GENDER AND SEXUALITY

AS A SUBJECT OF INQUIRY
 LESSON OBJECTIVES
When you finish reading this chapter, you should be able to:
 1. define gender studies;
 2. discuss its historical origins; and
 3. explain its importance in society.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
 Gender studies - a field of study concerned about how reproductive
roles are interpreted and negotiated in the society through gender.
 Social Research - the process of investigating social realities.
 Research approach - the orientation in understanding social
realities. This can be qualitative (interpretive), quantitative
(deductive), or both.
 Ethics in research - these are considerations in conducting
research to make sure that the well-being of the participants are
ensured, and that the outcome of the study is sound without
undue harm to people involved.
 INTRODUCTION
 Gend er seems so obvious and so simple, many would ask wh y we have to
st udy it . Well, gend er st udies as an area of knowledge, is about looking
int o, analyzing, and examining society so t hat we not ice power relations in
t he seem ingly “simple t hings”. It helps us see t he issues in our everyday
lives through a diff erent lens.
 Th e go al of th is lesson is t o define and appreciate gender st udies. Gender is
a big part of our individualit y and so ciet y; it is a form of social organizatio n,
and it is of ten unnoticed. In different cult ures and dif ferent t imes in our
h ist ory, gender roles played a big part of social organizat ion.
 Gend er studies emerged from th e need to analyze h ow gender, sex, and
sexualit y imp act our lives, especially h ow it cre ates gender inequalit y. It
came ab out in t h e mid 1970's af t er th e second wave of f eminism as a way
t o challenge t he male- defined and male- cent ered knowledge.
 GENDER ROLE OR SEX ROLE
 Gender role or sex role are "sets of culturally defined behaviors such
as masculinity and femininity ' according to the Encyclopedia of Sex
and Gender (2019).
 These roles are not fixed such that the “culturally defined behaviors”
for men and women may be very different 50 years ago or very
different for people from other countries or tribe. In a binary system of
viewing gender roles, we only see the male and the female where men
are expected to be masculine while women are expected to be
feminine. This is the norm or the accepted standards of how to behave
like a woman (mahinhin) or how to behave like a man (matipuno/
matapang). In gender studies, we are asked to disrupt and question
these kinds of social expectations, gender roles, and gender norms.
 LET’S CONTEMPLATE!
 The following are common statements we hear from people. Reflect why
you think people 'agree or disagree with the statement. Reflect about your
own thoughts: Do you agree or disagree with each state ment? Why or why
not?
Statements Why People Why People Dis-
Agree? Agree?
Boys should not cry.
Girls are bad drivers while boys are superb drivers.
Boys should not be allowed to play dolls.
Women should be prim and proper. It is ok for
men to be rowdy, they are men anyway.
 GENDER STUDIES
 Gender studies are not just for women or all about women, it is about
everyone. It explores how our gender roles have changed throughout
our history and how it created inequalities. One hundred years ago,
women were not allowed to study at universities since their role was
only restricted to domestic or the household. This repressed women's
potential in shaping the social and political landscape in the past, but
it also placed the burden on the men to provide for the whole family.
 Our society has changed so much since then; the jobs available for
everyone is not so much dependent on physical strength, making these
jobs accessible to women as well. Most mothers also have a job now,
so they also provide for the family. Gender studies would ask us to
question, is it still right to say that the men are the providers of the
family when both mothers and fathers now work and earn money.
 DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
 Gender roles are socially constructed and are not something that
we are “born with". Society, through a lifelong process of
normalization, encourages or reprimands behaviors to make a
child adapt to these social expectations.
 A young boy is always encouraged to be brave, to play rough, to
be loud, and to not show signs of weakness such as crying. A
young girl is discouraged from playing rough and being loud,
instead they are told to be gentle and soft. If a child does not
follow these gender roles, they are reprimanded by parents,
relatives, friends, or anybody that they interact with. That is how
gender norm is forced upon an individual, a lifelong process of
normalization.
 DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people

often do not fit in the traditional binary gender
roles so they are often reprimanded, bullied, and
discriminated. They are often subjected to
violence and hate just because they do not fit in
what society calls “normal”.
 LET’S COMMUNICATE!
 The following are common statements we hear from people.
Reflect why you think people agree or disagree with the
statement. Reflect about your own thoughts: Do you agree or
disagree with each statement? Why or why not?

Would you be Willing to Befriend Someone who...

Is a native of a different country?

