Gender and Society Reading Notes 3-1 PDF

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CONTROLLED COPY No. _____________ _______________________________________________________ Student-User ______________________________________ Course, Year & Section  Module 1 THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE AND THE STUDY OF CULTURE  INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES By the time the students finished the learning experience, they should be able to:  Evaluate gender concepts through the different sociological perspectives; and  Synthesize the influences of culture to gender development. This module will introduce the field of sociology through historical scanning of its beginning and development, appreciating the forerunners of the discipline and their major sociological contributions, evaluating the relevance of the different sociological perspectives and principles, and understanding culture and its influence and relevance in the wider society and individual life in contemporary settings. ▪ Sociology and the Sociological Perspectives There is that saying that “…society shapes our attitudes and behaviors.” The person we become is a product of social interaction. It is said that we are not of our own making, but a collaborative effort of individuals in society engaging and defining interactions that create patterns, which in turn, define the attitudes and behavior of people. These attitudes and behaviors are very important in understanding contemporary society for it influences people’s disposition and perspective in life and social issues. This is the focus of sociology. Sociology is the scientific study of social behavior and social institutions. Furthermore, the sociological perspective will present the influences the social environment has on an individual’s life, especially on the issue of life chances. By social environment, it refers to a general term for social background and other aspects of society. Examples of this social environment are the political set-up of the government, economic standing, distinct cultures, religious beliefs, educational structure, and health system among others. By life chances, it pertains to the extent to which people Gender and Society | 1  succeed in life. Nevertheless, the kind of social environment society has will always influence people’s extent of survival in a highly complicated, structured, and evolving society. The fact that Filipinos are too expressive of their rights and concerns on social issues is because the Philippine society is structured under democratic systems and ideals. However, in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (or North Korea), people are afraid to speak against their government, and those who have tried were subjected to unfortunate circumstances. Sociology first emerged in the middle of the 1800s and its development as a discipline was influenced by three important events in the history of the world, namely: (1) the social upheaval in Europe as a result of the Industrial Revolution which led to major changes in the way people lived their lives, (2) the political revolutions in America and France which encouraged people in rethinking their positions about government and social life, and (3) the success of the natural sciences which created a desire to apply scientific methodology to seek answers for the inquiries being raised about the social world. Several people have made a mark and legacy in the development of the field of sociology. To name a few; Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. Auguste Comte, a French philosopher, was the first person to coin the term “sociology”. He suggested the use of positivism in the study of the social world and further believes that this new science of discipline should not only discover principles but should apply the same to social reform. Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist, viewed societies as “evolutionary” and coined the term “the survival of the fittest”, and became known for social Darwinism. He is convinced that no one should intervene in the evolution of society and that attempts at social reform were wrong. Karl Marx, a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, and socialist revolutionary, whose ideas about social classes and class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat were the foundation of the conflict perspective. He believed that class conflict was the key to human history and that the conflict and struggle would end only with a revolution by the working class. Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, was interested in understanding the social forces that influence individual behavior and one of his primary goals was to get sociology recognized as a separate academic discipline. He studied suicide rates among different groups and concluded that social integration (the degree to which people are tied to their social group) was a key social factor in suicide. Lastly, Max Weber, a German sociologist, philosopher, jurist, and political economist, is one of the most influential of all sociologists. He disagreed with Karl Marx and defined religion as a central force in social change. He cited an example exhibiting how Protestantism had influenced the lives of its members, to wit: (1) Protestantism encourages greater economic development and was the central factor in the rise of capitalism in some countries, (2) the Protestant belief system encourages its members to embrace change, and (3) Protestants sought “signs” that they were in God’s will. ▪ Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology Sociologists used theory to explain social phenomenon. A theory is a general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work or an explanation of how two or more “facts” are related to one another. In sociology, sociologists used three different theoretical perspectives to understand the social phenomenon, namely: 1. Symbolic Interactionism. This perspective analyzes how people use symbols to develop and share their views of the world, and views symbols and things to which people attach meaning as the key to understanding how people view the world and Gender and Society | 2  communicate with one another. Furthermore, it studies the different ways that individuals and small groups create, disseminate, and/or interpret “reality” through their everyday, face-to-face interactions. 2. Functional Analysis/Structural Functionalism. The central idea of this perspective is that society is a whole unit or made up of interrelated parts that work together. To better understand society, people must look at both structure (how the parts of society fit together to make up the whole) and function (how each part contributes to society). Robert Merton used the term “function” to refer to the beneficial consequences of people’s actions to keep a group in balance, and “dysfunction” to refer to consequences that undermine stability. 3. Conflict Theory. This theory holds that society is composed of groups competing for scarce resources. Karl Marx focused on struggles between the Bourgeoisie (the small group of capitalists who own the means of production) and the Proletariat (the masses of workers exploited by the capitalists). Contemporary conflict theorists have expanded this theory to include conflict in all relations of power and authority. Feminists stress a similar conflict between men and women just as Karl Marx examined the conflict between capitalists and workers. To better illustrate how these three perspectives understand the social phenomenon, let us evaluate how these perspectives analyze the issue of divorce. Symbolic interactionism focuses on how the changing meanings of marriage, divorce, parenthood, and love have all contributed to the increase in the rate of divorce. For functional analysis, it looks at how industrialization and urbanization have undermined the traditional functions of the family. Lastly, conflict theory explains that divorce is seen as the outcome of the shifting balance of power within a family, as women have gained power and try to address inequalities in their relationships and men resist. Read the article below and understand how the continued racial discrimination is dividing the country and inflicting further damage to the wider society, and how the current Covid19 crisis has contributed to the worsening conditions of discrimination. Editorial: GEORGE FLOYD CASE FORCES NEEDED U.S. REFLECTION ON RACISM Retrieved on 20 August 2020 from https://bayareane.ws/2Yj91t1 As a nation, we must wake up to, speak out against and stop the racism that black Americans experience and fear every day. We must acknowledge that more than six decades after the birth of the civil rights movement, we remain a grossly unequal society in which people of color — especially black men — face disparate treatment because of the pigment of their skin. Disparate treatment most disturbingly from people in power: From the Minneapolis police officer who held his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he stopped breathing; the Georgia officials who ignored the fatal shooting of jogger Ahmaud Arbery; and the off-duty police officer who walked into the wrong Dallas apartment and murdered Botham Jean. Those are just some in an endless list of cases that make many African Americans fear the people who are supposed to protect them, worry about walking down the street, agonize about the safety of their children and hesitate at reporting crime. We must speak up against the racism and against the economic injustices that have historically made — and continue today to make — it impossible to truly equalize our society. We must speak up and speak out — but we must do so peacefully. Sadly, that’s not what we’ve witnessed in the Bay Area since Friday. While most seek non-violent tactics to make themselves heard, once again some are determined to wreak havoc on our cities. The trashing and looting of our communities solves nothing. It only makes the economic injustice worse for it damages the businesses that employ us and serve us all, and it drains the already-scarce public resources needed to help the neediest. The destruction is an indictment of wrong-minded protesters bent on violence and should not be taken as a reflection on those who gathered with legitimate cause. The violence must be stopped. Ripping apart our society is not the solution for fixing it. San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara, Walnut Creek, Danville, Lafayette, Pleasant Hill and Alameda County have wisely imposed curfews. Before this spirals out of control local officials should also take advantage of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s offer of California National Guard assistance to ensure the peace. Gender and Society | 3  At the same time, there must be wide room for the peaceful voices of protest to be heard. And it’s incumbent on all of us to listen to those voices. To acknowledge that we remain an economically divided nation — and that it’s only gotten worse in the past four years. It’s time for us to hear the