Gender and Society: Theoretical Perspectives PDF

GENDER AND SOCIETY CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER “Gender can be understood in different perspectives. