from others to their behaviors. Children imitate the
communication they see on television, films and social media, as well as the

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communication of parents, teachers, siblings and others. Cognitive development

theory, on the one hand, assumes that children play active roles [as compared
to the passive role of children in social learning theory] in developing their
gender identities. Researchers claim that children pick models to teach
themselves competency in masculine or feminine behavior.

Cultural Theories of Gender

A third group of theories focuses on understanding gender from a cultural

or cross-cultural perspective. Cultural scholars do not necessarily dispute
biological and interpersonal factors, but they do assume that these are qualified
by the influence of culture, chiefly defined in Anthropology as “the way of life”.

Anthropological studies provide different ways that explain why many

societies have views of gender that differ from one’s currently prevailing
culture. Anthropologists, for instance, would report that Tahitian men tend to
be gentle, mild-tempered, and non-aggressive, and is entirely acceptable for
them to cry, show fear, and express pain (Coltrane as cited in Wood, 2014).
Australian aboriginal fathers have no say in their daughters’ marriages; that is
up to the mothers. A number of Samoan males tattoo their bodies from waist to
below the knees as a means of marking the transition from childhood to
manhood. The Mbuti, a tribe of pygmies in central Africa, don’t discriminate
strongly between the sexes (Coltrane as cited in Wood, 2014). And on Orango
Island on the western shore of Africa, women choose mates and, a man cannot
refuse without dishonoring his family (Callimachi as cited in Wood, 2014).
Perhaps the most important lesson we can draw from anthropological studies is
that cultures profoundly shape our understanding of identity and our own sex
and gender identities.

Symbolic interactionism, a theory in sociology on the one hand, claims

that through communication with others we learn who we are and how our
culture views our identity. As parents and others interact with children, they
literally tell the children who they are. A child is described as big or dainty,
delicate or tough, active or quiet, and so on. With each label, others offer the
child a self-image, and children internalize others’ views to arrive at their own
understandings of who they are. Communication is the central process whereby
we gain a sense of who we are; from the moment of birth, we engage in
interaction with others, especially parents who tells us who we are, what is
appropriate for us, and what is unacceptable.

Cultural theories broaden our understandings by showing how social

expectations and values about the sexes are systematically taught to individuals.
From anthropology, we gain insight into arbitrary and variable nature of gender
by seeing the different views of men and women held in diverse cultures.
Symbolic interactionist theory offers an understanding of the key role of
communication in socializing new members into the understandings and values
of a given culture.

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Critical Theories of Gender

Critical theories do something else beyond description, explanation and

prediction--- they direct our attention to structures and practices by which
societies classify people into groups and then accord more or less privilege to
different groups. Critical theorists are particularly interested in identifying how
dominant groups manage to privilege their interests and perspectives and
impose them on less powerful groups. At the same time, they want to
understand how oppressed groups become empowered and, in some cases,
change dominant patterns and perhaps the ideologies that underlie them. In this
sense, critical theories have a political edge.

Standpoint theory focuses on how membership in groups, such as those

designated by gender, race and sexual identity, shapes what individual
experience, know, feel and do, as well as how individuals understand social life
as a whole. Members of groups that have power have a vested interest in
preserving their place in the hierarchy, so their views of social life may be more
distorted than the views of persons who are disadvantaged by existing power
relationships. The theory’s main contribution to understanding gender is calling
our attention to how membership in particular socially constructed groups shape
individual’s perspectives, identities and abilities. Our different social locations
provide the possibility of developing different standpoints that reflect a political
awareness of social hierarchy, privilege and oppression.

Queer performative theory, on the one hand, is a critic of conventional

categories of identity and cultural views of “normal” and “abnormal”,
particularly in relation to sexuality. This theory argues that identities are not
fixed, but somewhat fluid. Gender fluid is a term which refers to an individual’s
tendency to fluctuate between more than one gender, or between having a
gender and not having one. Simply put it, gender comes into being only as it is
expressed or performed. Queer performances are means of challenging and
destabilizing cultural categories and values attached to them.

