Gender and Society

Lecture 5
GED109 Gender and Society
Gender Awareness
Course Outcome

Explain gender construction as a social fact and discuss the role of

gender and its impacts on different dimensions of society.
Sex and Gender Distinction
SEX
• Sex is biologically determined. It is “the physical structure of one’s
reproductive organs that is used to assign sex at birth.”

“…..to determine sex one must assay the following physical conditions:
chromosomes, external genitalia, internal genitalia, gonads, hormonal
states and secondary sex characteristics

(Stoller, Robert J. Sex and Gender: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity.1968.p.9)
SEX
• “Every person has 23 pairs of chromosomes in each cell. All but one
pair are the same in females and males. It is in this 23rd pair that
differentiates the sexes.

• Females have the XX chromosomes while men have just one X,

together with a smaller Y. The Y chromosome accounts for the genetic
differences between females and males.

• Among the few biological differences of males and females is the

latter’s ability to bear a child and breastfeed it.
SEX
Not all people have either XX or XY chromosomes

• There can be “…a certain amount of overlapping...and in some

unusual cases, the overlapping is considerable, as in certain
hermaphrodites.
SEX
• In addition to the XX female and XY male, there are individuals (XO,
XXY, XXXY, etc) who have a mixing of some of their biological
attributes of sex. Such people are often anatomically intersexed as
well.” (Stoller, 1968: 9)

• These variations do not cause variations is sexual orientations and

gender identity.
Hermaphrodites
• As all humans, have right to privacy. It is their choice if they want to
disclose or not. Some findings are not revealed in order to protect
them.

• Often, they are ridiculed or treated differently.

GENDER
Notions on Gender

a. “socially constructed roles and relationships, personality traits, attitudes,

behaviours, values, relative power and influence that society ascribes to the two
sexes on a differential basis.” (Health Canada. Health Canada's Gender-based
analysis policy. Ottawa: Minister of Public Works, 2000 p.14)

b. “expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviours of

both women and men (femininity and masculinity).”

(UNESCO’s Gender Mainstreaming Implementation Framework)

GENDER
c. social relations, including power relations,
between women and men.

“…gender roles and characteristics do not exist in isolation, but are

defined in relation to one another and through the relationships
between women and men, girls and boys.” (Health Canada. Health Canada's
Gender-based analysis policy. Ottawa:Minister of Public Works, 2000 p.14)
GENDER
• 1.2. Gender definitions are learned, fluid and diverse. They are not
permanent. They can and do change over time. They also vary across
cultures.

• Gender can be transformed towards equality and women’s

empowerment

• Gender definitions maybe based on stereotypes

Reproductive Work
• Women’s roles are often assigned to the home which is considered
“private”. They involve activities and tasks that are related to the
sustenance of the family, whether physical, social, emotional or
spiritual, e.g., nurturing, socialization of children, cooking, washing clothes, and the
maintenance of the house, e.g. cleaning.
Productive work
• Men’s roles, are assigned not only to the private but also the public
sphere - pertains to all spaces outside of the home where productive
and civic work is done.

• Productive work is any activity that leads to the creation/provision of

goods and services that have monetary or exchange value.

• As the designated head of the family, the man is socialized into

becoming the primary wage earner and family representative in
community and other public affairs
Gender
• The ideological content of socialization is influenced by the system of
PATRIARCHY- a form of social organization which grants the father
supreme authority in the family, clan, community, society.

• Privileging the man, it results in unequal social relations of power

between girls and boys, women and men.
Asian and Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence.
http://www.apiidv.org/violence/patriarchy-power.php. Accessed September 4, 2012
Gender roles are fluid and diverse.
• A 1918 editorial from Earnshaw's Infants' Department stated that pink
was "
a more decided and stronger color ... more suitable for the boy; while
blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl
."
(http://www.cracked.com/article_19780_5-gender-stereotypes-that-used-to-be-exact-opposite.html)
“Only men wear flowers in their hair and scented leaves tucked into
their belts or arm bands. At formal dances it is the man who dresses in
the most elegant finery and… when these young men are fully made up
and costumed for the dance they are considered so irresistible to
women that they are not allowed to be alone, even for a moment, for
fear of some women will seduce them.”
(William Davenport wrote about a Southwest Pacific society)
• Babaylan in pre-colonial Philippines were “… the females shamans of
the barangay or village communities in the Visayan islands of the
Philippine archipelago. They were women, or men who dressed up
like women, or men who were gay or hemaphrodites.” (Babaylan)
Violence is part of the life stages of women, from infancy to their senior
years.

Anthony Lake, ED of UNICEF says that violence against children is present

“in every country, in every culture.”
1 in every 5 women aged 15-49 has experienced physical violence since age
15

VAW accdg to PCW is linked to the unequal relationship between women

and men where the latter is given more power and status.
Learning Checkpoint: Gender benders
Pictures will be presented one by one, please identify the sex and/or
gender of the following individuals.