pain and the feelings of helplessness — surely exacerbated by weeks of quarantine as a pandemic ravages our nation and disproportionately attacks the very same minority communities that also experience the worst discrimination. This is a time for America to search its national soul, to recognize the racism within and to work empathetically to correct it. We’ve ignored it for too long. ▪ Culture amid the Changing World Culture refers to the language, beliefs, values, norms behaviors, and even material objects passed from one generation to the next. It is a way of life for the people in a certain society. It influences the interactions and even the directions or outcomes of such interactions of the people in day-to-day living and existence. Culture has two kinds, namely: material culture and nonmaterial culture. Material culture consists of the tools and technology required to use them that members of society create and utilize (examples are shovels, basins, dresses, and mobile phones among others), while nonmaterial culture includes a group’s ways of thinking and patterns of behavior (mores, taboo, gestures among others). Culture bears the following characteristics: learned and acquired, shared and transmitted, social, ideational, gratifies human needs, adaptive, tends toward integration, and cumulative. Culture is a product of social interactions between people or groups of people. The ways of living and surviving are learned and transmitted through constant engagements with people in society. Learning culture is very important for an individual to grow and to know the bigger picture of society. Culture helps one to understand people and society, and creates a sense of belongingness. It continues to refine itself as time passed by and compiles ways representing a particular period. There are three ways in which culture can be acquired. The first is imitation. In this mode, a child imitates the things around him or her as he or she grows including the language and behaviors surrounding the child. The second is indoctrination. This mode takes the form of formal teaching or training which may take place anywhere the individual finds himself or herself interacting with his or her fellow humans. Lastly is conditioning. In this mode, the individual acquires a certain pattern of beliefs, values, behavior, and actions through the social norms prevailing in one’s social and cultural milieu and is further reinforced by a system of reward and punishment found in the cultural system. Sometimes in the process of interaction, a person will meet people from different cultural backgrounds and such differences will challenge the person’s basic notions in life. This kind of situation, especially if the people met are radical enough, will result in the so- called culture shock. Culture shock is a condition of disorientation that requires people to question their cultural notions. However, there is also called ethnocentrism. It is a belief that one is using his or her own culture to judge other cultures or people from other cultures. Such belief bears both advantages and disadvantages based on how it was done or applied. By advantage, it creates in-group solidarity or stability. By disadvantage, it leads to discrimination against those who are different and will widen the gap in society. Cultural relativism is the opposite of ethnocentrism. It consists of trying to appreciate other groups’ ways of life in the context in which they exist, without judging them as superior or inferior to our own. In a world where diversity is celebrated, cultural consciousness and respect are keys to stability, harmony, and prosperity. Robert Merton suggests developing a scale for evaluating cultures on their “quality of life” and he argues that those cultural practices that result in exploitation should be judged as morally inferior to those that enhance people’s lives. Gender and Society | 4 Nonmaterial culture is sometimes referred to as symbolic culture. A symbol is a central component of a culture where people attach meaning and use it in communications. Some of the components of symbolic culture are the following: ▪ Gesture. This pertains to using one’s body to communicate with others or shorthand means of communication. People in every culture use gestures, although the gestures and their meanings differ. Confusion or offense can result because of misunderstanding over the meaning of a gesture or misuse of a gesture. There is a disagreement over whether there are any universal gestures. They tend to vary considerably around the world. Some gestures are closely associated with emotional messages and such association elicits emotions. ▪ Language. It consists of a system of symbols that can be put together in an infinite number of ways to communicate abstract thought. Language allows human experiences to be cumulative, discuss part events with others, plan future activities with one another, exchange perspectives, and engage in complex, shared, and goal-directed behavior. ▪ Values. These are standards by which people define good and bad, beautiful and ugly. Every group develops both values and expectations regarding the right way to reflect them. ▪ Norms. These are expectations or rules of behavior that develop out of a group’s values. It varies in terms of its importance to culture and comes in three forms, namely: (1) Folkways are norms that are not strictly enforced such as passing on the left side of the sidewalk, (2) Mores are that are believed to be essential to core values and are insisted for conformity such as stealing, rapes, killing among others, and (3) Taboos are norms so strongly ingrained that even the thought of them is greeted with revulsion such as eating human flesh, having sex with one’s parents among others. In a bigger picture of culture, there are these so-called subcultures and countercultures which also bear substantial influences on the structure and ways of engagement in the wider society. Subcultures refer to groups whose values and related behaviors are so distinct that they set their members off from the dominant culture. Each subculture is a world within the larger world of the dominant culture, and has a distinctive way of looking at life, but remains compatible with the dominant culture. Countercultures refer to groups whose values set their members in opposition to the dominant culture. It is often perceived as a threat by the dominant culture because they challenge the culture’s values, for this reason, the dominant culture will move against a particular counterculture to affirm its core values. In a world of greater advancement, technology has coursed its ways in the development of society and has substantially affected all aspects of society including the ways of life of the people. Due to technological innovations and developments, the world is getting smaller and seems to become a global village where people from different parts of the globe can easily communicate or interact with each other through virtual or digital means. A Global Village is one world interconnected by an electronic nervous system. Technology is material culture. In the simplest sense, technology can be equated to tools. However, technology includes the skills or procedures necessary to make and use those tools in its broadest sense. The emerging technologies of an era that make a major impact on human life are referred to as new technologies. The sociological significance or importance of technology is that it sets the framework for the nonmaterial culture, influencing the way people think and how they relate to one another. Despite global technological innovations and advancements, there is still part of the globe specifically the aspect of cultural change and adaptation that were left behind or were not Gender and Society | 5  able to respond to the trends and dynamics of contemporary society. Not all parts of culture change or respond at the same time or pace. There is this so-called cultural lag. Cultural Lag was William Ogburn’s term for situations where the material culture changes first and the nonmaterial culture lags. Although for most of human history, cultures have had little contact with one another, there has always been some contact with other groups, resulting in groups learning from one another. The process by which cultural traits of one society directly or indirectly spread to the other society is called Cultural Diffusion. And because of this diffusion, horizons are broadened and people become more and more culturally rich. *Photo retrieved on 24 August 2020 from https://bit.ly/2QwK09D  Summary ▪ Sociology is the scientific study of social behavior and social institutions. It presents how social environments affect or influence the way people behave and dispose of themselves in the presence of others. ▪ Studying sociology serves a worthwhile purpose to the ends of understanding society and how society influences the upbringing of an individual and the directions it leads. Furthermore, sociology helps in understanding various perspectives on the issue of gender and sex by examining society’s setup, culture, and trends. ▪ Sociologists utilized theory to explain social phenomena. There are three major sociological perspectives or theories, namely: symbolic interactionism, functional analysis or structural functionalism, and conflict theory. ▪ Culture is the way of life of the people in a society. It influences the day-to-day interactions of people including how they set their goals in life, the way things are done, and in making life’s decisions among others. Furthermore, culture plays a very vital part in people’s social consciousness. The response of the people to major social issues and reforms is dependent on how culturally rich and oriented people are as well as the extent of responsiveness of their culture. ▪ Technology is part of the nonmaterial culture and bears substantial importance in the development and dynamics of culture. Because of technological innovations, the world is getting smaller becoming a global village and cultures are in contact with other cultures of the globe resulting in cultural diffusion which broadens the horizons, and people of different backgrounds are becoming culturally rich and conscious. Gender and Society | 6 ▪ Ecoben, W.B. & Palparan, A.M. (2015). Society and Culture: with Family Planning, Mandaluyong City: Books Atbp. Publishing Corp. ▪ Gutierez, C.S. & Apolonio, J.D. (2014). Sociology and Anthropology: A Discursive Approach focus on the Philippines, Malabon City: MUTYA Publishing House, Inc. ▪ Henslin, J. (2013). