Gender and Society: Language, Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination PDF

EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Module 3 66 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Module 3 (Psychosocial Perspective in Gender and Sexuality) Lesson 1 Title: Gender-fair Language: stereotype, pre...

EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Module 3 66 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Module 3 (Psychosocial Perspective in Gender and Sexuality) Lesson 1 Title: Gender-fair Language: stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination Introduction In this lesson, you will gain a fuller insight into gender-fair language. You will be able to know different words that may discriminate against women and LGBTQIA. Also, we will be able to differentiate stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. You will even understand the manifestations of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination on gender. Learning Outcomes: a. Identify the ways of language discriminates against women and LGBTQIA; b. Explain how gender-fair language can be realized; and c. State forms of discrimination in language 67 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY ABSTRACTION Reading Sources: Botor, N. J., et al. P.K. R. (2018). “Gender and Society: A Human Ecological Approach.” Manila, Philippines: Rex Bookstore, Inc. Rodriguez, A. (2019). Gender and Society: The ways of women, their oppressions and paths to liberation. C and E Publishing I ncorporated. Gender Fair Language Gender Fair Language is the use of language that does not devalue the members of other sex. A language is a potent tool for how humans understand and participate in the world. It can shape how we see society. It is a part of the culture. In this regard, language is not a neutral force; it enforces certain ideas about people, including gender. Image taken from FB page of Speak in Gender-Fair Language Violations of Gender -Fair Language a) Sexist Language 70 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY It is a tool that reinforces unequal gender relations through sex-role stereotypes, microaggressions, and sexual harassment. Language can be used to abuse, such as in the case of sexual harassment, or to perpetuate stereotypes. All in all, language is a powerful force that plays a significant role in how one perceives the world. b) Invisibilization of women The invisibilization of women is rooted in the assumption that men are dominant and are the norm of the fulness of humanity, and women do not exist. Some obvious example of women invisibilization in language are:  The generic use of masculine pronouns or the use of a masculine general.  The assumption that certain function or jobs are performed by men instead of both genders.  The use of male job’s title or terms ending in man to refer to function that may be given to both genders. c) Trivialization of women  Bringing attention to the gender of a person, if that person is a woman  The perception of women as immature  The objectification, or likening to objects, of women. d) Fostering unequal gender relations Language that lacks parallelism fosters unequal gender relations. The use of “man and wife” assumes that men are still, and women’s identities are subsumed and shifted into being in relation to their husband. e) Gender polarization of words in use of adjectives It is the used of parallel adjectives to show the difference in perception regarding men and women. This polarization adjectives shows how perception does change how one seed certain acts, depending on who performs them. f) Hidden assumptions Hidden assumption in sentences can also be form of microaggression if the underlying perceptions are sexist and degrading. 71 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Stereotypes Stereotypes are an “overgeneralized belief about a particular group or class of people.” A stereotype can be categorized as “explicit,” meaning the person is aware that they have these thoughts towards a group of people, and they can say it out loud. It can also be “implicit,” wherein a person does not know if they have these stereotypes since it lies in their sub-conscious. Prejudice It is the reflection of our emotional reaction upon learning someone's particular category, such as age, skin, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. This negative (prejudice) attitude can be harmful because it often leads to contrary acts and behaviors. A sexist person, for example, is someone who has a hostile perception towards the other sex and treats them as the inferior sex. This negative attitude could result in itself in behavior such as harassment, oppression, or violent acts. Discrimination Discrimination means an act or attitudes against a person or a group of individuals. According to the United Nations, “ discriminatory behaviors take many forms, but they all involve some sort of exclusion or rejection. Suppressing opportunities or privileges that other groups may have access to is discrimination, such as the right to vote at national elections. In the Philippines, women had no legal rights, including owning property until 1937, in which they gained the right to vote. This form of oppression and discrimination was based on the belief that women are inferior to men 72 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Freedom and Equality Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This declaration was drafted by member countries of the United Nations, including the Philippines, in 1948. This monumental document outlines the fundamental rights of every human being that should be protected by everyone at all times. Accepting diversity of the human race is key to making a safer and more inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of race, sex, religion, sexuality, gender, or creed.  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Lesson 2 Title: Gender and Media Introduction: According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 81% of the Filipino-watch the television and still remains to be the most used and trusted sources of information in our country. We watch TV for entertainment and information through TV soap operas’, news, and entertainment programs. In this lesson, you will learn the different influence of mass media in shaping the current objectification of women and understand the classical representation and self-perception of women in the arts. Learning Outcomes a) Discuss the importance of media representation b) Analyze the progress in media representation of gender ABSTRACTION Reading Sources: Botor, N. J., et al. P.K. R. (2018). “Gender and Society: A Human Ecological Approach.” Manila, Philippines: Rex Bookstore, Inc. Rodriguez, A. (2019). Gender and Society: The ways of women, their oppressions and paths to liberation. C and E Publishing Incorporated. Media Representation Media representation is how the media presents or frames “ aspects of society such as gender, age, or ethnicity.’’ It is important because it shapes audiences' knowledge and understanding and will contribute to their ideas and attitudes. Because of our exposure to television, the media ultimately represents our social realities as it mirrors the ideologies, belief systems, and stereotypes. 76 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Photo was taken from ineedmarketing.com Women in Western Art Women are constantly being made objects of one’s viewing pleasure. Whether anyone is looking at them or not, women have taken on this awareness as though looking at themselves through another’s eye. The idea of women and representation started with women's role in Western art. While women of previous centuries did not actively play a role in the art industry as painters, they did become the “muse or subject of various art forms. Photo taken from Museo del Prado web page The painting The Judgement of Paris by Paul Rubens presents a strong starting point for the study of women in Western art. It depicts a scene from Greek mythology in which the most beautiful man, Paris, was made to choose the most beautiful goddess among Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena. 77 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Olympia by Edouard Manet shows a self-possessed prostitute frankly displaying her body and person. Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe by Edouard Manet presents a nude woman, painted candidly in her non-idealized body, sitting bored between two dressed men while presenting her sexuality without idealization Women are the subject of gaze and are, therefore, objectified as though they exist without free will or conscious thought. Those women are presented as objects merely for pleasure is the root of many issues concerning women today. Women in Advertising The insight about the display of the female nude is real not only for art but for every medium where women are displayed. Women are often presented as sex objects in advertisements, even for products that have nothing to do with their sexuality or their bodies. Cars, alcoholic, beverages, cigarettes, vacations spots, and sports feature women in some degree of undress. 78 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Photo taken from huffpost.com webpage The way these advertisements presents contrived or invented inadequacies makes women feel that it is essential for their happiness to address these issues. What most women forget is that these ideals of beauty are not necessary. They are socially constructed because they reflect certain values of society. However, when one realizes that these standards of beauty are unrealistic and are only used to sell certain products, they can be re-examined, and people can choose not to adhere to them. Women in Film and the Film Industry According to a report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television ad Film, only 33% of speaking roles and 34% of identifiable leading characters in Hollywood films were played by men. Moreover, only 22% of leading roles in the top-grossing films of 2015 were women. 79 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Photo taken from Culturepartnership.eu webpage Many studies about Hollywood and gender show that men dominate the film industry. Male directors, writers, and producers make movies whose leading characters are men and whose stories are those that interest men. And so, a vast majority of movies are about spies and cops, political intrigue in the realms of business and politics, and historical dramas and disasters where men are shown as the drivers of actions. Men save the day or find a resolution. Women and Sexualization Fundamentally, women in films and advertising are highly sexualized and reduced to their bodies. Media has a way of defining the way a person perceived reality and oneself. Even men and boys, when exposed to the idea that a woman’s fulfillment is to be desired and owned by men, would treat women accordingly. If a woman is dependent on men for her sustenance, self -worth, and meaning, then she is viewed as an object that does not have her own dignity and worth. Men would see women as objects that only exist to serve men's needs; this is the root of much gender-based violence. 80 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Media Stereotype Media stereotypes “ are simplified representations of a person, group of people or a place, through basic or obvious characteristics -which are often exaggerated.’’ Although stereotypes can help people connect with the content as they reflect it in their own realities, it can have adverse effects on disadvantaged groups like LGBT community, reinforcing negative and even false stereotypes. The LGBT community is highly misrepresented in the Philippine media. There are many stereotypes of the LGBT in the media, and most are not flattering. Often they are used as comic relief in their portrayal of the loud and boisterous “bakla”, the straight male who acts like a “bakla” with exaggerated gestures, the sex-deprived muscular male homosexual, or the awkward “tomboy” who eventually feminine woman after meeting the man of her dreams. 81 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Photo taken from spot.ph webpage In the Philippines, there is a lack of awareness on SOGIE among media practitioners as they are left confused about the LGBT terms and labels. Most news from the LGBT community is often on coming out stories of celebrities (Aiza Siguerra, Jake Zyrus (Charice Pempengco), and Rosana Roses), Pride March events, hate crimes, and controversies. Media coverage of the LGBT community in the Philippines went from no- coverage, ridicule, censorship, to the limited portrayal. However limiting, it is taken as a sign of higher social acceptance as compared to its total blackout just decades ago. 82 | Page  EGE 311 – GENDER AND SOCIETY Photo taken from GMA Network web page There are landmark TV shows about the LGBT community, such as My Husband’s Lover (2013) and The Rich Man’s Daughter (2015). There are also a handful of LGBT themed movies that featured the different aspects of the LGBT person from the realization of their sexual orientation, their coming out, to their acceptance in their families and communities. Reclaiming the Media It is necessary to offer alternative visions of womanhood to the public for their own reflection. To break the monopoly of the media by companies that present sexualized, objectified women as products, it is necessary to support campaigns with alternative perspectives on womanhood. Empowerment seems to be the way to forward. Women should be empowered so that they will be able to tell their own stories. Concretely, equal access to women to the mechanisms of communal storytelling and image creation must be provided; in other words, give more women access to mass media. 83 | Page