UNIT 1

UNDERSTANDING GENDER
By
Efiritha Chauraya and Tenson Mugodzwa

1. 1 Introduction

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 actually a creation of society itself. 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. In this unit we make you have an understanding
of gender as a concept. We also clarify some selected concepts central to the study of gender.
The explanations offered are neither comprehensive nor definitive. 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 unit also covers how gender is socially
constructed through the family, the school, the peer group and the mass media. Although there
are many types of gender socialisation, in this unit we focus on Oakley’s types of gender
socialisation.

1.2 Unit Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to:
 Define and explain gender
 Differentiate between gender and sex
 Define and explain some key concepts in relation to gender
 Discuss how gender is socially constructed, maintained and perpetuated
 Examine the various types of gender socialisation

1.3 Gender and related concepts.

To best understand the term gender it is essential to first understand the term sex as these two
terms are often confused and sometimes used interchangeably.
Sex
According to Macionis (1989), sex refers to the division of humanity into biological categories
of male and female. As a biological distinction, sex is determined at the moment a child is
conceived. Sex is also defined as the biological differences between men and women, that is, “…
their physical characteristics: external genitalia, internal genitalia, gonads (the organs which
produce sex cells), hormonal states and secondary sex characteristics.” (Haralambos and
Holborn, 2004: 94). Sex is therefore a fact of biology, which is the physiological distinctiveness
or state of being male or female.

Gender

Gender refers to human traits linked by culture to each sex (Haralambos and Holborn,
2004).Within a society; males are socialized to be masculine as females are taught to be
feminine. Walter and Manion (1996) maintain that gender is the difference that sex makes within
a society, guiding how we are to think of ourselves, how we interact with others, the social
opportunities, occupations, family roles and prestige allowed males and females.

“Gender can also be defined as a set of characteristics, roles and behaviour patterns that
distinguish women from men which are constructed not biologically but socially and culturally”
(Gita Sen in Towards Earth Summit 2002:1). Like the variable concepts of class, race, ethnicity,
culture and economics, gender is an analytical tool for understanding social processes that affect
human beings. The following table1.1 helps you differentiate between gender and sex.

Table 1.1 Differentiating gender from sex.

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

Activity 1.1
 What is your understanding of gender?
 Why do you think ‘gender’ is a contemporary issue in your country today?
Sex roles
Sex roles are duties, activities, tasks or 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.

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.

Gender Equality
When we say 2+2=4, we mean that the value of 2+2 and the value of 4 are the same. In gender
equality, we are interested in the same valuation of men and women and sameness of enjoyment
of rights, power, opportunities, treatment and control of resources between males and females in
society. We are also interested in the sameness in enjoying of the benefits from resources.
Gender equality is therefore not only the absence of discrimination and bias, but “… the equal
valuing by society of both the similarities and differences between women and men and the
varying roles that they play” (Gender Equality Analysis Policy-Status of Women Canada page
5).It does not mean that men and women will become the same. No. But they will have same
opportunities in life. An example of practising gender equality is according men and women
enjoyment of same voting rights. Gender equality, therefore, “denotes the equivalence in life
outcomes for women and men, recognizing their different needs and interests and requiring a
redistribution of power and resources” (Bridge Report No. 55:10).

Gender Equity
Gender equity is a process of achieving fairness and justice among men and women. The fairness
and justice is in relation to distribution of opportunities, responsibilities and resources as well as
in accessing and controlling the benefits from the resources. “To ensure fairness, measures must
often be made available to compensate for historical and social disadvantages that prevent
women and men from operating on a level playing field” (Gender Equality Analysis Policy-
Status of Women Canada page 5).
Gender equity also entails proportional distribution of social resources and services, as well as
proportional representation of men and women in the development process, that is, the
composition of males and females at all levels should closely represent the general population.
What we mean here is that, if we are practicing gender equity, say in our enrolment of male and
females into university then the ratio of males to females should be commensurate with the
national population ratio of 48:52. Gender equity leads to gender equality.

Gender bias
Gender bias is the tendency to be in favour of, or against males and females on the basis of their
gender rather than on anything else, like what some teachers do when they take only females for
fashion and fabrics because of their stereotypical belief that women are better at sewing than
men.

Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination is an act of unfair treatment directed against an individual or a group on
the basis of their gender which denies them rights, opportunities or resources. When universities
lower entry points for only female students, (whatever the reasons may be) they will be
discriminating against the male students. Gender discrimination can be positive or negative and
whether positive or negative, differential treatment is given to males and females on basis of
their gender.

Gender Neutrality
This is the claim that one is indifferent to issues of gender as he/she has no ultimate gender
practice. It assumes that all people are affected by programmes or polices in the same way. “It is
premised on the theory that all people are already equal, therefore treating all people the same
way is fair,” (Women’s Policy Office, Government of Newfound land and Labrador (undated)
Facilitator’s Guide, Gender Inclusive Analysis….An Overview St Johns, NF, p.14) like what
most universities do when they give one tissue roll to every student in residence for a specified
period of time. Female students, by virtue of their biology require more tissue paper. It thus may
not allow for sensitivity to disadvantages, hence it replicates stereotypes and restrictive views of
males and females.

Gender Blindness
When one is blind one cannot see. Gender blindness is total failure, out of sheer gender
ignorance, to recognize the differences between males and females and subsequently leads to
failure to provide or cater for the differences.
Gender blind people fail to realize that policies, programmes and activities can have different
effects on men and women and this often leads to rigidity and unchanging attitudes. It is a
characteristics feature of conservative societies, where gender bias and discrimination is
orchestrated on ill knowledge and innocence. A good example is what happened at a certain
school which had been originally a boys’ only school and then decided to become co-
educational. The school administration made girls stay in hostels that were previously boys’. The
toilets in these hostels had urinals and the administration did not see anything wrong with that.
This is gender blindness.

Gender Sensitivity
Imagine entering a bus which is ferrying students from your university home and you find that
90% of the bus load is males and the majority of those that failed to enter the bus are females.
You will obviously sense a gap of something between male students as a group and female
students as a group. What is it that you are sensing? You are right!-that, whatever the reason,
there is a gender gep between men and women. You see, you are becoming gender sensitive.
Gender sensitivity is the mere ability to perceive existing gender inequalities. It is gender
perceptiveness or gender consciousness, which is, looking at an issue with a gender eye. It is the
beginning of gender awareness.

Gender Awareness
In the example of the bus situation given immediately above, what do you think is the cause of
the problem given that the passengers in the bus were self drawn from a population of equal
numbers between males and females? You are now searching for the possible gender problems.
You are now becoming gender-aware. Gender awareness is, therefore, the ability to identify
problems arising from gender discrimination and bias which affect men’s and women’s ability to
access and control resources and /or even access and control of benefits from the resources is
gender awareness. It is still gender awareness even when and where the problems are disguised
and defended as culture and tradition.

Gender Responsiveness
What solutions would you offer in the transport problem above so that females are not
discriminated against? You are now becoming gender responsive. Gender responsiveness mainly
constitutes responding to gender issues with a view to eradicate the bias and discrimination in
order to ensure equality and equity (FAWE, 2004).It is the ability to visualise and practicalise
gender equity and gender equality. You see, it starts from gender sensitivity to gender awareness
then to gender responsiveness. For detail we refer you to Unit 7.
Feminism
Feminism is a social and political movement aimed at defending and expanding the rights of
women. It is both a cause and a result of the changing positions of women in society. It is also an
ideology, which recognizes the systematic discrimination against women on the grounds of their
gender. Feminism gives commitment to work towards correcting the undesirable situation of
women. It challenges the idea that gender like sex is natural. For detail we refer you to Unit 2.

Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system that propagates male superiority, power and control over women as
natural. It oppresses exploits and subordinates women. In patriarchal societies leadership roles,
control of valuable resources and decision making is a male preserve. Patriarchy draws a clear
demarcation line between males and female. It also creates a social stratification with males
always on top. Meena (1992) says that, in patriarchy, even the weakest man has a woman to
oppress and exploit. In patriarchy women are perceived as perpetual minors who cannot take
independent decisions. It is in short, “systematic societal structures that institutionalize male
physical social and economic power over women” (Bridge Report No. 55:29). For detail we refer
you to Unit 2.

