SEX and GENDER

What is gender ?What is sex?

Gender is very much related to sex and many people are often confused about the distinction between sex and gender

SEX: a natural distinguishing variable based on biological attributes, such as -

• physical – genitalia, reproductive organs• genetic – chromosomes, hormones

Sex is universal, biological & fixed

DETERMINANTS OF SEX

FEMALE MALE

GENITALIA vagina, clitoris

penis, scrotum

INTERNAL REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS

uterus, ovaries

testes

CHROMOSOMES XX XY

HORMONES estrogen, progesterone

testosterone

SEX GENDER

What makes one male or female

What is masculine or feminine

Biologically- determined

Socially-determined; culturally-defined

Refers to physical characteristics

Refers to learned behavior

SEX GENDER

Constant across time

Changes over time

Constant/same across different

societies and cultures

May vary in different societies and cultures

Gender differences are created, produced, reproduced & maintained by

social institutionsGender is multi-dimensional,

influencing economic, political & social interactions and needs

INSTITUTIONS THAT PERPETUATE GENDER POWER RELATIONS

FAMILY

SCHOOL CHURCH / RELIGION

MEDIA BUSINESS MARKET

STATE

Because of uneven and unjust GENDER POWER RELATIONS women and men are boxedboxed into situations – which constrainconstrain their

Capacity to do and to be

GENDER BIASES AGAINST MEN

Inherently aggressive and violentDon’t feel pain/incapable of experiencing human relationsInherently expressive in their sexualityDon’t need closeness, reassurance and attentionetc.

Gender issues & biases affect women more

NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON

PERSONHOOD

VIOLENCEMARGINALIZATIO

NSUBORDINATION

MULTIPLE

BURDENGENDER

STEREOTYPING

Manifestations of gender biases

Patriarchal social structures are1.  Male dominated--which doesn't mean

that all men are powerful or all women are powerless--only that the most powerful roles in most sectors of society are held predominantly by men, and the least powerful roles are held predominantly by women

2. Organized around an obsession with control, with men elevated in the social structure because of their presumed ability to exert control (whether rationally or through violence or the threat of violence) and women devalued for their supposed lack of control--women are assumed to need men's supervision, protection, or control.

3.  Male identified:  aspects of society and personal attributes that are highly valued are associated with men, while devalued attributes and social activities are associated with women.  There is a sense of threat to the social structure of patriarchies when these gendered associations are destabilized--and the response in patriarchy is to increase the level of control, often by exerting control over women (as well as groups who are devalued by virtue of race, ethnicity, sexuality, or class). 

4.  Male centered:  It is taken for granted that the center of attention is the natural place for men and boys, and that women should occupy the margins.  Public attention is focused on men.  (To test this, take a look at any daily newspaper; what do you find on the front page about men?  about women?)

Functions of Gender• An ideology• A means of social control• A maintainer of social distance• An organizing principle in society: structural, social, political, and economic relations• A determinant of femininity and masculinity• A determinant of social relationships• A determinant of power relations• A determinant of relationships between women and men• A shaper of values and attitudes toward society

Ideology• A set of beliefs to explain the past, justify, support, and organize the present, and offer a view of the future.

• Habit or ritual of showing respect to certain formulas which, for reasons of emotional safety we have strong ties, but whose meanings and consequences we have no understanding. • Justifications that mask specific interests or widely held viewpoints.

• Social formulas or belief systems that can be used to mobilize people for action.

Social Control– Means through which society encourages and enforces

conformity to its norms and expectations.

– Social mechanisms by which a group or society exercises its dominion over component individuals and enforces conformity to its norms.

– Regulating institutions that ensure that individual behavior be in conformity with group demands. Law, customs, folkways and even fashion operate to enforce conformity.

– Social control is internalized so that the moral demands of society become constitutive elements of an individual’s personality. Social control mechanisms ensure that most individuals in most situations like to do the things they have to do

Social Distance• Social distance is a feeling of separation or actual separation between and among groups.

– Stereotypes

– Slurs

– Prejudice

– Discrimination

– Violence