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition, Pearson: New Jersey, USA ▪ Mendoza, E.H. & Garcia, L.S.P. (2018). Understanding Culture, Society and Politics, New York: 3G E-Learning ▪ Palispis, E. & Sampa, E. (2015). Introduction to Sociology and Anthropology, Third Edition, Rex Book Store: Manila, Philippines ▪ Riodique, F.C. III, Francisco, P., Kalalo, A.M. & Ramos, G.D. (2016). Understanding Society and Culture: A Sociological and Anthropological Approach. Manila: Mindshapers Co., Inc. Gender and Society | 7  Module 2 SOCIALIZATION, SOCIAL STRUCTURE, AND INTERACTION  INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES By the time the students finished the learning experience, they should be able to:  Describe how socialization process define the dynamics of gender; and  Formulate scholarly opinion relating social interactions to gender construction. This module will allow the students, through a self-paced approach, to appreciate the processes of socialization. Furthermore, students will be able to understand the essentiality of social interactions in personal and communal (social) developments, especially in the context of the social construction of the changing realities and meanings. It will also introduce the influences of social structure on individual and communal disposition and undertakings. And lastly, this module will allow students to understand the concept of being human and as a part of a highly organized yet changing society. ▪ Socialization in the Quest of Social Construction Humans possessed more highly developed brains and the ability to communicate and articulate abstract reasoning. The physiological aspect developed as the child grows and as time passed by, however, the ability to do things responsively and the extent of reasonable co-existence and survival do not go with the physiological developments. Society harnesses an individual to become the “human being” he or she is expected to be. Society bears complex and dynamic patterns of engagement and structures that sometimes challenge the survival and development of an ordinary human being. It is said that “No man is an island”. It means that no Photo retrieved on 3 September 2020 from one succeeds in life and society https://bit.ly/3bo4ATd Gender and Society | 8 without others. It is the extent of interactions or engagements one has with other people and society that defines the extent of survival and development. Socialization is defined as the long complicated process of social interaction through which the child learns the intellectual, physical, and social skills needed to function as a member of society. It does not stop at a certain age but this process continues until life lays down to death. This process develops the skills and disciplines one needed, instills the aspirations, values, and the design for living that the particular society possesses, and teaches the social roles which an individual must enact in society. There is no doubt that socialization bears substantial importance to individual and societal development and directions. Furthermore, socialization is vital to culture for it allows transmission from one generation to another through long years of interactions of people or groups of people. It also serves an essential role in the personality development of an individual as well as the common disposition in a highly organized society. Lastly, it teaches people about the fundamental yet dynamic sex-role differentiation. Charles H. Cooley, an American sociologist, concluded that human development is socially created – that our sense of self develops from interaction with others. He coined the term “looking-glass self” which is a social psychological concept that bears three components, to wit: (1) we imagine how we look to others, (2) we interpret other’s reactions (how they evaluate us), and (3) we develop a self-concept. A favorable reflection in the “social mirror” results in a positive self-concept, while a negative reflection results in a negative self-concept. Even if we misjudge others’ reactions, such misjudgments become part of our self-concept. George Herbert Mead, an American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, agreed with Cooley but added that “play” is critical to the development of self. He concluded that as self develops, children internalize the expectations of other people, and eventually the entire group. According to him, the development of the self goes through the stages of imitation, play, and team games. He distinguished the “I” from the “Me” in the development of the self. The “I” component is the subjective, active, spontaneous, and creative part of the social self, while the “Me” component is the objective part (the attitudes internalized from interactions with others). He stated that not only the self is a social product but also includes the mind. Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, developed the Theory of Cognitive Development which examined how children develop intellectually throughout childhood. According to him, a child develops its cognitive skills through the following four stages, namely: (1) Sensory stage (0-2 years) (understanding is limited to direct contact with the environment such as touching, listening, seeing, etc.), (2) Preoperational stage (2-7 years) (children develop the ability to use symbols, especially language, which allow them to experience things without direct contact), (3) Concrete operational stage (7-12 years) (reasoning abilities become much more developed; children now can understand numbers, size, causation, and speed but have difficulty with abstract concepts such as truth), and (4) Formal operational stage (12+ years) (children become capable of abstract thinking, and can use rules to solve abstract problems). The propositions and/or conclusions that Cooley, Mead, and Piaget, regarding the self and reasoning, came to appear to be universal. However, there is no consensus or agreement about the universality of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development for two reasons: (a) some adults never appear to reach the fourth stage, whether due to particular social experiences or to biology and (b) the content of what we learn varies from one culture to another, having very different experiences and the thinking processes that revolve Gender and Society | 9 around these experiences for we cannot assume that the developmental sequences will be the same for everyone. Aside from the self and mind, personality, and emotions are also substantially influenced by the processes of socialization. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, believed that personality consisted of three elements, namely: Id (inherited drives that cause one to seek self-gratification, which demands fulfillment of basic needs such as attention, safety, food, and sex), Ego (the balancing force between the needs of the id and the demands of society), and Superego (the social conscience we have internalized from social groups which give us feelings of guilt or shame when we break rules, and feelings of pride and self-satisfaction when we follow them). Emotions are not simply the result of biology. They also depend on socialization within a particular society. Psychologist Paul Ekman concluded that everyone experiences six basic emotions, namely: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. The expression of emotions varies according to gender, social class, culture, and relationships. Socialization not only leads to different ways of expressing emotions but even to expressing what we feel. There is a need for more cross-cultural research to determine whether emotions are universal and how culture guides us in what we feel and how we express our feelings. Most socialization is meant to turn us into conforming members of society. We do some things and not others as a result of socialization. Thus, society sets up controls on our behaviors. To illustrate how socialization works through the life course, the following stages are developed and explained in the contemporary context: 1. Childhood (from birth to about age 12) – In earlier times, children were seen as miniature adults, who served an apprenticeship. To keep them in line, they were beaten and subjected to psychological torture. Industrialization changed the way we see children. The current view is that children are tender and innocent, and parents should guide the physical, emotional, and social development of their children while providing them with care, comfort, and protection. 2. Adolescence (ages 13-17) – Adolescence is a social invention. Economic changes resulting from the Industrial Revolution brought about material surpluses that allowed millions of teenagers to remain outside the labor force, while at the same time, increasing the demand for education. Biologically equipped for both work and marriage but denied both. Adolescents suffer inner turmoil and develop their standards of clothing, hairstyles, language, music, and other claims to separate identities. 3. Transitional Adulthood (ages 18-29) – Adult responsibilities are postponed through extended education such as college. Even after college, many young people are returning to live with their parents to live cheaply and establish their careers. 4. Middle Years (ages 30-65): a. Early Middle Years (ages 30-49) – People are surer of themselves and their goals in life than earlier, but severe jolts such as divorce or losing a job can occur. b. Later Middle Years (ages 50-65) – A different view of life emerges, including trying to evaluate the past and coming to terms with what lies ahead. Individuals may feel they are not likely to get much farther in life, while health and mortality become concerns. However, for most people, it is the most comfortable period in their entire lives. 5. Older Years (about age 65 and on): a. Transitional Older Years – Improvements in nutrition, public health, and medical care delay the onset of old age. For many, this period is an extension of the middle Gender and Society | 10  years. Those who still work or are socially active are unlikely to see themselves as old. b. Later Older Years – Growing frailty and illness, and eventually death marks this period. The sociological significance of the life course is how it is shaped by social factors (the period in which the person is born and lives his or her life) as well as their social locations (social class, gender, and race). The most important socializers in our lives fall into seven major agencies, namely: family, peer groups, media, school, workplace, religion, and neighborhood. These different agencies have made substantial influences and marks on an individual’s dispositions and directions. In the process of interactions, people also experienced the process of resocialization. Resocialization refers to the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors. In its most common form, it occurs each time we learn something contrary to our previous experiences, such as going to work in a new job. Erving Goffman, a Canadian- born sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, used the term “total institution” to refer to places such as boot camps, prisons, concentration camps, or some mental hospitals, religious cults, and boarding schools – these are places where people are cut off from the rest of society and are under the almost total control of agents of the institution. ▪ Are We Prisoners of Socialization? Sociologists do not think of people as little robots who are simply the result of their exposure to socializing agents. Although socialization is powerful and