GENDER

ISSUES
GENDER VS.
SEX: WHAT’S
THE
DIFFERENCE?
SEX
– is a biological concept
based on biological
characteristics such as
difference in genitalia
– The sex of an individual is based
in male and female.
on genetics, making it much
more difficult to change.
GENDER
– Is a complex interrelationship
of a person’s sex internal
sense of self as male or
female known as gender
– Gender is determined by the
identity, as well as the way the
conception of tasks, functions
person presents his or herself and roles attributed to women
outwardly as part of gender and men in society and in
expression and gender role. public and private life.
 The
Subservience
of Gender
Through
History
SUBSERVIENCE

➢The willingness to obey others

unquestioningly
➢The condition of being less
important than something else
In the pre-Hispanic era, Filipino
women enjoyed a great degree of
freedom in acquiring property,
social status, political rights, and
premarital sexual freedom.
During the time of the Spanish
colonization , changes occurred:
the idea that the women must be
pure and submissive to their
husband was promoted.
❖Anthropologist, Margaret Mead and
Philosopher-social scientist,
Friedrich Engels rejected the theory
of ‘male dominance’.
❖ Male dominance is not a universal
phenomenon.
❖Anthropologists believe that gender
differentiation began as a way to
recognize the different roles that men
and women are able to do better based
on their capacities.
❖ For Engels, the change in the role and
influence of women may have taken
place in the era of private property, a
change from communal production.
❖With private ownership, the
importance of succession of inheritors
was given emphasis, which led to
monogamous relationships as a means
to control women’s sexuality.
❖Resulted to the privatization of
women’s ability to work in the field,
which therefore lessened her role in
the communal setup.
❖It was theorized that it was
difficult for women to lead in the
hunting of animals with a child on
one hand and a spear on the other.
❖The belief that women are
producers of food and give birth to
children who are future laborers,
resulted to women becoming the
main target of coercion and
slavery.
 The advent of using
weapons to coerce fellow
human beings led to
conflict among early
communities, and here
the role of women was
not seen as vital.
 Early Civilizations
➢Civilization, very fundamentally, is the history of the
domination of nature and of women. Patriarchy means
rule over women and nature.
➢“Civilized Man says: I am Self, I am Master, all the rest is
other — outside, below, underneath, subservient. I
own, I use, I explore, I exploit, I control. What I do is
what matters. What I want is what matter is for. I am
that I am, and the rest is women and wilderness, to be
used as I see fit.”
Gender pertains to the different social roles, behaviors,
capacities, and emotional and social characteristics
placed by a given culture on a person rather than the
biological differences between male and female.
Two genders (Traditional
Societies) :
❑Masculine – attributed
to the male sex
❑Feminine – attributed
to the female sex
❑ The impact of expectations from society on
how one should act highly defines masculinity
and feminity.
❑ Gender role is defined by the particular culture
and the power structure in that particular
culture.
Gender expectations vary among different social classes
within the same ethnic group.
❑Gender roles are defined
differently in every culture but
they share certain common
characteristics such as
personality traits.
• Nurturing
• Dependent
• Caring
• Submissive
• Passive
• Indecisive
• Gentle
• Emotional
• Verbal
• Assertive
• Independent
• Dominant
• Active
• Tough
• Not easily influenced
• Logical
• Blunt
• Cruel
• Decisive
– Gender expectations are
transmitted to children
through SOCIALIZATION
– SOCIALIZATION is the
process by which
society’s values and
norms, including those
pertaining to gender are
taught and learned
GENDER SOCIALIZATION
➢Lifelong process
➢The process by which people learn to be feminine
and masculine
➢Sometimes conscious process where expectations
are reinforced with explicit rewards (boys in
particular receive negative sanctions for not
following gender appropriate behavior )
–Gender messages are
often received
implicitly through the
ways adults interact
as well as in children
through clothing,
toys, books and etc.
 4 Keys Points in
the Process of
Socialization into
Gender Roles
1. Manipulation

– Means that people handle girls

and boys differently as infants
– Includes the use of diverse
physical and verbal
manipulations
– Includes dressing the child in a
masculine or feminine way
2. CANALIZATION
❑The attention of the child
is directed towards gender
appropriate objects
❑The child is oriented on
possible gender roles in the
future, which help to shape
adult behaviors
3. Verbal Appellation

– Verbal descriptions are used to define a

boy and a girl and what is expected of
them.
– Examples: Brave boy.
Pretty/Beautiful girl.
Boys don’t cry.
Girls don’t hit playmates.
4. Activity Exposure

✓Orientation into gender appropriate tasks.