You may key-in your answers at the zoom chatbox

Picture No. 1
He is Andrej
Pejic , a male
Australian-Serb
model of male
and female
clothes
Picture No. 2
Mianne Bagger,
Australian golfer,
was formerly a man
and the first
transsexual in
history to qualify to
the Ladies Europian
Tour
Picture No. 3
Caster Semanya is a South African middle distance
runner. She won a gold medal in the 2008 World Youth
Commonwealth Games. Shortly after she was required
by the International Association of Athletic Federation
to undergo gender testing. The results were not made
public out of respect for her privacy. However IAAF
cleared her, thereby allowing her to competition other
international competitions
Picture No. 4
Tilda Swinton is British,
female, heterosexual, and
an Oscar- award winning
actor
Picture No. 5
Kevin Balot, Filipino
transgender who was crowned
Miss International Queen in
2012
GENDER
• Gender definitions shape our ideas of how
girls/women and boys/men should look like. If the
latter do not conform to what we have been made to
believe, our attitudes and mode of relating with them
change, too.
GENDER

• Gender identity is about the ways in which individuals define

themselves – male, female, both or neither- which may or may not be
the same as their anatomical sex
GENDER

• Those with gender identity that is not the same as their anatomical
sex they are often discriminated and targeted for acts of violence.
GENDER

• Gender diversity refers to the different ways that people have

preferences and self expressions that are outside the conventional
gender norms for males and females (
http://www.genderspectrum.org/about/understanding-gender)
GENDER

• Included in this diverse gender spectrum are gender benders. They

are people who view gender as constructed socio-culturally, “that can
be turned on or off, tuned in or out at will.”(
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gender%20bender
s
)
GENDER

• “---someone who bends gender might wear baggy

pants and pee standing one day and crack out heels
and a corset the next.
• People can bend gender in many ways and contexts,
and because of this, people who are of any gender or
sexual orientation can be gender benders.”
GENDER

• Regardless of gender identity, everyone has inherent worth and

dignity, and fundamental human rights. As such, all should be treated
with RESPECT.

Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gender%20benders
SOGIE 101
Sex, Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression
Learning Checkpoint: Push or Charot
The succeeding slides contain statements that you may or may not
agree with. If you agree with the statement key-in PUSH, otherwise
please type CHAROT.
Push!

Charot!
Female and male are what
t !
we call agenders.
ro
C h
A girl wears clothes that
are for boys—that !
makes
o t
r
her ahlesbian.
a
C
 sh !
Pu
Gender
changes.
Being lesbian or gay is a
personal choice.
Charot!
Push!
 Cha
Transwomenrotare
! men in
terms of gender identity.
What is your gender?
or
Ano ang iyong
pangkasarian?
What is your sex?
or
Ano ang iyong
kasarian?
Sex:

 biological
 SEX

MALE INTERSEXUAL FEMALE

Orientation:
 each person’s capacity for
profound emotional, affectional
and sexual attraction to, and
intimate and sexual relations with
 Answers: “Who am I attracted
to? Who do I love?”
 ORIENTATION

Heterosexual Bisexual Homosexual

Asexual Pansexual
Gender Identity:
 refers to each person’s deeply
felt internal and individual
experience of gender, which
may or may not correspond
with the sex assigned at birth
Answers : “Who am I?”
 GENDER IDENTITY

Man Two-Spirit Woman

Transgender Agender
Expression:

 the way in which a person

expresses their gender identity,
typically through their
appearance, dress, and
behavior
 EXPRESSION

Feminine Androgynous Masculine

What we would like to highlight:

• We live in a world of diversity.

• SOGIE should not be used for unequal treatment and
discrimination.
• SOGIE should be discussed
• Everyone should re-assess notions on and attitudes
toward sex, gender and SOGIE
Who are they?:

Quick test
 Ako si Tony. Ako ay may puke. Kasalukuyan
akong may boyfriend. May kalamyaan ako sa
pagkilos kaya palagi akong sinasabihan na
babaeng-babe daw ako gumalaw. Ano po ang
SOGIE ko?

CASE 1
 Ako si Oli na may tatlong biolohikal na anak.
Humahanga ako sa parehas na babae at lalaki.
Nalilito ako. Pero sigurado naman ako na babae
ang tingin ko sa sarili ko. Parehas brusko at
malambot ang pagkilos ko. Ano ang SOGIE ko?

