Gender Studies

GENDER MEANING:
Gender is used to describe the characteristics of women and men that are socially
constructed. Gender directly means the fact of being male or female. Gender is a social and
cultural construct, which distinguishes differences in the attributes of men and women,
and accordingly refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women. Gender-based
roles and other attributes, therefore, change over time and vary with different cultural
contexts. There are four different types of genders that apply to living and nonliving objects.
The four genders are masculine, feminine, neuter and common.

Difference between Sex and Gender

SEX
1 Sex refers to the biological
and physiological differences
between Male and Female on
the basis of their
reproductive structures.
2 Sex has two main categories
i.e., male and female
3 Sex is determined or
inherited by birth
4 Generally, SEX ROLE
cannot be changed by time
and culture. i.e., only
Women can give birth to
children and Men can
Impregnate.
5 Sex is created by the
reproductive needs, that is
biological feature
GENDER
Gender refers to the social,
cultural, behavioral and
emotional differences
between men and women.
Main categories of Gender
are Masculine and Feminine.
Gender is influenced by
social, cultural and
behavioral factors
Gender is flexible term and
its ROLE can be changed by
Time and culture. Women
can perform Men’s role (all
social duties of men) i.e, be a
Doctor, Engineer etc. Men
can also adopt women social
duties such as feeding and
caring kids etc.
Gender distinctions are
created by social Norms.

Gender theory developed in the academy during the 1970s and 1980s as a set of ideas guiding
historical and other scholarship in the West. In social history it particularly thrived in
the United States and Great Britain, with far fewer followers on the European continent.
Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender,
and politics.[

Margaret Mead, most notably, described non-Western societies where men performed tasks
that Westerners might call "feminine" and vice versa. Mead described many variations in
men's and women's tasks and sexual roles in her best-selling studies (such as Coming of Age
in Samoa; 1928), opening one way for scholars to reappraise the seemingly fixed behaviors
of men and women and to see stereotypes as contingent rather than determined by nature.
 "One is not born, one is made a woman," the French philosopher and novelist Simone de
Beauvoir wrote in her 1949 best-seller, The Second Sex. In her view women, in contrast to
men, acted in accordance with men's view of them and not according to their own lights. This
analysis drew on phenomenological and existential philosophy that portrayed the
development of the individual subject or self in relationship to an object or "other." Thus, as
Beauvoir extrapolated from this theory, a man formed his subjectivity in relationship to
"woman" as other or object, spinning his own identity by creating images of someone or
something that was not him.

Life in a Gendered World

People may advise a young person on which subjects to take in school or college by
saying, “you should study this – it is a good subject for a girl” or “that is not the right
subject for a boy”. In this way, education is also gendered, as is the job market –
different opportunities are considered to be appropriate for girls and boys. Certain
careers are gendered – nursing, for example, is a profession that has more women than
men and which is not deemed appropriate for men. Physical spaces may be gendered.
Many women’s studies scholars
have pointed out that often, academic disciplines would not take women into account
when developing theories and concepts, or when doing research and collecting data. An
example of this has been given above – women’s unpaid housework is not calculated as
part of our country’s GDP. If the GDP is to reflect the total of the goods and services
produced in the country, shouldn’t it then include housework? If it doesn’t, isn’t it then
inaccurate? A gender studies perspective can, in this way, indicate and correct
imbalances and inaccuracies in various disciplines. It can also ask the significant
question – why have these errors and imbalances come into being? Why have various
disciplines not recognised the contributions of women? Why have these contributions
been devalued and/or ignored?
Gender studies has, in this way, questioned the theories and underlying assumptions of
many disciplines. In doing so, it has also developed new tools and techniques for
research.
One of the most significant dimensions of gender studies is that
it is political. It raises questions about power in society, and how
and why power is differentially distributed between different
genders. It asks questions about who has power over whom, in
which situations, how power is exercised, and how it is, and can
be, challenged. Different theories and perspectives within
gender studies have different approaches to these questions, and
look for answers in different social processes. Many debates are
on going, as new data is revealed and new theories are put forth.

Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes,
differences, and the roles of individuals and/or groups. Stereotypes can be positive
or
negative, but they rarely communicate accurate information about others.
DIVISION OF MEN'S STUDIES INTO TWO BRANCHES
One branch of men's studies emerged as a reaction against gender studies and feminism.
Although theorists who react to feminism in this way acknowledge the historical oppression
of women, those writers emphasize the idea that patriarchal systems are capable of
oppressing men as well as women. In addition, those writers voice a concern that men are left
out of the conversation in gender studies or are degraded, perpetuating a sense of guilt and
inferiority.

The second branch of men's studies envisions a more peaceful coexistence with feminism and
gender studies. According to its practitioners, the mission of men's studies is to continue the
revolutionary project of gender studies. For theories of gender studies to succeed in
consciousness-raising and political change across a society, the impact of those ideas on men
as well as men's role in society must be examined in a more thorough and systematic way.

Waves of Feminism
The first wave in the late 19th-century was not the first appearance of
feminist ideals, but it was the first real political movement for the Western
world. In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft published the revolutionary Vindication
of the Rights of Woman. In 1848, about 200 women met in a church. They
came up with 12 resolutions asking for specific rights, such as the right to
vote. Reproductive rights also became an important issue for early
feminists. After years of feminist activism, Congress finally passed the 19th
amendment in 1920 and gave women the vote. This was almost 30 years
after New Zealand became the first country where women could vote.

First-wave feminism had a fairly simple goal: have society recognize that
women are humans, not property. While the leaders of 1st-wave feminism
were abolitionists, their focus was on white women’s rights. This exclusion
would haunt feminism for years to come.

Second wave feminism, from roughly the 1960s to the 1990s,

encompassed far more issues such as pay equality, reproductive rights,
female sexuality, and domestic violence. Like the first wave of feminism,
many of these goals were achieved through legislation and important court
decisions. That said, while the second wave movement made some
attempts to encompass racial justice, it remained a lesser priority than
gender. Class and race were viewed as secondary issues, if they were
considered at all. The disparities between white women and white men
narrowed, but the inequity between women of color and white men or even
between women of color and white women largely remained the same.

Third wave feminism emerged from the mid 1990’s, challenging female
heteronormativity. Third wavers sought to redefine femininity and sought to
celebrate differences across race, class, and sexual orientations. While
third wave feminists support feminism, they reject many stereotypes of the
feminine ideal, sometimes even rejecting the word “feminism” itself. This
movement was a stark departure from the second wave and the
development of intersectionality began to take form. The term
intersectionality was coined by lawyer and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw “to
describe how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics
‘intersect’ with one another and overlap.”

Fourth wave feminism is newly emerging over the last decade or so,
therefore it’s difficult to define. That said, fourth wave feminism is seen as
characterized by action-based viral campaigns, protests, and movements
like #MeToo advancing from the fringes of society into the headlines of our
everyday news. The fourth wave has also been characterized as “queer,
sex-positive, trans-inclusive, body-positive, and digitally driven.” It seeks to
further deconstruct gender norms. The problem these feminists confront is
systemic white male supremacy. Fourth wavers believe there is no
feminism without an understanding of comprehensive justice that
deconstructs systems of power and includes emphasis on racial justice as
well as examinations of class, disability, and other issues.