GENDER & SOCIETY THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER LEARNING OBJECTIVES 01 COMPARE AND CONTRAST SEX FROM GENDER 02 DIFFERENTIATE THE 3 MAJOR THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER: FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, & SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST 03 EVALUATE THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDER ROLES IN SOCIETY What do you see? 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt SEX & GENDER Sex & Gender: SAME? or DIFFERENT? SEX GENDER •Physical aspect of the human body •“Psychological”, “social”, or “cultural”. Product of society (“socially constructed”) •Determined by reproductive organs and hormones •Masculinity and femininity •Fixed at birth •Latin word “genus” (kind or race) •Latin word “sexus” (defined by gonads) •Assigned at birth by external genital appearance •Not determined at birth •Defined by one’s own identification as male, female, or intersex •may also be based on legal status, social interactions, public persona, personal experiences, and psychologic settings GENDER -socially constructed roles ascribed or attributed to the individual. -these roles change overtime and vary widely within and between cultures. -socially learned behavior masculinity and femininity. and expectations that distinguish between -expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes, and likely behaviors of both men and women. The WHO defined gender as socially constructed characteristics of a male and female person. It does not replace the term “sex”. GENDER Acceptable characteristics of gender vary between societies. For example, in countries influenced by the American culture (including the Philippines), women wear skirts and long dresses as these are associated with being “feminine” and are socially appropriate for the female sex. However, in Middle Eastern, Asia, and African cultures, men wear long robes, while Scottish men wear a “kilt”. These cultural differences show that gender and their characteristics acceptable. are dependent on what the community deemed SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE The functionalist perspective emphasizes the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts. Functionalist perspective explores the “what ought to be” of a particular individual. The functionalist perspective sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation and broadly focuses on the social structures that shape society as a whole. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE Functionalists argue that gender roles were established well before the preindustrial era when men typically took care of responsibilities outside of the home, such as hunting, and women typically took care of the domestic responsibilities in or around the home. These roles were considered functional because women were often limited by the physical restraints of pregnancy and nursing and unable to leave the home for long periods of time. Once established, these roles were passed on to subsequent generations since they served as an effective means of keeping the family system functioning properly. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE “GENDER” Helps all of society work well THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE Karl Marx- As societies evolve from agricultural to industrial, this leads to the development of two classes of people: •Bourgeosie (owners of factories, farms, businesses - the upper class) •Proletariat (the workers - the lower class) THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE Friedrich Engels- The same ownerworker relationship exist in the household, with women assuming the role of the proletariat. Modern conflict theorists suggests that when women become wage earners, they can gain power in the family. THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE “Gender” is a structural system that distributes power and privilege to some, and gives disadvantage to others. CONFLICT THEORY asserts that social problems occur when dominant groups mistreat subordinate ones, and thus advocates for a balance of power between genders. THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE *Examples of Media that portray the conflict perspective SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction. Our identity or sense of self is shaped by social interaction. “Gender” is something that a person “does” (clothes, hairstyles, behavior, expression, etc). When people perform tasks, or possess characteristics based on the gender role assigned to them, they are said to be “doing gender”. Whether we are expressing our masculinity or femininity, West and Zimmerman (1987) argue, we are always “doing gender.” Thus, gender is something we do or perform, not something we are. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE *Also an example of traditional gender expectations SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE T C A YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE LOO MASCULINE FEMININE K SHORT HAIR MUSCULAR MANLINESS NO EMOTION STRONG “ANG BABAE DAPAT...” LONG HAIR “THAT”S NOT MANLY” MAKE-UP BOYS DON’T CRY ROUGH “LALAKE TAYO” SELF-RELIANT CURVY “MAGPAKABABAE KA” “THAT’S NOT LADYLIKE” EMOTIONAL CARING GENTLE GENDER ROLES GENDER ROLES “Gender roles are learned behaviors in a given society, community or other social group. they condition activities, tasks and responsibilities are perceived as male or female. Gender roles are affected by age, class race, ethnicity and religion, and by the geographical, economic and political environment” (Pavlic, Sam-Vargas, 2000). -Gender roles are a range of behaviors and attitudes considered acceptable and appropriate based on the assigned sex. Society expects people to adhere to their gender roles. However, the division between man and woman is based on the most basic difference between the two: child bearing. This cultivated simplistic generalizations on men and women. IS THIS PROBLEMATIC? WHY or WHY NOT? GENDER EQUALITY & EQUITY GENDER EQUALITY & EQUITY Gender equality, equality between men and women, entails the concepts that all human beings, both men and women, are free to develop their personal abilities and make choices without the limitations set by stereotypes, rigid gender roles and prejudices. It does not mean that women and men have to become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities swill not depend on whether they are born male or female. - UNESCO, The ABC of Women Worker’s Rights and Gender Equality FEMINISM FEMINISM Feminism is perspective. a way of looking at the world from a woman’s The patriarchal nature of society has driven feminism to concern itself with issues in relation to women’s oppression, with an end goal of liberating women through gender equality. Feminism is a concept popularized by Western societies, with many feminist issues articulated by Western-educated women and even men. It is deeply rooted in the Western concept of liberal democracy and philosophy of equal rights for all as defined by thinkers such as Kant and Mill. The evolution of the Western women’s movement in recent history can be summarized into three waves, each wave characterized by particular aspects of the struggle toward emancipation. GENDER MAINSTREAMING -A strategy for making men and women’s concerns and experiences as an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic, and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. -To empower all individuals, to be accountable, and to ensure integration of efforts in making sure that gender mainstreaming is holistic rather than just a “band-aid” solution. SUMMARY Gender is the socially constructed roles ascribed to males and females. These roles, which are learned, change over time and vary widely within and between cultures. It is socially learned behavior and expectations that distinguish between masculinity and femininity. The three major theoretical perspectives are: the functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective Functionalist perspective highlights the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts. Conflict theory suggests that society is a struggle for dominance among social groups (like women versus men) that compete for scarce resources. From this perspective, we can view men as the dominant group and women as the subordinate group. Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction. Gender is something we do or perform, not something we are.
