UNDERSTANDING Gender Sensitivity The concept of gender sensitivity has been developed as a way to reduce barriers to personal and economic development created by Seyism. Gender sensitivity helps generate respect for the individual regardless of sex. It is about pitting women against men. It is the act of being sensitive to the ways people think about gender. What is Gender? Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. It is what a person identifies himself or herself as. It is not binary; it is spectrum. What is sex? Sex is biologically assigned to an individual. It refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. SEX ● ● ● What makes one male or female Biologically determined Refers to physical characteristics GENDER ● What is masculine or feminine ● Socially determined, culturally defined ● Refers to learned behavior SEX ● ● ● Women have a developed uterus and can become pregnant Men have underdeveloped breasts Women give birth to babies, men do not GENDER ● Little girls are gentle, boys are though ● Decision making in the community and the larger society is dominated by men, because it is they who are involved in the economic activities that society values ● Most building-site workers in Britain are men SEX BIOLOGICAL Born With Can't be changed (generally) Only women can give birth GENDER SOCIALY CONSTRUCTED Not Born With Changeable Women can do traditional male jobs as well as men can take good care of their children Thus, while sex is permanent and Universal, gender construction varies from one society to another. To put it in another way, "Male" and "Female" are sex categories, while "Masculine" and "Feminine" are gender categories. Gender as Social Construct The social construction of gender is a theory in feminism and sociology about the operation of gender and gender differences in societies. According to this view, society and culture create gender roles, and these roles are prescribed as ideal or appropriate behavior for a person of the specific sex. Where does gender emanate? This question translates to the source of gender or where did it come and gender came from the society itself. People before had no basis of understanding of gender until a sexologist John Money introduced the distinction between biological sex and gender as a role. SEX ROLE Roles according to the reproductive function of a person's body GENDER ROLE Roles a person is expected to perform as a result of being male or female in a particular culture. GENDER ROLE It determines how males and females should think, speak, dress and heels interact within the context of society ● ● ● Are not inborn but are passed on through generations Learned in early stages of childhood and are further reinforced This become gender issues once it block people's capacity to do and to be GENDER ROLES ATTRIBUTED TO MALES PERCEPTION ● Strong, Primary Rational, Cannot feel ROLES ● Hard work Leader/Boss, No care giving EXPECTATIONS ● Don't make women do hard work, Always be smart/in control, Get the best, Don't cry GENDER ROLES ATTRIBUTED TO FEMALES PERCEPTION ● Weak, Secondary Emotional, Cannot think ROLES ● No hard work, Not a leader/boss, No decision-making EXPECTATIONS ● Stay at home, Don't assert, Don't participate in decision-making, It is okay to cry AND THEY AFFECT FEMALES MORE Gender SensitivityThe ability to recognize Gender Issues, especially women’s different perceptions and interests, arising from their unique social location and gender roles. ● Seeing what men and women can actually do rather than relying on assumptions. ● Hearing, women and men, their needs, priorities and perspectives. ● Counting, putting values in women’s work. ● Respecting women’s and men’s views and human rights. ● Caring about women and men, and the impact on them of the programs involved. How can you say that you are gender-sensitive? -When you respect every person/individual, regardless of age, ability, belief/religion, educational attainment, race, ethnic group, status in society, marital status, region of origin, color, sexual orientation and gender identity. Gender issues include all aspects and concerns related to women's and men's lives and situation in society, to the way they interrelate, their differences in access to and use of resources, their activities, and how they react to changes, interventions and policies. How does Gender Inequality Affect our society? The reason why investments and education policies are producing different outcomes for women and men is because they happen in societies where gender inequality is deeply entrenched. Inequality is often driven by existing gender stereotypes that determine how we perceive the roles of women and men in society. Agents of Socialization of Gender Roles Social groups It often provide the first experiences of socialization. Families, and later peer groups, communicate expectations and reinforcenorms.People first learn to use the tangible objects of material culture in these settings, as well as being introduced to the beliefs and values of society. Family The family is the most important agent of socialization. The family has been viewed as the major vehicle for socialization. Parents provide physical and social conditions in which children learn social skills. Family is the first agent of socialization. Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. For example, they show the child how to use objects (suchasclothes, computers, eatingutensils, books, bikes); how to relate toothers (some as “family,” others as “friends,” still others as “strangers” or “teachers” or “neighbors”); and how the world works (what is “real” and what is “imagined”). As you are aware, either from your own experience as a child or from your role in helping to raise one, socialization includes teaching and learning about an unending array of objects and ideas. School Students are not in school only to study math, reading, science, and other subjects—the manifest function of this system. Schools also serve a latent function in society by socializing children into behaviors like practicing teamwork, following a schedule, and using textbooks. School and classroom rituals, led by teachers serving as role models and leaders, regularly reinforce what society expects from children. Sociologists describe this aspect of schools as the hidden curriculum, the informal teaching done by schools. Schools also socialize children by teaching them about citizenship and national pride. For example, schools have built a sense of competition into the way grades are awarded and the way teachers evaluate students. When children participate in a relay race or a math contest, they learn there are winners and losers in society. When children are required to work together on a project, they practice teamwork with other people in cooperative situations. The hidden curriculum prepares children for the adult world. Children learn how to deal with bureaucracy, rules, expectations, waiting their turn, and sitting still for hours during the day. Schools in different cultures socialize children differently in order to prepare them to function well in those cultures. The Workplace Just as children spend much of their day at school, many U.S. adults at some point invest a significant amount of time at a place of employment. Although socialized into their culture since birth, workers require new socialization into a workplace, in terms of both material culture and non material culture. Different jobs require different types of socialization. In the past, many people worked a single job until retirement. Today, the trend is to switch jobs at least once a decade. Between the ages of eighteen and forty-six, the average baby boomer is younger. This means that people must become socialized to, and socialized by, a variety of work environments. Mass Media Mass media distribute impersonal information to a wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. With the average person spending over four hours a day infront of the television (and children averaging even more screen time), media greatly influences social norms (Roberts, Foehr, and Rideout 2005). People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and transportation options), as well as non material culture—what is true (beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms). Socialization is a big factor in shaping people to become who they are. Our social relations help us informing our individuality and sense of self towards others. Socialization is the process where by we learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our culture and, in so doing develop a sense of self. There are many agents of socialization, such as our families, the friends we gain, and the institution we belong to. Mass media had become one of the most powerful forces that connect people to other people. Because of this, mass media can already be considered a significant agent of socialization. And since mass media had already developed into a powerful and influential agent, serve as a powerful socializing agent and has indeed become A large influence of who we become. It is a fact that the role of mass media as agents of socialization has been both strengthened and changed by the modernization of the world. Technology had increased the spread of mass media sreach. People spend most of their time in touch with the world through the different forms of mass media. Sometimes, the time allotted to other agents of socialization is even sacrificed just to give time to the usage of mass media. Televisions hows and movies today dominate culture as the kind of life they portray easily dictates what will be reality. The number of people who depend on what they watch in the television, hear from the radio, or read from the internet, is increasing rapidly because of the help of modern advancements. More time is given to mass media use, and greater proportions of that time is dedicated to entertainment. To keep people entertained means that the form of mass media is successful in gathering supporters, and hence, profit also. Massmedia, after all, has also a business side. GROUP 10 Velaso, April Gale M. Laureta, Aikhen B. Camarao, Minslet Kaye L. Tamo, Erica Denise T.