profoundly affects us all, we have a self, and the self is dynamic. Each of us uses his or her mind to reason and make choices. In this way, each of us is actively involved even in the social construction of the self. Our experiences have an impact on us, but we are not doomed to keep our orientations if we do not like them. We can choose to change our experiences by exposing ourselves to other groups and ideas. ▪ Levels of Sociological Analysis The three major sociological perspectives used by sociologists in understanding and explaining social phenomena are grouped into two levels of analysis. The first sociological analysis is called Macrosociology where it places the focus on large-scale features of social structure. Macrosociology investigates large-scale social forces and the effects they have on entire societies and the groups within them. It is utilized by functionalists and conflict theorists. While, Microsociology emphasizes social interaction, or what people do when they come together. Symbolic interactionists used this level of analysis. In the macro-sociological analysis, the social structure bears paramount importance in understanding the social phenomenon and the interactions people have in a certain context or place. Social structure is defined as the patterned relationships between people that persist over time. Behaviors and attitudes are determined by our location or standing in the social structure. Components of social structure are cultures, social class, social status, roles, groups, and institutions. Culture refers to a group’s language, beliefs, values, behaviors, and gestures. Simply, it is the ways of life o people in a certain group or setting. It includes material objects used by a group. It also determines what kind of people we will become. Social class is based on income, education, and occupational prestige. A large number of people who have similar Gender and Society | 11 amounts of income and education and who work at jobs that are roughly comparable in prestige make up a social class. Social status refers to the position that an individual occupies. An individual holds not only a single status one occupies in society. Status set refers to all the statuses or positions that an individual occupies. However, there are two types of social status, namely: ascribed status and achieved status. Ascribed status is positions an individual either inherits at birth or receives involuntarily later in life such as sex, age, and ethnicity, among others. Achieved status are positions that are earned, accomplished, or involved at least some effort or activity on the individual’s part such as becoming a lawyer, teacher, engineer, or even a criminal. A master status, in sociology, describes the status of greatest importance in a particular person’s life. It cuts across the other statuses that an individual occupies, be it ascribed or achieved. This condition can override other statuses and determines others’ perceptions of this person. Despite the many statuses a person occupies, there is also this so-called status inconsistency. It is a contradiction or mismatch between statuses, for example, a religious minister but at the same time a killer. But true to all statuses are the symbols attached to them. Status symbols are signs that people used who want others to recognize that they occupy a certain status like owning expensive things or having villas or mansions among others. For every status, there is a role attached to it other than the symbols it bears. Roles are the behaviors, obligations, and privileges attached to a status. The individual occupies a status but plays a role. It is an essential component of culture because it lay out what is expected of people, and as individuals perform their roles, those roles mesh together to form society. Social institutions are mechanisms o patterns of social order or society’s standard ways of meeting their basic needs. Examples of these social institutions are family, religion, education, economy, medicine, politics, law, science, military, mass media, etc. All of these manifestations may be present in almost all countries around the globe, however, it substantially differs in how it was structured, developed, or implemented. Furthermore, the differences these countries have in their social institutions will surely create diversity in social and individual interactions, dispositions, and experiences which will consume substantial time for diverse people to fully understand and find a sense of cultural relativity. Group is composed of people who regularly and consciously interact with one another and typically share similar values, norms, and expectations. When we belong to a group, we give up to others at least some control over our lives. Society is an example of a group. Society is a relatively large grouping or collectivity of people who share a more or less common and distinct culture, occupying a certain geographical locality, with the feeling of identity or belongingness, having all the necessary social arrangements or insinuations to sustain itself. There are six kinds of societies: 1. Hunting and Gathering Societies. It depends primarily on hunting and gathering for its survival. 2. Pastoral and Horticultural Societies. The pastoral societies are those whose livelihood is based on the pasturing of animals, while horticultural societies are those whose economy is based on cultivating plants by the use of simple tools. 3. Agricultural Societies. These are based on large-scale agriculture which largely depends on plowing using animal labor. 4. Industrial Societies. It is one in which goods are produced by machines powered by fuels instead of by animals and human energy. 5. Post-Industrial Societies. These are based on information, services, and high technology rather than on raw materials and manufacturing. Gender and Society | 12 6. Biotech Societies. These are emerging societies that will center on applying and altering genetic structures – both plants and animals – to produce foods, medicines, and materials. Sociologist Emile Durkheim was interested in how societies manage to create social integration. Durkheim found that societies are held together by mechanical solidarity. By mechanical solidarity, people who perform similar tasks develop a shared consciousness. As societies grow larger, they develop a specialized division of labor. Organic solidarity refers to a form of social interdependence in which groups of people depend on one another for the specific work that each person can contribute to the entire group. Ferdinand Tönnies analyzed the shift in social relationships as societies developed and changed over time. Gemeinschaft is a traditional society in which family, kin, and community ties are quite strong, with people caring for each other and looking out for one another. Gesellschaft is the weakening of social ties and personal relationships as societies grow and become industrialized. We come now to the discussion of micro-sociological analysis and social interaction in everyday life. Micro sociological analysis places emphasis on face-to-face social interaction, or what people do when they are in the presence of one another. Symbolic interactionists are interested in the symbols that people use to define their worlds, how people look at things, and how that affects their behavior and orientations to life. Sometimes, we fall into stereotyping when we try to describe people in our presence. Stereotypes are assumptions of what people are like, whether true or false. Such assumptions affect one’s ideas about the person and how one acts toward that person. Stereotypes tend to be self-fulfilling, that is, they bring out the very kinds of behavior that fit the stereotype. In the course of face-to-face social interaction, we have that sense of so-called personal spaces. Personal space refers to the physical space that surrounds us and that we claim as our own. Anthropologist Edward Hall found that Americans use four different distance zones in the observance of the sense of personal space: (1) intimate distance (about 18 inches from the body) for lovemaking, comforting, and protecting, (2) personal distance (from 18 inches to 4 feet) for friends, acquaintances and ordinary conversations, (3) social distance (from 4 feet to 12 feet) for impersonal of formal relationships such as job interviews, and (4) public distance (beyond 12 feet) for even more formal relationships such as separating dignitaries and public speakers from the general public. Most people protect their sense of personal space by controlling eye contact. Body language also plays a very important role in social interaction in everyday life. Body language is how people use their bodies to give messages to others. The use of body language is essential for getting through everyday life. However, people from other cultures or societies differ in the way they make body language and the messages attached to it. There is a need in learning the skills and the abilities to decipher these differences and not misinterpret or cause any unfortunate circumstance or harm to people from different backgrounds. Interpreting body language is a useful skill in the effort to fight terrorism and is being used by airport personnel and interrogators. Dramaturgy is an analysis of how we present ourselves in everyday life. Social life is analyzed in terms of drama or the stage. According to Goffman, socialization prepares people for learning to perform on the stage of everyday life. Life has two stages, namely: the front stage – is where performances are given, and backstage – is where people rest from their performances, discuss their presentations, and plan future performances. Role performance is the particular emphasis or interpretation that an individual gives a role, the person’s style. In the process of role performance or interpretation, sometimes, an Gender and Society | 13  individual encountered role conflict and role strain. Role conflict occurs when the expectations attached to one role are incompatible with the expectations of another role, in other words, a conflict between roles. While role strain refers to conflicts that someone feels within a role. Teamwork, which occurs when two or more players work together to make sure a performance goes off as planned, shows that we are adept players. When performance doesn’t come off, we engage in face-saving behavior. According to changingminds.org, face-saving involves doing or saying things (or not saying things) to avoid them being embarrassed or otherwise losing social status. It comes in two ways – active and passive. Passive face-saving has the 'do no harm' philosophy and means that you avoid doing or saying things that would embarrass the other person. Active face-saving is where you go out of your way to help and rescue them, for example by taking the blame for things that are not your fault. Impression management is the person’s efforts to manage the impressions that others receive of her or him. Success in the work world depends on your ability to give the impression that you know what you should know. Another approach in sociology to understating social interactions in everyday life is ethnomethodology. Ethnomethodology involves the discovery of rules concerning our views of the world and how people ought to act. Ethno-methodologists try to undercover people’s background assumptions, which form the basic core of one’s reality and provide basic rules concerning our view of the world and of how people ought to act. The social construction of reality refers to what people define as real because of their background assumptions and life experiences. The Thomas theorem states that “If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”. Symbolic interactionists believe that people define their reality and then live within those definitions. Therefore, our behavior does not depend on the objective existence of something, but on our subjective interpretation of our definition of reality.  