Gender Mainstreaming
“…..is the process of assessing the implication for women and men of any planned action;
including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for
making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the policies and programmes in all political,
economic, and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not
perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.” (Towards Earth Summit, 2002:
2).It is a strategy to achieve gender equality that was universally adopted at the fourth world
conference on women in 1995, at Beijing- a means to the bigger end of attaining gender equality.
For detail you go to Unit 7.

Gender Empowerment
This is one of the words that are difficulty to define because of taking different forms in different
people and different contexts. Babikwa (2004:72) says “empowerment does not mean individual
self assertion, upward social mobility or increased disposable income or when psychological
experience of feeling self realized….it means....an understanding of the causes of powerlessness,
recognizing systematically oppressive forces and acting individually and collectively to change
the conditions of life” Basically, then, it is to do with one’s participation in decisions and
processes affecting one’s life. It is a process about people, taking control over their own lives,
setting their own agendas, building self confidence, solving problems [Kabeer, (1994) in March
et al 1999:25] “Empowerment cannot be given, it must be self generated” because such change
must be believed in, initiated, and directed by those whose interests it is meant to serve. What
other external forces like education can do is to provide those who need empowerment with an
enabling environment and resources which will allow them to take greater control of their lives;
determine what relations they would want to live within and devise strategies to help them get
there (Naila Kabeer, in March, Smyth and Mukhopadhyay, 1999:.25).For detail you go to Unit 9.

Gender Affirmative Action

Gender affirmative action is a corrective or compensatory measure for past injustices or gaps and
an accelerator for the process of equitable development. It is an intended justice measure through
deliberately according the previously excluded or disadvantaged sex group preferential treatment
to increase the group’s representation in areas of education, employment, business and politics
among others. It entails gender discrimination because it gives unfair, though justifiable,
advantage to the once discriminated sex group. It is therefore positive or reverse discrimination.
Gender affirmative action is meant to redress the effects of past discriminations rather than
discriminate. An example of gender affirmative action is the practice done by most universities
when these institutions lower their entry points for female students only. For detail you go to
Unit 7.

Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are socially constructed ideas or beliefs about men and women which are not
necessarily true but taken as truth by society. They are maintained, perpetuated and transmitted
from generation to generation by social institutions like the family, the school, the media,
religion, the culture among others. Most common gender stereotypes are based on:
 Sex, for example, males are aggressive while females are affectionate
 Personality, for example men are cheerful while women are nervous
 Age, for example, young men are rebellious while older women are conservative
 Ethnicity, for example, Ndebele women are good home managers while Shona women
are good fieldworkers
 Class for example upper class men are playful while lower class men are ambitious
 Occupations, for example male nurses are kind and loving while female nurses are rude
and short hearted with women in labour.
Stereotypes can be positive or negative.

Gender Identity
‘….it is how an individual adapts the prescribed sex role to his or her individual identity.’
(Http: // www.gender.org.uk about gender definitions.htm page 2)

Gender Relations
These are “the range of gendered practices, such as the division of labour and resources and the
gendered ideologies such as ideas of acceptable behaviour for men and women” (Bridge Report
No. 55:18.).They are simply the social relationships between men as a sex group and women as a
sex group. They determine what is socially accepted and what is socially inappropriate. They
work in most cases to subordinate and discriminate against women.

Gender practical needs

These are the concrete, immediate and often essential needs/wants for human survival. The men
and women survive better in their socially accepted roles, within their gendered power structures.
Practical gender needs include food and shelter among other things.

Gender strategic needs

These are human requirements which when met challenge and change power relations between
men and women. They are often less visible than the practical ones and are long term, one
example being access to decision making positions.

Gender Socialisation
Gender socialisation “refers to the means whereby social expectations regarding gender-
appropriate characteristics are conveyed to the child. These expectations are often based on
stereotyped beliefs.” It has a dual significance for these children, that is, it provides them with
models for present behaviour and it prepares them for adult life (Dekker and Lemmer, 1993:9).

Activity 1.2
 In your own words define and explain, using examples where necessary, each of
the terms given above.
 Differentiate between: a) gender equity and gender equality b) gender blindness
and gender neutrality c) gender sensitivity and gender awareness d) gender roles
and sex roles e) feminism and patriarchy f) gender affirmative action and gender
empowerment g) gender mainstreaming and gender empowerment.