CASE 2
CASE 3

Ako si Kim. Ako ay may titi. Nagkakagusto ako sa

lahat ng pangkasarian. Tingin ko sa sarili ko ay babae.
Gayun pa man-nagdadamit panlalaki ako. Ano po ang
SOGIE ko?
CASE 4

Lalaking-lalaki daw akong kumilos. Sang-ayon naman

ako dun pero nagkakagusto ako sa kapwa ko lalaki
lang. Wala akong pangkasarian kasi naniniwala ako na
hindi dapat ako magpa-tali sa social norms na yan.
CASE 5

Ako si Liam. Ako ay may puke pero sabi ng mga

kaibigan ko, hindi raw dapat ako brusko kumilos.
Nagdadamit panlalaki rin kasi ako at kilos lalaki din. E
ano naman? Dun ako komportable eh. Ano po ang
SOGIE ko?
CASE 6

Parehas babae at lalaki ang tingin ko sa sarili ko pero

nagkakagusto ako sa kasalungat kong kasarian.
CASE 7

Ako si LJ. Kasalukuyan ko po akong nasa

pangangalaga ng Marillac. Ako po ay nagkakagusto sa
kapwa ko babae. Tomboy po kaya ako?
 CASE 8

Ako po si Sam. Kagaya ni LJ, nasa pangangalaga rin po

ako ng Marillac. Nung tinanong po ako kung kanino
ako may crush ng kaibigan ko, sabi ko po, wala. Hindi
po ba yun normal?
 CASE 9

Kakapanganak ko lang nung isang linggo sa bunso

namin ng asawa ko. Buhat nang naging kami nung
hayskul pa, wala na akong ibang minahal at
hinangaang iba.
 Dalawa ang bayolohikal na anak ko sa misis ko dati. Sa
ngayon, kasabay ng paglambot ng pagkilos ko at
pagdadamit ng kasuotang pambabae, naging babae na
din ang tingin ko sa sarili ko. Late bloomer daw ako sabi
nila pero wala akong magagawa, dito ako masaya eh.

CASE 10
Important concepts to keep in mind

Gender Stratifies!
Gender, like age, social class, or ethnicity, is a social stratifier. This
session is about how gender constructs can stereotype and stratify
people, putting males on a pedestal and privileging them in both
private and public spheres, and subordinating the value and interests of
girls and women.
 Gender Stereotypes

A gender stereotype is “an over-generalized belief in the characteristics

of a person based simply on their gender.

It is a rigidly held and oversimplified belief that all males and females
possess distinct psychological and behavioral traits”

(Ateneo Human Rights Center 2007:7). Training Manual on Gender Sensitivity and CEDAW. C.2007.p.7)
Gender Stereotypes

• Gender stereotypes reflect how males and females are

valued in society. They represent differential valuation
and treatment accorded to males and females, and
others whose gender identities are different from their
biological sex.
Gender Stereotypes
• Often, men’s gender roles and characteristics, even in
stereotypes, are given more importance and status.

• Gender as a stratifier leads to unequal access of males

and females to opportunities, income, wealth, and
privilege, with males enjoying greater access than
females.
Gender Stereotypes
• Discrimination against women: "…. any distinction,
exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which
has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women,
irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality
of men and women, of human rights and fundamental
freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil
or any other field.” (Article 1, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women)
Gender Stereotypes
Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination against
women. It is “violence that is directed against a woman
because she is a woman or that affects women
disproportionately…. includes acts that inflict physical,
mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts,
coercion, and other deprivations of liberty.” (General
Recommendation No. 19, Committee on CEDAW. 1992)
GENDER GAPS

Oxfam International provides the following global data:

• Education – Girls comprise two-thirds of all children
who are denied access to education.
• Work – Women do two-thirds of the world’s working
hours but earn only ten percent of its income.
GENDER GAPS

Oxfam International provides the following global data:

• Welfare – Domestic violence is considered to be the
biggest cause of injury and death to women globally.
•  Democracy – Only 14 per cent of the world’s
governmental seats are held by women. (Source:
http://www.oxfam.org/en/about/issues/gender.Accessed 15 November 2012)
GENDER GAPS

In 2012, the World Economic Forum ranked the

Philippines No. 1 in Asia and No. 8 among 135 countries
in the area of gender equality. The gender gap has been
reversed in education with more females in school from
primary (87%), secondary (76%) up to tertiary education
(56%).
GENDER GAPS

• But, Patricia Licuanan, former Chair of the Commission

on Higher Education (CHEd), asserts that “labor-force
participation of women remains lower than men. Men
are more likely to be wage and salary and own-account
workers, while women are more likely to be unpaid
workers and comprise 85 percent of the informal
economy” (Esmaquel II. 2012)
GENDER GAPS

Other gender gaps may be gleaned from the following

statistical data:
• In the Philippines, for the same kind of work, women
receive only 76 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Female managers constitute only 30 per cent in medium
sized enterprises, and 20 per cent in large enterprises.
(World Bank 2012)
GENDER GAPS
• 50.4 per cent of women are in the workforce under the
Aquino Administration (Ramos-Shahani 2012)

• “..female prostitutes (unlike male prostitutes and

vagrants) continue to be criminalized, while men who
participate in their exploitation are not held liable for
prosecution “ (Ibid)  
Question and/or Clarifications?
Gender and Society

Lecture 5