Summary ▪ Socialization is a very important process in the development of a person’s sense of humanity and the pursuit of meanings and realities. However, the way individuals are honed differs from one society to the other. The extent or presence of external forces also serves as a point of consideration in understanding the distinct development of individuals, especially on the concept of gender identity and sexual orientation. ▪ Socialization bears substantial importance to culture, personality, and sex-role differentiation. Furthermore, it allows the development of the needed skills and disciplines in life, instills aspirations, values, and design for living in society, and teaches social roles that individuals must perform in society. ▪ People are not prisoners of socialization nor robots created by the process. However, the extent of developing ourselves will always depend on how our dynamic self and conceiving mind reason and make life’s choices. ▪ Realities are socially created and/or invented. People define a situation as real because of their background assumptions and life experiences and then live within those realities. In the end, our behaviors or actions will always depend on our subjective interpretation of reality and not on the objective existence of something. Gender and Society | 14 ▪ Ecoben, W.B. & Palparan, A.M. (2015). Society and Culture: with Family Planning, Mandaluyong City: Books Atbp. Publishing Corp. ▪ Gutierez, C.S. & Apolonio, J.D. (2014). Sociology and Anthropology: A Discursive Approach focus on the Philippines, Malabon City: MUTYA Publishing House, Inc. ▪ Haslam, N., Smillie, L. & Song, J. (2017). An Introduction to Personality, Individual Differences, and Intelligence, 2nd Ed., Los Angeles: SAGE ▪ Henslin, J. (2013). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition, Pearson: New Jersey, USA ▪ Mendoza, E.H. & Garcia, L.S.P. (2018). Understanding Culture, Society and Politics, New York: 3G E-Learning ▪ Palispis, E. & Sampa, E. (2015). Introduction to Sociology and Anthropology, Third Edition, Rex Book Store: Manila, Philippines ▪ Riodique, F.C. III, Francisco, P., Kalalo, A.M. & Ramos, G.D. (2016). Understanding Society and Culture: A Sociological and Anthropological Approach. Manila: Mindshapers Co., Inc. Gender and Society | 15  Module 3 THEORIZING GENDER  INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME By the time the students finished the learning experience, they should be able to:  Summarize the principles and theories explaining gender. This module will direct the students on the different principles and theories explaining gender. Furthermore, it will allow students to examine and/or analyze the different theoretical perspectives or views on how gender is constructed and its continued development as to concept and nature in the ever-changing context of contemporary society. And, it will help students appreciate and understand the concept of gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation or preferences. ▪ Understanding Basic Concepts We must recall and introduce some important concepts as we immerse ourselves in understanding theories and principles explaining gender development. Sex refers to the anatomical and other biological differences between females and males that are determined at the moment of conception and develop in the womb and throughout childhood and adolescence. It is further determined by two characteristics, namely: primary sex characteristics refer to the anatomical and other biological differences between females and males that begin developing in the womb such as the presence of genitals, and secondary sex characteristics refer to the biological differences between females and males that emerge during puberty such as deeper voice, body hair, develop breasts, wider hips, menstruation, etc. Gender refers to the social and cultural differences a society assigns to people based on their biological sex. Gender roles are society’s expectations of people’s behavior and attitudes based on whether they are females or males. These expectations have two components, namely: femininity refers to the cultural expectations of girls and women including gentleness and attractiveness, and masculinity refers to the cultural expectations of boys and men including toughness and bravery. Gender expression refers to the way a person expresses his or her gender through gestures, movement, dress, and grooming. Gender identity is a person’s deeply held perception of his or her gender. This identity is internal and personally defined. Gender roles and gender identities vary from culture to culture because they are fundamentally social constructs that guide human behavior. Gender and Society | 16  *Photo retrieved on 3 September 2020 from https://bit.ly/3iV9OIR Sexual identity pertains to a sense of one’s attractiveness to others and a sense of comfort with one’s body and one’s feelings, and it includes sexual orientation or preference. Sexual orientation refers to a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and sexual attraction to a particular sex or, simply to put it, a preference for sexual relationships with individuals of the opposite sex, the same sex, or both sexes. This orientation comes in four categories, namely: heterosexuality which refers to the attraction to individuals of the opposite sex, homosexuality which refers to the attraction to individuals of the same sex, bisexuality which refers to the attraction to individuals of either sex and asexuality which refers to no attraction to either sex. Heterosexuals and homosexuals may also be referred to informally as “straight” and “gay”, respectively. As you almost certainly know, gay is the common term now used for any homosexual individual; gay men or gay is the common term used for homosexual men, while lesbian is the common term used for homosexual women. Part of the concept of sexual and gender identities is the issue of transgenderism. Transgender refers to an individual whose gender identity or gender expression differs from that usually associated with their sex at birth. It includes transvestites (those individuals who dress in the clothing of the opposite sex) and transsexuals (those individuals who attempt to alter their bodies through medical interventions such as surgery and hormonal therapy so that their physical being is better aligned with their gender identities). Cross-dressing is typically a form of self-expression, entertainment, or personal style, and it is not necessarily an expression against one’s assigned gender (APA, 2008). ▪ Sociological Perspectives on Gender Structural functionalist views the family as the most integral component of society, and assumptions about gender roles within marriage assume a prominent place in these perspectives. They argue that gender roles were established well before the pre- industrial 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 Gender and Society | 17  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. Once established, these roles were passed on to subsequent generations since they served as an effective means of keeping the family system functioning properly. However, when changes occurred in the social and economic climate of the society, changes in the family structure also occurred. Many women had to assume the role of breadwinners alongside their domestic role to stabilize a rapidly changing society. According to conflict theory, society is a struggle for dominance among social groups, like women versus men, that compete for scarce resources. When sociologists examine gender from this perspective, we can view men as the dominant group and women as the subordinate group. Social problems are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress the subordinate group. It is difficult for women to rise above men, as dominant group members create the rules for success and opportunity in society (Farrington & Chertok, 1993). Friedrich Engels, a German sociologist, studied family structure and gender roles. He suggested that the same owner-worker relationship seen in the labor force is also seen in the household, with women assuming the role of the proletariat. This is due to women’s dependence on men for the attainment of wages, which is even worse for women who are entirely dependent upon their spouses for economic support. Contemporary conflict theorists suggest that when women become wage earners, they can gain power in the family structure and create more democratic arrangements in the home, although they may still carry the majority of the domestic burden (Rismanand & Johnson-Sumerford, 1998). Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction. Because meanings attached to symbols are socially created and not natural, and fluid, not static, we act and react to symbols based on the currently assigned meanings. The word “gay”, for example, once meant “cheerful”, but by the 1960s, it carried the primary meaning of homosexual. Furthermore, the word “gay” (as it refers to a homosexual), carried a somewhat negative and unfavorable meaning fifty years ago, but it has since gained more neutral and even positive connotations. 