GSB211-Introduction to

Gender Studies

Dr Gilbert Mahlangu
 • Gender is embedded so thoroughly in our
institutions, our actions, our beliefs, and our
desires, that it appears to us to be completely
Introduction natural.
• Gender is not something we are born with, and
not something we have, but something we do
(West & Zimmerman, 1987) – something we
perform (Butler, 1990).
• Therefore, labelling someone a man or a woman
is a social decision
Questions addressed in
gender studies

• Why do girls have dolls and boys have cars for play?
• Why do women earn less than men?
• Why do they perform two-thirds of domestic work?
• Why is it so frowned upon for a man to be perceived as effeminate?
• Is power inherently masculine?
• How are the values privileging male dominance constructed?
• What are the implications of unequal gender power relationships?
Introduction

• Gender studies give language and voice to social inequalities, processes,

conditions, arrangements, and rituals that can otherwise go unspoken
and unnamed
• Gender Studies examines the social construction of gender and how it
shapes our lives
Introduction

• Gender studies focuses on the ways gender identity and sexual

orientation shape behaviors and feelings, and it investigates power
dynamics that relate to sex.
• Gender studies programs impart knowledge and skills that help in
navigating gender-related controversies
Introduction

• Gender Studies consider the effect of gender and sexuality on a range

of discourses embedded within culture, identity and global history.
• Reflect on ideas about sexual difference, sexual politics and sexuality
through close engagement with a broad variety of theorists, case
studies and media.
• One reason why most people refuse to participate in discussions on
gender studies is because they understand gender as something that
concerns women only.
Introduction

• Research tells us that we learn what our culture considers 'appropriate'

gender and sex roles by the age of two or three,
• Thus, children feel pressure at a very young age to conform to
expectations based on their perceived sex (or) gender and may limit
themselves as a result of these expectations.
Introduction

• Gender studies, therefore, is a study of production, reproduction, and

resistance to norms that produce inequality between men and women
Learning objectives

• By the end of the module, students should be able to :

• a) Demonstrate an understanding of key debates around gender and economic
development
• b) Examine /Analyze gender issues and their effect on sustainable economic growth
• c) Explore the importance of a gendered approach to business matters in
contemporary economic global dialogue.
• d) Develop strategies for redressing s gender inequalities for sustainable economic
growth
 • Understanding gender
• Macro theories of gender inequality
• Micro theories of gender inequality
Module
• Historical development of gender
outline
• Gender analysis
• Gender issues and sustainable
• Strategies for redressing gender issues
• Gender empowerment
• Gender responsiveness
• Gender and law
END
 • Understanding gender
• Definition of gender
• Definition of gender
Presentation
• Gender equality
outline
• Differentiating gender from sex
• Gender and related concepts
• Sex roles vs Gender roles
 •Although women have made important gains in
terms of accessing vital resources useful for social
mobility in Zimbabwe and the world over, they
are still socially disadvantaged as men continue
to hold positions of relative privilege.
•This inequality is often thought to reflect innate
differences between the sexes, but it is a creation
UNDERSTAND of society itself.

ING GENDER •Research has revealed that sex is a pervasive

element in the structure of society and in the
lives of people.
•It shapes other people‘s views of us as well as
our own self- concepts.
•This module is an introduction to gender
studies; hence an understanding of the term
gender is important.
•In gender studies we are neither interested in
women as a group nor with men as a group but
in the social relations between them.
Understanding gender

• In this unit we make you understand gender as a concept.

• We also clarify some selected concepts central to the study of gender.
• They are only intended to help you explore key ideas about the concepts.
• You will develop a deeper understanding when you read about them in the
subsequent chapters.
• The module also covers how gender is socially constructed through the family,
the school, the peer group and the mass media.
 • Gender is an important consideration in
development.
• It is a way of looking at how social norms and power
Understanding structures impact on the lives and opportunities
available to different groups of men and women.
Gender
• Globally, more women than men live in poverty.
• Women are also less likely than men to receive basic
education and to be appointed to a political position
nationally and internationally.
• Understanding that men and women, boys and girls
experience poverty differently and face different
barriers in accessing services, economic resources
and political opportunities helps to target
interventions.
Understanding gender

• Understanding these gender relations and the power dynamics behind

them is a prerequisite for understanding individuals’ access to and
distribution of resources, the ability to make decisions and the way
women and men, boys and girls are affected by political processes and
social development.
Understanding gender

• Compared with men, women control fewer political and economic

resources, including land, employment and traditional positions of
authority.
• Acknowledging and incorporating these gender inequalities into
programmes is therefore extremely important, both from a human
rights/gender equality perspective and to maximise impact and
socioeconomic development
Understanding gender

• The World Development Report (WDR) 2012 highlights the importance

of directly targeting the persistent constraints and obstacles to women’s
equality (especially in areas of economic empowerment, educational
gaps, household/societal voice, and violence against women) in order to
enhance productivity and improve longer-term development outcomes
as well as correct gender inequality.
Gender

• Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions

and identities of girls, women, boys, men, and gender diverse people.
• It influences how people perceive themselves and each other, how they
act and interact, and the distribution of power and resources in society
Gender

• According to the World Development Report (WDR) 2012, gender is

defined as socially constructed norms and ideologies which determine
the behaviour and actions of men and women.
Gender equality

• Gender equality is the view that both men and women should receive
equal treatment, opportunities, resources, and rewards.
• Gender equality is also important for sustainable peace, and there is a
growing body of empirical evidence suggesting that a higher level of
gender inequality is associated with higher risks of internal conflict.
 To best understand the term gender it is essential
to first understand the term sex as these two
Gender and terms are often confused and sometimes used
related interchangeably.
concepts. Sex
• According to Macionis (1989), sex refers to the
division of humanity into biological categories of
male and female.
• Sex is also defined as the biological differences
between men and women.
• Sex is therefore a fact of biology, which is the
physiological distinctiveness or state of being
male or female.
 Sex Gender

 Is in born  Starts the moment the sex is known.

 Is biologically determined • Is socially constructed.
• Varies within and among cultures. Different
 Is exclusive to a particular sex individuals and societies give different
and is fixed. It does not meanings to maleness and femaleness.
change over time, once
Differentiatin born male always male and •
once born female always
The attributes, expected roles, expected
behaviours and expected responsibilities that
g gender from female. go with maleness and femaleness differ from
society to society, community to community
sex  Is universal, that is, the
and from individual to individual.  Is learnt
organs that determine a
male or a female are
uniform the world over for
example the penis for the
males and the vagina for
the females.

 Is natural.
 • Sex roles
Sex roles vs • Sex roles are duties, activities, tasks or
Gender roles responsibilities that males and females perform or
undertake that are an inevitable product of one‘s
biology, for example, breastfeeding for females and
impregnating for the males.
• Like sex, these assignments are biologically
determined, fixed, universal and exclusive to a
particular sex.
Sex roles vs Gender roles

• Gender roles are duties, chores, tasks, responsibilities or assignments that a

particular cultural group consider appropriate for its males and females on the
basis of the meaning attached to their sexual identity.
• These roles are not a direct or an inevitable product of males‘ or females‘
biology e.g. caring for children by females and mending a puncture for males.
• They are learnt, vary within and among cultures, dynamic, interchangeable and
can be affected by factors like class, religion, age, race, education, geographical
location and ethnicity.
• END of the lecture
 • Gender equity
• Gender bias
Gender- • Gender discrimination
related • Gender neutrality
concepts • Gender blindness
• Gender sensitivity
• Gender awareness
• Gender responsiveness
• Feminism
• Patriarchy
Gender equity

• Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men.

• The concept recognises that women and men have different needs and power
• These differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies
the imbalances between the sexes.
• There is a need to compensate for women's historical and social disadvantages
that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field.
• Gender equity is about having differential treatment between women and men
to correct the initial inequalities and thus achieve equality.
 • Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender
over another
Gender bias • It is behaviour that shows favouritism toward
one gender over another.
• Most often, gender bias is the act of favoring
men and/or boys over women and/or girls.
• It is a form of unconscious bias, or implicit bias,
which occurs when one individual unconsciously
attributes certain attitudes and stereotypes to
another person or group of people
Gender discrimination

• Gender discrimination is the unequal or disadvantageous treatment of

an individual or group of individuals based on gender.
• Gender discrimination describes the situation in which people are
treated differently simply because they are male or female, rather than
on the basis of their individual skills or capabilities.
Gender neutrality

• Gender neutrality, also known as gender-neutralism or the

gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies,
language, and other social institutions (social structures or
gender roles) should avoid distinguishing roles according to
people's sex or gender.
Gender blindness

• Ignoring or failing to address the gender dimension

Gender sensitivity

• The act of being sensitive to the ways think about gender

Gender awareness

• The recognition of the fact that life experience, expectations, and needs
of women and men are different, that they often involve inequality and
are subject to change.
Gender responsiveness

• Gender responsiveness refers to outcomes that reflect an understanding

of gender roles and inequalities and which make an effort to encourage
equal participation and equal and fair distribution of benefits.
• Gender-responsiveness means paying attention to the unique needs of
females, valuing their perspectives, respecting their experiences,
understanding developmental differences between girls and boys,
women and men and ultimately empowering girls and women.
Feminism
• A collection of movements and ideologies that
share a common goal: to define, establish, and
achieve equal political, economic, cultural,
personal, and social rights for women.
Patriarchy

• Patriarchy is about the social relations of power between men and

women, women and women, and men and men.
• It is a system for maintaining class, gender, racial, and heterosexual
privilege and the status quo of power.
• Patriarchy is a structural force that influences power relations, whether
they are abusive or not.
END