A Critique Paper on Gender and Development

Gender is one of the most salient and influential aspects of a person’s identity. Gender
influences a person’s appearance, interests, activities, friendships, interpersonal styles, romantic
relationships, and career decisions (Miller, 2016). Development is the process of developing or
being developed or the process in which someone or something grows or changes and becomes
more advanced (Cambridge dictionary). These two words are important for the person to become
what he/she wants to be. When these two words are together it will form inclusivity in all aspects
of life living in this world that full of discrimination and negative things around.
The topic “Gender and Development” was discussed during the seminar on Gender and
Society last December 7, 2019. According to him, Gender and Development tackles about the
inclusion of LGBTQ+++ in the society where it stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
etc. It is also talking about mostly women, that is said to be only second class in the society. That
is for me is right, we should develop an inclusivity from different genders and accept to be part
of the community and the society. We should not degrade other genders such as gays, lesbians
and other genders because of their difference and to what the society tells to them. We are living
now in a modern world, modern society, and we cannot change the fact that the present and also
the future may not be the same as what the past is.
Gender and Development as what the speaker discussed, is about being faithful to the
principle that development for all. It is the fairness and equity demand that everyone in the
society; whether male or female, has the right to the same opportunities to achieve a full and
satisfying life. The development is more on about protecting women and child against
discrimination, violence, and other actions that may lead to harassment and unethical doings. It is
right to promote this because dominance of men is spreading and women will continuously
suffer to death if it was not figure it out by activist or a person that has a vision to overcome this
certain issue. They should offer institutional support to women academics and other male
colleagues in their efforts to promote gender equality and women’s human rights if we are to
integrate gender equality as an essential element in development strategies (Pulmano, 2016).
Gender and Development looks at the impact of development on both women and men. It seeks
to ensure that both women and men participate in and benefit equally from development and so
emphasizes equality of benefit and control (Muyoyeta, 2019). It recognizes that women may be
involved in development, but not necessarily benefit from it. Gender and Development is not
concerned with women exclusively, but with the way in which gender relations allot specific
roles, responsibilities and expectations between men and women, often to the detriment of
women.
Mahatma Gandhi says that “Man and woman are a peerless pair; being supplementary to
one another; each helps the other, so that without the one, the existence of the other cannot be
conceived and, therefore, it follows that anything that impairs the status of either of them will
involve the equal ruin of them both (Duffy, 2019). It just telling us that men and women are
connected from each other on what happen they are at each other’s back. But because of the
tradition, they were being discriminated by the society. In all, gender and development is made
to have inclusivity of all genders mostly women, but today according to gender and development
promotes inclusion of LGBTQ+++ to protect them for being discriminated everywhere in the
society and to have oneness in all of the things or struggles may come to their lives.