1.4 Social Construction of Gender

To construct is to build or to make. The social construction of gender is the social making of
gender. Gender is constructed by society through the process of gender socialization. The social
institutions that are responsible for gender construction are called socialisation forces like the
family, the school, the media, the language, music religion among others. The people who carry
out the socialization are socialisation agents like the parents, the teachers, pastors, peers and
many others. Some institutions like the family are primary in the sense that they are the first that
any child comes into contact with. Murdock in Haralambos and Holborn (2004), says the family
is the child’s first window to the world and no other gender socialisation institution rivals it in
gender socialisation. Such prime gender socialisation institutions are called primary socialisation
forces, while those institutions that the child comes in contact with after primary socialisation are
called secondary socialisation forces like the school, the peer group, and others. Both the primary
and secondary forces create, reinforce, maintain and perpetuate gender but the primary forces are
the chief creators, while the secondary forces are the chief maintainers, reinforcers and
perpetuators.

The family, the school, the peer group and the mass media are going to be discussed briefly here
though other agents of gender socialisation are just as important.

The Family
The family constructs gender through the way family members:
 interact with and treat the child
 talk to the child
 dress the child,
 give the toys and types toys they give to the child
 assign roles and the roles they give
 accord the child benefits and opportunities and the type of benefits and opportunities
they accord
 position the child within the family
 give the child the name and the name given and even the other pseudo names given
among other things.

The School
The school is a secondary socializing force and the teachers are the chief socialising agents. The
school operates on two levels, that is, the intentional and official and the unintentional and none
examined both of which gender differentiated (Dekker and Lemmer 2003.)Gordon (1995) says
that teachers don’t explicitly teach gender, but gender emerges on its own in the curriculum.
What the school pupils’ eyes see, what their ears hear and what their minds in turn believe in
through:
 the school management structure
 the ways teachers talk ,organize and treat the pupils
 the portrayal of men and women in the texts and reading books
 the learning media
 the subject allocations
 the teachers’ teaching methodologies
 the teachers’ attitudes and expectations
 the extra curricula activities the sort of carrier guidance offered among other things,
discerns a gender social code on the pupils.
Therefore you see that, the exclamations ‘it’s a boy! Or it’s a girl!’ upon delivery sets a course of
action that from that moment on, influences multiple facets of a person’s life. The answer ‘boy or
girl’ carries significance in the child’s entire life in terms of the individual’s:
 opportunities
 associations and relationships
 benefits
 societal roles and responsibilities
 value in society
 social identity
 expected behaviour

The Peer Group

On reaching school age, children begin to interact more intensively outside the family, especially
with others of their age (the peer group).Within the peer group, the blue and pink worlds are
further developed.

Children’s games provide important cultural lessons. Lever cited in Macionis (1989) concluded
that the peer group activities of boys and girls differ considerably, providing in each case a
distinctive type of socialization. Lever found out that boys engage in team sports that involve
many roles and complex rules, and clear objectives like scoring a goal. These games are almost
always competitive, producing winners and losers. Such activity among boys reinforce s the
characteristics of masculinity, notably aggression, competition, and remaining in control.

Girls on the other hand, tend to play games such as jump rope in small groups, or simply sing or
dance together. Such activity tends to be spontaneous, involving few simple rules. Just as
important, since these games rarely have ‘victory’ as their ultimate goal, girls rarely oppose one
another. However, female peer groups do serve to teach the interpersonal skills of
communication and cooperation that are the basis for life within the family.

Gilligan cited in Giddens (2004), noted that boys and girls learn to use distinctive patterns of
moral reasoning. Boys tend to reason according to rules and principles, that ‘rightness’ is largely
a matter of ‘playing by the rules’. Girls however, understand morality more in terms of
responsibility to other human beings, so that ‘rightness’ lies in maintaining close relationships
with others. Clearly then, these distinctive patterns of moral reasoning are encouraged by the
different kinds of peer group activity common to boys and girls.

ACTIVITY 1.2
1. Which games do young boys and girls in your community play?
11. How do the different games reinforce the traditional gender stereotypes?
The Mass Media
Mass media are channels of communication directed to vast audiences within a society
(Macionis, 1989).The mass media include both electronic and print media such as the television,
radio newspapers, and magazines. All of these constantly present us with information of all kinds
and, as a result, have an enormous effect on our attitudes and behaviour. The mass media are a
powerful force in the socialization process. Films, magazines, literature and especially the
television, have a significant effect on the ways we think and act.