Institutions and
the Gender
Ideology and
Inequality
1. Formal Education

❑Filipino Parents show that

priority is given to boys as
compared to girls. The
career that suits a person is
taught based on their
expected gender roles.
2. Mass Media

➢Women are portrayed as

individuals of lesser
capabilities while men are
seen as more potential than
them. In ads, women are used
as sexy come-ons to male-
oriented products.
3. RELIGION
– religion has also a great influence
on the perception of gender roles
and its effects on gender inequality.
Major religions such as Catholicism
and Islam teach women to be
faithful to their husband. Muslim
women are affected by their
religion because practice purdah or
seclusion of women.
Polyandry Polygyny
4. LANGUAGE

–language is considered as
the subtlest institution in
the socialization of gender
Examples:
–human being –sportsmanlike
–mankind –woman
–man-made –Man, what a game!
–manpower
–manhandle
GENDER ROLES
–The set of roles, activities,
expectations and behaviors
assigned to females and males by
society. This is based on two gender
roles: masculine and feminine
 1. Family/
Household
– Man is seen as the one in
charge earning and
providing for the family-
household, while the woman
is expected to tend to
domestic tasks as her
primary responsibility.
 2. Workplace

– Women have affected

chances in the labor
market. They get low-
paying jobs and low
status than men.
3. Education
– Gender roles are seen in
education through
expectations and course
offerings. Young girls are
expected to take or excel in
subjects and electives. Young
boys are expected to excel in
mathematics and science-
related subjects than girls.
4. RELIGION
▪ in our religion such as
Roman-Catholic, there are
classification of genders and
their roles such as females
can only serve by becoming
a nun while the males can
achieve higher position such
as becoming a pope.
5. GOVERNMENT
POLICY
Status of men can be easily
enhanced. But there are some
areas that women will find
difficult.
 To understand
the intricacies of
gender and its
entire spectrum,
let us define its
basic terms.
GENDER
SPECTRUM
• A range of gender
identities between
and outside the
categories of male
and female
Gender may begin with the
assignment of our sex, it doesn’t
end there. A person’s gender is
the complex interrelationship
between three dimensions:
Body:
–our body, our experience
of our own body, how
society genders bodies,
and how others interact
with us based on our
body.
IDENTITY
– our deeply held, internal sense of self as
masculine, feminine, a blend of both, neither, or
something else. Identity also includes the name
we use to convey our gender. Gender identity can
correspond to or differ from the sex we are
assigned at birth.
EXPRESSION
– how we present our gender in the world and how
society, culture, community, and family perceive,
interact with, and try to shape our
gender. Gender expression is also related to
gender roles and how society uses those roles to
try to enforce conformity to current gender
norms.
 Gender role – is the set of roles, activities,
expectations, and behaviors assigned to females and
males by society. ( Based on two gender roles,
masculine and feminine.
 TRANSGENDER

– Refers to a person whose

gender identity does not
match his or her assigned
birth gender
– May or may not choose to
alter his or her body
hormonally/surgically
SEXUAL
ORIENTATION
–It is about who you are
attracted to and who
you feel drawn to
romantically,
emotionally and/or
sexually
Gender
Normative/Cisgender
–Refers to people whose sex
assignment corresponds to
their gender identity and
expression
GENDER FLUIDITY
– Conveys a wider more flexible range of gender
expression, with interests and behaviors that may
even change from day to day.
– A gender fluid person may anytime identify as
male, female or any other non-binary identity or
some combination of identities
– Multigender / Non-binary
ASEXUAL
–Pertains to a
person who is not
sexually attracted
to others or is not
interested in sex.
 Bi-gendered
–Refers to a person
who identify
themselves as having
both “male” and
“female” side to their
personality
BISEXUAL
–sexually attracted
not exclusively to
people of one
particular
gender; attracted
to both men and
women.
CLOSETED/ IN THE CLOSET

–Refers to a person who is

hiding his or her sexual
orientation
COMING-OUT
– Pertains to the process
by which lesbians, gay
men, and bisexual
people recognize,
acknowledge, accept
and typically appreciate
their sexual identities
 GAY
- Refers to a person whose
emotional, romantic, and
sexual attractions are
primarily for individuals of the
same sex.
- Typically used in reference
to men and boys, but
sometimes used as a general
term for gay men and
lesbians.
LGBTQIA
–Stands for “Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, Queer
or Questioning,
Intersex, and Asexual
or Allied.”
INTERSEX

–“Intersex” is a general term used for a variety

of conditions in which a person is born with a
reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't
seem to fit the typical definitions of female or
male.
Lesbian
- Refers to a
woman whose
emotional,
romantic, and
sexual attraction is
primarily for other
women or girls
QUEER
–Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and
gender minorities who are not heterosexual or
cisgender. Originally meaning "strange" or
"peculiar", queer came to be used pejoratively
against those with same-sex desires or
relationships in the late 19th century.