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 argue, we are always “doing gender”. Thus, gender is something we do or perform, not something we are. ▪ Sociological Perspectives on Sexuality In the area of sexuality, sociologists focus their attention on sexual attitudes and practices, not on physiology or anatomy. Sexuality is viewed as a person’s capacity for sexual feelings. Studying sexual attitudes and practices is a particularly interesting field of sociology because sexual behavior is culturally universal. Each society, however, interprets sexuality and sexual activity in different ways. Many societies around the world have different attitudes about premarital sex, age of sexual consent, homosexuality, masturbation, and other sexual behaviors (Widmer, Treas & Newcomb, 1998). At the same time, sociologists have learned that certain norms are shared among most societies. Likewise, societies generally have norms that reinforce their accepted social system of sexuality. What is considered “normal” in terms of sexual behavior is based on the mores and values of society. Individuals are socialized to sexual attitudes by their family, education system, peers, media, and religion. Historically, religion has been the greatest influencer on sexual behavior in most societies, but in more recent years, peers and media have merged as two of the strongest influencers (Potard, Courtois & Rusch, 2008). Gender and Society | 18  Functionalists stress the importance of regulating sexual behavior to ensure marital cohesion and family stability. Since functionalists identify the family unit as the most integral component in society, they maintain a strict focus on it at all times and argue in favor of social arrangements that promote and ensure family preservation. Functionalists, such as Talcott Parsons, have long argued that the regulation of sexual activity is an important function of the family. Social norms surrounding family life have, traditionally, encouraged sexual activity within the family unit and have discouraged activity outside of it. From a functionalist point of view, the purpose of encouraging sexual activity in the confines of marriage is to intensify the bond between spouses and to ensure that procreation occurs within a stable, legally recognized relationship. This structure gives offspring the best possible chance for appropriate socialization and the provision of basic resources. From a functionalist standpoint, homosexuality cannot be promoted on a large scale as an acceptable substitute for heterosexuality. If this occurred, procreation would eventually cease. Thus, homosexuality, if occurring predominantly within the population, is dysfunctional to society. From a conflict theory perspective, sexuality is another area in which power differentials are present and where dominant groups actively work to promote their worldview as well as their economic interests. The legalization of gay or same-sex marriage had intensified the debate globally. For conflict theorists, there are two key dimensions to the debate over same-sex marriage: one is ideological and the other is economic. Dominant groups (in this instance, heterosexuals) wish for their worldview (which embraces traditional marriage and the nuclear family) to win out over what they see as the intrusion of a secular, individually driven worldview. On the other hand, many gay and lesbian activists argue that legal marriage is a fundamental right that cannot be denied based on sexual orientation. From an economic perspective, activists in favor of same-sex marriage point out that legal marriage brings with it certain entitlements, many of which are financial, like social security benefits and medical insurance (Solmonese, 2008). Denial of these benefits to a gay couple is wrong, they argue. Conflict theory suggests that as long as heterosexuals struggle over these social and financial resources, there will be some degree of conflict. Symbolic interactionists focus on the meanings associated with sexuality and sexual orientation. Before 1973, the American Psychological Association (APA) defined homosexuality as an abnormal or deviant disorder. Interactionist labeling theory recognizes the impact this has made. Before 1973, the APA was powerful in shaping social attitudes toward homosexuality by defining it as pathological. Today, the APA cites no association between sexual orientation and psychopathology and sees homosexuality as a normal aspect of human sexuality (APA, 2008). Interactionists are also interested in how discussions of homosexuals often focus almost exclusively on the sex lives of gays and lesbians; homosexuals, especially men, may be assumed to be hypersexual and, in some cases, deviant. Interactionism might also focus on the slurs used to describe homosexuals. Labels such as “queen” and “fag” are often used to demean homosexual men by feminizing them. This subsequently affects how homosexuals perceive themselves. Recall Cooley’s looking-glass self, which suggests that the self develops as a result of our interpretation and evaluation of the responses of others (Cooley, 1902). Constant exposure to derogatory labels, jokes, and pervasive homophobia would lead to a negative self-image, or worse, self-hate. ▪ Theories on Gender Development Hughes and Kroehler (2009) explained the four theories on how individuals develop their gender identity. These four theories explain through different lenses on what makes a male or female, and why individuals behave the way he or she does. Gender and Society | 19  Freudian Theory. Sigmund Freud assumed that biology is destiny, which means that children learn their gender by simply observing whether they have a penis or vagina. He and his followers argued that gender identity and the adoption of sex-typed behaviors are the results of an Oedipal conflict that emerges between the ages of three and six. During this period, children discover genital differences between the sexes. This discovery prompts children to see themselves as rivals of their same-sex parent for the affection of the parent of the opposite sex. The main point in this theory is the process of identification, that is, the process by which a person absorbs the behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics exhibited by his mother or someone very close to the individual. In effect, children unconsciously model the behavior of their parents and make them the standards for acting and behaving. Cultural Transmission Theory. This is also known as Social Learning Theory. It contends that the acquisition of gender identity and behaviors is shaped by parents, teachers, and other adults by reinforcing responses that are deemed appropriate to the child’s gender role and discouraging inappropriate ones. Children are given cues to their gender roles in a variety of ways, from how their rooms are decorated to what toys they play with and the clothes they wear. This theory assumes that the individual is passive, and his behavior is influenced or programmed by the immediate environment. Cognitive Development Theory. Unlike the cultural transmission theory, cognitive development theory asserts that children actively seek to acquire gender identities and roles. The child is not a passive actor in his own life but an active participant in choosing and defining his gender, as well as his development. Cognitive theorists, like Kohlberg and Ullian, explained that children come to label themselves as boys or girls when they are between 18 months and three years of age, which is called self-socialization. Once they have identified themselves as males or females, they would adopt behaviors consistent with their newly discovered status. They use a particular image to organize their behaviors and cultivate their attitudes and actions, associated with being a boy or girl. Self-Construal Theory. Self-construal is essentially synonymous with self-conception or self-determination. The theory asserts that gender difference is based primarily on relationships and group membership. This is with the view that maintaining a harmonious relationship with others is extremely important. Many social influences promote independent ways of behaving, feeling, and thinking for men, while relational ways of behaving, feeling, and thinking are more likely promoted for women. The consequences of these create gender differences, including those of cognition, motivation, emotion, and social behavior. For example, women are more likely to be sensitive to the emotions of others and they base their emotions on others. ▪ Feminist Theory The issue of gender has brought the emergence of a theory called Feminism. Feminism is a social movement that consists of a set of beliefs and actions that centers on assuring equality between men and women. It is founded on the notion that biology doesn’t chart an individual’s destiny. Proponents of feminism believe that the structure of society oppresses humans, women in particular, from achieving their human potential. Men have actively oppressed women in society, creating inequality. In human history, men’s oppression of women has created inequality. The feminist perspective asserts that gender is basic to all social structures and organizations including school. In other words, it recognizes that the experiences of women are different from those of men, unequal or less privileged compared to men, and oppressed, subordinated, or abused by men (Eshleman, 1997). Gender and Society | 20 The development of feminist theory is a consequence of the universal movement to promote the self-actualization of women worldwide. It is the movement that criticizes male supremacy, with the ultimate aim of changing it. Its goals are: (1) to demonstrate the importance of women, (2) to reveal that, historically, women have been subordinate to men, and (3) to bring about gender equality. Simply put, feminists seek the equality of women and assert that women should share equally in society’s opportunities and scarce resources. Feminism has four types as a result of its pluralistic view, namely: liberal feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism, and post-modern feminism. Liberal Feminism. It believes that all people are created equal and should not be denied equal opportunity based on their gender. It argues that sexism is the primary obstacle to equality, which is seen in the denial of equal rights and opportunities between men and women. Thus, it focuses on women’s rights through the creation of laws and regulations for employment practices. Also, it strives to empower women by changing the social structures that delimit them. Socialist Feminism. It emphasizes the democratic and egalitarian aspects of socialism. The root of gender inequality is seen in societal expectations of the role of men and women in the household. Men are expected to be breadwinners or good providers, while women are expected to manage the household. The patriarchal ideology present in any society perpetuates the inequalities between men and women as is evident in the capitalist system. Because of this, socialist feminists advocate equal opportunities for women in the public sphere, which includes the field of education. Radical or Separatist Feminism. Radical feminism emerged to change the system of male dominance. Radical feminists argue that sexism is the tool men used to oppress women. Also, they believe that the patriarchal family is a miniature of the broader oppression, where patriarchal ideology is exercised and maintained. In such a case, women’s oppression provides a picture for understanding all other forms of oppression in society. Due to these oppressions, radical feminists take to the extreme the argument that women should be able to fully participate in society. For them, women will only be freed when they completely escape the patriarchal world or the system of male dominance. This explains why its goal is the eradication of male supremacy by redefining women-centered beliefs and systems. To realize this goal, certain mechanisms are proposed by radical feminists like pointing out the system devaluation and oppression of women, which