Does not have the same religious belief as you do?
Has a physical or mental disability?
Does not speak your language?
 GENDER STUDIES AND RESEARCH

As a subject of inquiry, Gender Studies utilizes a

systematic approach in identifying problems,
making hypotheses and assumptions, gathering
data, and making conclusions. This systematic
process is referred to as the research process.
 QUALITATIVE APPROACH

Qualitative approach focuses more on the meanings

created and interpretations made by people about their
own personal or vicarious (observed) experiences. For
example, if you want to know how women, men, or
LGBTQ+ live their lives on a daily basis and how they
make sense of their lived experiences, then the
qualitative approach is fitting.
 QUALITATIVE APPROACH

Some of the methods used in the qualitative approach are as

follows:
 phenomenology - conducting intensive interviews with individuals
who have experienced a particular event and understanding their
“lived experience”;
 hermeneutics - understanding the meaning of texts (literary
works, art works) and what they convey about human realities;
and
 ethnography and ethnomethodology - immersing in a community
and taking note of their experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and
practices.
 QUANTITATIVE APPROACH
 Quantitative approach, on the other hand, focuses more on
characterizing a population (total number of individual in a
group) or a sample (a sub-group within the population), and in
some cases, making generalizations about the population based
on the behavior of a sample. For instance, if you want to know
how many Filipino adolescents are engaged in a romantic
relationship or how many of them still believe in marriage, then
a quantitative approach is appropriate.
 QUANTITATIVE APPROACH

Some of the methods used in the quantitative approach are as

follows:
 survey - collecting information from a sample; and
 experiment – creating actual set-ups to observe behavior of
people in an experimental group (a group receiving treatment
such as training or a new experience) and comparing it to the
behavior of people in a control group (a group without any
treatment).
 MIXED METHODS
 In most cases, information from both qualitative and
quantitative approaches provide a holistic view about certain
social realities, such that there are researchers who prefer to
use mixed methods (combining qualitative and quantitative
methods to derive data from multiple sources).
 ETHICS IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY RESEARCH

 There are some principles to remember in conducting gender and

sexuality researches. These principles are referred to as ethical
principles because they make sure that people involved in the
research are protected from harm. Ethics is a prerequisite to a
properly conducted study.
 ETHICS IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY RESEARCH

T h e f ol l o w i n g a r e th e p r i n c i p l es to r e m em b er :
 I n f o r m ed c o n s en t - R es e a r c h e r s s h o u l d m a k e s u r e th a t t h e p ar t i ci p an ts i n t h e s tu d y
a r e a w a r e of t h e p u r p o s e a n d p r o c es s e s o f t h e s t u d y t h ey a r e p ar t i ci p at i n g i n . T h ey
s h ou l d a l s o e n su re t h a t o n l y t h os e p a r t i c i p a n t s wh o a g r e e ( i n w r i t i n g ) w i l l b e
i n c l u d e d , a n d t h a t t h ey s h a l l n o t f o r c e a n y p a r ti c i p a n t t o j oi n .
 C o n fi d e n t i a l i t y a n d a n o n y m i ty - R e s e a r c h e r s s h o u l d n o t r e v eal an y i n f o r m at i o n
p r ov i d e d b y th e p a r t i c i p a n ts , m uc h s o , th ei r i d e n t i t y t o a n yo n e w h o ar e n o t c on c er n ed
w i t h t h e s t u d y . Al l d a t a g a th er e d f r o m s u r v e y s o r i n t er v i e w s s h o u l d al s o b e p l ac ed i n
a s ec u r e l o c a t i o n o r f i l i n g s ys t e m .
 N o n - m a l e f i c en c e an d b en ef i c e n c e - A s t u d y s h o u l d d o n o h a r m ( n o n m al ef i ce n c e) t o
a n yo n e . E s p e c i a l l y i n r e se a r c h es i n v o l v i n g h u m a n s , a s t u d y s h o u l d b e b en ef i ci al
( b en ef i c e n c e ) fo r i t t o b e wo r t h i m p l em e n t i n g .
 D i s t r i b u t i v e j u s t i c e - - A n y st u d y s h o u l d n o t d i s a d v a n t a g e a p a rt i c u l ar g r o u p ,
e s p e c i a l l y t h e m ar g i n a l i z ed a n d th e o p p r e s s e d ( e. g . , p o o r p e o p l e, w o m e n , L G B T Q + ,
t h e e l d e rl y ) . T h e b en ef i t s o f a s t u d y s h o u l d b e fo r a l l .
 GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND HUMAN ECOLOGY

 Human Ecology, as a field, recognizes the interplay among

internal and external environments-physical, socio-economic,
cultural (Bronfenbrenner 1994; Bubolz and Sontag 1983). Hence,
to look at realities from an ecological perspective is to
appreciate that human development across lifespan is
influenced by these environments. In the context of gender and
sexuality, a human ecological approach looks at human sexual
lives and experiences at various levels and spheres of analysis.
 First, it sees gender and sexuality as an organismic and personal
experience.
 SUMMARY
 Gender, being male or female, has socially constructed
meanings, and it is different in every culture and may change
with time. It is important to analyze how society enforce gender
roles on everyone so we can further understand how power
relations in gender roles can limit an individual's freedom and
promote inequality. To help us have a holistic view, we need to
use frameworks and methods from different disciplines--
psychology, sociology, medicine, and law-among others