ACTIVITY 1.3

1. Think of a novel you have read.

11. Identify the main actors, their sex, their roles in driving the play towards its climax.
111. Identify the gender issues in your chosen novel.
1v. How can literature be turned into a gender responsive environment?

From the above activity, we may note that beyond the inclusion of both sexes in the mass media,
the issue is how they are portrayed. In most instances, males play the brilliant detectives, fearless
explorers, skilled surgeons, and interesting conversationalists. Males take charge; they give
orders and are portrayed as competent and capable. Females on the other hand, are mostly
portrayed as reliant on males, less competent and more often the targets of comedy (Busby, cited
in Haralambos and Horlborn, 2004). Women have also long been portrayed as sex objects
important for little other than their physical attractiveness (Macionis, 1989). These negative
stereotypes continue to persist in modern day programs, although admittedly there is more
programming with interesting and responsible women in major roles.

ACTIVITY 1.4

Choose a current television program. Identify the gender stereotypes in the program.
Discuss giving examples, how the mass media can be turned into a gender responsive
environment.
Although gender stereotypes in the mass media have lessened recently, commercial advertising
has changed less. This is because advertising sells the most products by conforming to widely
established cultural patterns. Haralambos and Horlborn (2004) maintain that television and
magazine advertising presents women in the home far more often than in occupational role. In
most cases, women are found primarily in adverts for household items such as cleaning products,
foods, clothing, and domestic appliances, while men predominate in adverts for cars, travel,
banking and finance, industrial appliances, and alcoholic beverages.

Goffman, cited in Macionis (19890, similarly concluded that advertising conveys cultural ideals
of each sex. In his study of advertising in magazines newspapers, Goffman found that men were
typically placed in photographs to appear taller than females, implying social superiority. In
addition, women were far more likely than men to be shown lying down on sofas and beds, or,
like children, seated on the floor.

The music industry is also no exception in portraying females as sex objects .Good examples are
productions by the late ‘Dr Love’ Paul Matavire, the ‘Lonely Lover’ Gregory Isaacs, and in
some cases the late Simon ‘Chopper’ Chimbetu, Dr Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo and many
others.

ACTIVITY 1.5
Compile a list of some musicians of your choice and their songs where females are
portrayed as sex objects. Suggest measures that may be adopted in the music industry to
create a gender responsive environment.

TYPES OF GENDER SOCIALISATION

There are many types of gender socialisation. Oakley in Haralambos and Holborn (2004) talks
about the types discussed below.

Canalisation
Canalisation is gender socialization through interaction with toys and objects. Toys align
children play to behavior expected of them when they graduate to be men and women and again
through interacting with these toys children develop different sets of aptitudes and attitudes.

Verbal Appellations
These are the differential use of descriptions and labels among boys and girls like, what a “good
boy!” or “nice girl!” or reprimands like, ‘oh! Boys don’t cry.’ This makes the children want to
keep up gender appearances as the children internalize the label(s) and start to act and operate
according to it.

Manipulation
Manipulation is the differential attention and valuing given boys and girls like, mothers paying
attention to girls’ hair. Soon boys and girls learn that different things are expected of them
through the different treatment accorded them and engrave a deep sense of what it is to be a boy
or girl (that is, a deep sense of their self concept.)

Imitation
Imitation is when children observe their parents or other elders within and try to be like them.
They, thus, learn how local governance operates through observing its officers at work.

N.B However, though the argument here is that gender is PURELY a social construct, other
scholars explain gender differences as partly products of Brain lateralization and hormonal
variations, (Haralambos and Holborn 2004).

For detail on both the socio-generic and the bio-generic sources of gender turn to Unit 2.

Activity 1.6
Critically discuss the notion that gender is a social construct. Illustrate your response with
concrete examples.

CONCLUSION

This part of the unit has tried to show that gender is a product of gender socialization. This is
largely achieved through social institutions such as the family, the school, the peer group and the
mass media. Other important socializing agents are religion, culture and the work place. Some of
these agents will be discussed in unit 5.
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