are embedded within all forms of social organization. It also suggests being critical of the inherent values of patriarchy in society and speaking out against all social structures because these are created by men. Post-Modern Feminism. It argues that knowledge is created from a male’s standpoint and, thus, it is completely biased. In essence, it calls into question the privileged position of male theorists. It attempts to criticize the dominant order as it believes that all theory is socially constructed. The position of this type of feminism rests in its attempt to speak for all women and unmask all systems of oppression. However, it recognizes individualism, that is, different female groups must articulate their unique feminist positions concerning specific and individual oppressions, hindrances, and daily experiences. According to Gore (1993), post-modern feminism can realize this goal by fostering methodologies, such as phenomenology, personal accounts of multiplicity, and contradiction. This is consistent with the idea of rejecting the “grand narrative” of men, claiming that only rational, abstract thought, and scientific methodology can lead to valid knowledge. Rather, Gender and Society | 21  knowledge must be founded on the subjective realities of women and must not be forced- fit within the existing theories constructed by men. ▪ Queer Theory Queer theory is an interdisciplinary approach to sexuality studies that identifies Western society’s rigid splitting of gender into male and female roles and questions how we have been taught to think about sexual orientation. According to Jagose (1996), Queer theory focuses on mismatches between anatomical sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, not just the division of male/female or heterosexual/homosexual. By calling their discipline “queer”, scholars reject the effects of labeling; instead, they embraced the word “queer” and reclaimed it for their purposes. The perspective highlights the need for a more flexible and fluid conceptualization of sexuality – one that allows for change, negotiation, and freedom. The current schema is used to classify individuals as either heterosexual or homosexual pits on orientation against the other. This mirrors other oppressive schemas in our culture, especially those surrounding gender and race. Queer theorists further the disconnection of gender from sex and radically repudiate the binary classification of gender as identity. In queer theory, social expectations that cast heterosexuality as the “natural” and “normal” form of sexuality is criticized. These forms of the theory emerged from gay politics and therefore the dominance of heterosexuality rather than gender inequalities is emphasized (Beasley, 2005). Queer theorists often attend to practices they claim are ways of doing gender that transgress the binary divide. For them, identities are multiple, fragmented, and constantly shifting. Sexual preferences are not seen as fixed and desires are not static. The queer theory claims to be a celebration of radical diversity. It assumes that people can find space to play with and transform norms about sexuality that privileged heterosexuality and regard other forms of sexual practice as “abnormal”. It can be argued that queer theory reflects the “queer tendencies” of postmodernity, which has reorganized relations of sexuality. The key contribution of queer theory is that it provides “a critical analysis of modern homo-/heterosexual definition” (Sedgwick cited in Rosenstiel, 2000:1) Queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick argued against U.S. society’s monolithic definition of sexuality and its reduction to a single factor: the sex of someone’s desired partner. Sedgwick identified dozens of other ways in which people’s sexualities were different, such as (1) even identical genital acts mean very different things to different people, (2) sexuality makes up a large share of the self-perceived identity of some people, a small share of others’, (3) some people spend a lot of time thinking about sex, others little, (4) some people like to have a lot of sex, others little or none, (5) many people have their richest mental/emotional involvement with sexual acts that they don’t do, or don’t even want to do, (6) some people like spontaneous sexual scenes, others like highly scripted ones, others like spontaneous-surrounding ones that are nonetheless totally predictable, and (7) some people, homo-, hetero- and bisexual, experience their sexuality as deeply embedded in a matrix of gender meanings and gender differential, others of each sexuality do not (Sedgwick, 1990). Thus, theorists utilizing queer theory strive to question the ways society perceives and experiences sex, gender, and sexuality, opening the door to new scholarly understanding. Gender and Society | 22  Summary ▪ Evaluating the social and cognitive theories of gender development leads to the conclusion that although each has supporting research, this research fails to confirm any one theory to the exclusion of the others. ▪ Biology influences gender development, but its effects are difficult to separate from social influences because the identification of a child’s genitals as male or female prompts a cascade of social events related to gender development. ▪ Children become aware of gender roles in their earliest years, and they come to understand and perform these roles through socialization. ▪ The social construction of sexuality refers to how society created definitions about the cultural appropriateness of sex-linked behavior that shape the way people see and experience sexuality. ▪ Feminism refers to the belief that women and men should have equal opportunities in economic, political, and social life, while sexism refers to a belief in traditional gender role stereotypes and the inherent inequality between men and women. ▪ Barkan, S. (2012). A Primer on Social Problems v. 1.0, Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license: USA ▪ Barkan, S. (2012). Sociology: Brief Edition v. 1.1, Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license: USA ▪ Brannon, L. (2017). Gender: Psychological Perspectives, 7th Edition, Routledge, Taylor & Francis: New York ▪ Holmes, M. (2007). What is Gender?: Sociological Approaches, SAGE Publications: London ▪ OpenStax (2016), Sociology 2e, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: USA ▪ Tamayao, A. (2013). Social Dimensions of Education, 1st Edition, Rex Book Store, Inc.: Manila Gender and Society | 23  Module 4 GENDER INEQUALITIES AND THE INITIATIVES PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY AND DEVELOPMENT  INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES By the time the students finished the learning experience, they should be able to:  Identify the social, political, economic, and cultural dimensions of gender inequality;  Differentiate the nature and manifestations of gender inequality; and  Synthesize the different international and domestic platforms and programs on gender promotion and development. This module will introduce the concept and nature of gender inequality as experienced by most countries of the globe. It will provide the students with an understanding of the different dimensions surrounding gender inequalities and be able to decipher the factors which lead to such inequalities as well as the responsive approaches on how to address the same in contemporary settings. Furthermore, this module will present the different international and domestic initiatives, platforms, programs, and laws that center on the promotion of gender equality and development. It will allow the students to understand the different international initiatives which bind signatory countries to uphold gender justice and human rights. Furthermore, this module will discuss some important or salient points of the domestic laws promulgated by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines which were cascaded from the different international initiatives, conferences, and conventions as part of the country’s commitment to promoting women’s role in nation-building and the promotion of gender equality and development in all phases of social and communal life. ▪ Understanding the Dimensions of Gender Inequality As was discussed in previous modules, gender is the social construction of what it means to be a man and a woman in the context of a particular society. From this standpoint, gender is the social aspect of the biologically determined sex. Gender is dynamic and widely varies with culture, social group, family, socio-economic conditions, employment and earning, and stage of growth over time and space as well as a crisis or a disaster. In its most general sense, gender inequality refers to the broad range of conditions by which women have been disadvantaged, including their economic opportunities, political standing, legal status, personal freedom, familial obligations, access to education, and Gender and Society | 24  cultural representation among others. Therefore, it refers to both the obvious and hidden disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender inequality bears distinct characteristics concerning the other forms of inequality such as class, race, etc. These characterizations explain that gender inequality stems from *Photo retrieved on 3 September 2020 from https://bit.ly/2ZX8C0j distinctions, whether empirically grounded or socially constructed. Bina Agrawal (2007) identified three characterizations of gender inequality, wit: (1) gender inequality dwells not only outside the household but also centrally within it, (2) gender inequality stems not only from pre-existing differences in economic endowments between men and women, but also from pre-existing gendered social norms and social perceptions, and the inequalities are also ideologically embedded, and (3) gender inequalities not only pre-exist in the noted forms, but they can also arise from newly defined rules and procedures that structure the functioning of the government institution itself. The major determinants of gender inequality include the social set-up, culture, religion, geographical conditions, economic set-up, moral standards, and education level of society. All these factors, individually or in combination, make up the face of gender inequality or discrimination. But, the conflict of gender inequality is divergent as it originates from a single point with different angles. And that point of diversion is male chauvinism. Male chauvinism is a prejudiced belief of an individual or a group of individuals that men are superior to women. Male chauvinism doesn’t stop at a biased categorization of society into two groups but further, it glorifies one as more privileged and another as merely less privileged. Furthermore, the privileges for one group are decided following their physical strengths, not mental capabilities. ▪ Causes of Gender Inequality Over the years, the world has gotten closer to achieving gender equality. There is a better representation of women in politics, more economic opportunities, and better healthcare in many places in the world. However, the World Economic Forum estimates it will take another century before true gender equality becomes a reality. There is a question worth pondering– What drives the gap between gender? Emmaline Soken-Huberty, in her article published online at Human Rights Careers, enumerated ten causes of gender inequality. 