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 MODULE SUMMARY

In Module I, you have learned about the conceptual and theoretical

foundations of the study of gender and society. You have learned the basic
concepts, theories and rationale of studying the course.

There are four lessons in Module I. Lesson 1 was divided into three parts
that focused on the growing research interest in gender studies,
interdisciplinarity of this emerging field and the rationale behind studying the
course.

Lesson 2 dealt primarily with the crucial difference between sex and
gender.

Lesson 3 revolved around the development, or better yet evolution of

terminologies related to gender giving way for the society to acknowledge the
growing demand and grievances of the LGBTQ+ society.

Lastly, lesson 4 provided a brief discussion on the different theories on

gender that explains the development of an individual’s gender.

Congratulations! You have just studied Module I. Now, you are ready to
evaluate how much you have benefited from your reading by answering the
summative test. Good Luck!!!

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 BOOKS:
REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

Else-Quest, N. and Hyde, J. (2018). Women and Gender. Half the Human
Experience, 9th ed. SAGE Publishing: United States.

Goldstein, T. (2019). Teaching Gender and Sexuality at School. Letters to

Teachers. Routledge: United States.

Myers, D. and Twenge, J. (2019). Genes, Culture and Gender in Social

Psychology, 13th ed. McGraw-Hill: United States.

Ray, R. et al (2018). The Social Life of Gender. SAGE Publications: United

States.

ONLINE SOURCES:

Boundless. (2016). “The Social Construction of Gender.” Sociology – Cochise

College. Accessible at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cochise-
sociology-os/chapter/the-social-construction-of-gender/

Cudis, C. (2019). List of laws protecting women in PH. Accessible at:

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1063739

David, C. et al (2017). Sustainable Development Goal 5: How Does the

Philippines Fare on Gender Equality? Philippine Institute for
Development Studies. Discussion Paper Series No. 2017-45. Accessible
at: https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps1745.pdf

Drucker, S. (2018). The Three Waves of Feminism Gender Equality and Equity.
Accessible at: http://www.ohiohumanities.org/betty-friedan-the-three-
waves-of-feminism

Grady, C. (2018). The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over
them, explained. Accessible at:
https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-
first-second-third-fourth

Hega, M. et al (2017). Feminism and the Women's Movement in the

Philippines. Struggles, Advances and Challenges. Accessible at:
https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/philippinen/14072.pdf

Hetero, W. (2018). Genderbread Cookie. Accessible at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cdsGFnNp6Q

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International Advisers. (2015). Difference between gender and sex. Retrieved

on June 14, 2020 from https://www.slideshare.net/sqjafery/difference-
bw-gender-and-sex

Iovannone, J. (2018). A Brief History of the LGBTQ Intialism. Accessible at:

https://medium.com/queer-history-for-the-people/a-brief-history-of-
the-lgbtq-initialism-e89db1cf06e3

Killermann, S. (2017). A Guide to Gender: The Social Justice Advocate’s

Handbook. 2nd ed. Accessible at:
https://www.medfieldsel.com/uploads/1/0/0/8/100870892/%5Be-
book%5D_a_guide_to_gender__2nd_edition__-_by_sam_killermann.pdf

Rampton, M. (2015). Four Waves of Feminism. Accessible at:

https://www.pacificu.edu/magazine/four-waves-feminism

Silverio, S. (2017). Review: National Geographic – Gender Revolution Special

Issue: The Shifting Landscape of Gender. Accessible at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317689276_Review_National
_Geographic_-
_Gender_Revolution_Special_Issue_The_Shifting_Landscape_of_Gender_
January_2017

Woodward, K. and Woodward, S. (2015). Gender Studies and

Interdisciplinarity. Palgrave Commune 1. Accessible at:
https://www.nature.com/articles/palcomms201518

Wood, J. (2018). Gendered lives: Communication, Gender and Culture.

Australia: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning. Accessible at:
https://www.slideshare.net/locucuha91706/2018-gendered-lives-pdf-
by-julia-t-wood-cengage-learning

GEEC 111 MODULE I: Conceptual and Theoretical Foundations