1. Uneven Access to Education. Around the world, women still have less access to education than men. ¼ of young women between 15-24 will not finish primary school. That group makes up 58% of the people not completing that basic education. Of all the illiterate people of the world, 2⁄3 are women. When girls are not educated on the same level as boys, it has a huge effect on their future and the kinds of opportunities they’ll get. Gender and Society | 25 2. Lack of Employment Equality. Only 6 countries in the world give women the same legal work rights as men. Most economies give women only 3⁄4 the rights of men. Studies show that if employment becomes a more even playing field, it has a positive domino effect on other areas prone to gender inequality. 3. Job Segregation. One of the causes of gender inequality within employment is the division of jobs. In most societies, there’s an inherent belief that men are simply better equipped to handle certain jobs. Most of the time, those are the jobs that pay the best. This discrimination results in lower income for women. Women also take on the primary responsibility for unpaid labor, so even as they participate in the paid workforce, they have extra work that never gets recognized financially. 4. Lack of Legal Protections. According to research from the World Bank, over one billion women don’t have legal protection against domestic sexual violence or domestic economic violence. Both have a significant impact on women’s ability to thrive and live in freedom. In many countries, there’s also a lack of legal protections against harassment in the workplace, at school, and in public. These places become unsafe and without protection, women frequently have to make decisions that compromise and limit their goals. 5. Lack of Bodily Autonomy. Many women around the world do not have authority over their bodies or when they become parents. Accessing birth control is frequently very difficult. According to the World Health Organization, over 200 million women who don’t want to get pregnant are not using contraception. There are various reasons for this such as a lack of options, limited access, and cultural/religious opposition. On a global scale, about 40% of pregnancies are not planned and while 50% of them do end in abortion, 38% result in births. These mothers often become financially dependent on another person or the state, losing their freedom. 6. Poor Medical Care. In addition to limited access to contraception, women overall receive lower-quality medical care than men. This is linked to other gender inequality reasons such as a lack of education and job opportunities, which results in more women being in poverty. They are less likely to be able to afford good healthcare. There’s also been less research into diseases that affect women more than men, such as autoimmune disorders and chronic pain conditions. Many women also experience discrimination and dismissal from their doctors, broadening the gender gap in healthcare quality. 7. Lack of Religious Freedom. When religious freedom is attacked, women suffer the most. According to the World Economic Forum, when extremist ideologies, such as ISIS, come into a community and restrict religious freedom, gender inequality gets worse. In a study performed by Georgetown University and Brigham Young University, researchers were also able to connect religious intolerance with women’s ability to participate in the economy. When there’s more religious freedom, an economy becomes more stable thanks to women’s participation. 8. Lack of Political Representation. Of all the national parliaments at the beginning of 2019, only 24.3% of seats were filled by women. As of June 2019, 11 Heads of State were women. Despite progress in this area over the years, women are still grossly underrepresented in government and the political process. This means that certain issues that female politicians tend to bring up – such as parental leave and childcare, pensions, gender equality laws, and gender-based violence – are often neglected. 9. Racism. It would be impossible to talk about gender inequality without talking about racism. It affects what jobs women of color can get and how much they’re paid, as well as how they are viewed by legal and healthcare systems. Gender inequality and racism have been closely-linked for a long time. According to Sally Kitch, a professor and author, European settlers in Virginia decided what work could be taxed based on the race of the women performing the work. African Gender and Society | 26  women’s work was “labor”, so it was taxable, while work performed by English women was “domestic” and not taxable. The pay gaps between white women and women of color continue that legacy of discrimination and contribute to gender inequality. 10. Societal Mindsets. It’s less tangible than some of the other causes on the list, but the overall mindset of a society has a significant impact on gender inequality. How society determines the differences and values of men versus women plays a starring role in every arena, whether its employment or the legal system or healthcare. Beliefs about gender run deep and even though progress can be made through laws and structural changes, there’s often a pushback following times of major change. It’s also common for everyone to ignore other areas of gender inequality when there’s progress, such as a better representation of women in leadership. These types of mindsets prop up gender inequality and delay significant change. ▪ Types of Gender Inequalities The afflicted world in which we live is characterized by a deeply unequal sharing of the burden of adversaries between women and men. Gender inequality exists in most parts of the world, from Japan to Morocco, from Uzbekistan to the United States of America. However, inequality between women and men can take many different forms. Indeed, gender inequality is not one homogenous phenomenon, but a collection of disparate and interlinked problems. Amartya Sen (2001) identified seven types of gender inequalities, wit: 1. Mortality Inequality. In some regions of the world, inequality between women and men directly involves matters of life and death, and takes the brutal form of unusually high mortality rates of women and a consequent preponderance of men in the total population, as opposed to the preponderance of women found in societies with little or no gender bias in health care and nutrition. Mortality inequality has been observed extensively in North Africa and Asia, including China and South Asia. 2. Natality Inequality. Given a preference for boys over girls that many male- dominated societies have, gender inequality can manifest itself in the form of the parents wanting the newborn to be a boy rather than a girl. There was a time when this could be no more than a wish, but with the availability of modern techniques to determine the gender of the fetus, sex-selective abortion has become common in many countries. It is particularly prevalent in East Asia, in China and South Korea in particular, but also in Singapore and Taiwan, and it is beginning to emerge as a statistically significant phenomenon in India and South Asia as well. This is high-tech sexism. 3. Basic Facility Inequality. Even when demographic characteristics do not show much of an anti-female bias, there are other ways in which women can have less than a square deal. Afghanistan may be the only country in the world whose government is keen on actively excluding girls from schooling (it combines this with other features of massive gender inequality), but there are many countries in Asia and Africa, and also in Latin America, where girls have far less opportunity of schooling than boys do. There are other deficiencies in basic facilities available to women, varying from encouragement to cultivate one’s natural talents to fair participation in rewarding social functions of the community. 4. Special Opportunity Inequality. Even when there is relatively little difference in basic facilities including schooling, the opportunities for higher education may be far fewer for young women than for young men. Indeed, gender bias in higher Gender and Society | 27  education and professional training can be observed even in some of the richest countries in the world, in Europe and North America. 5. Professional Inequality. In terms of employment as well as promotion in work and occupation, women often face greater handicaps than men. A country like Japan may be quite egalitarian in matters of demography or basic facilities, and even, to a great extent, in higher education, and yet progress to elevated levels of employment and occupation seems to be much more problematic for women than for men. 6. Ownership Inequality. In many societies, the ownership of property can also be very unequal. Even basic assets such as homes and land may be very asymmetrically shared. The absence of property claims cannot only reduce the voice of women but also make it harder for women to enter and flourish in commercial, economic, and even some social activities. This type of inequality has existed in most parts of the world, though there are also local variations. For example, even though traditional property rights have favored men in the bulk of India, in what is now the State of Kerala, there has been, for a long time, matrilineal inheritance for an influential part of the community, namely the Nairs. 7. Household Inequality. There are, often enough, basic inequalities in gender relations within the family or household, which can take many different forms. Even in cases in which there are no overt signs of anti-female bias in, say survival or son preference or education, or even in the promotion to higher executive positions, the family arrangements can be quite unequal in terms of sharing the burden of housework and child care. It is, for example, quite common in many societies to take it for granted that while men will naturally work outside the home, women could do it if and only if they could combine it with various inescapable and unequally shared households duties. This is sometimes called “division of labor”, though women could be forgiven for seeing it as an “accumulation of labor”. The reach of this inequality includes not only unequal relations within the family but also derivative inequalities in employment and recognition in the outside world. Also, the established fixity of this type of division or accumulation of labor can have far-reaching effects on the knowledge and understanding of different types of work in professional circles. ▪ Examples of Gender Inequalities around the Globe Despite massive progress, women’s rights remain a critical issue throughout the world, especially in regions like North Africa and the Mid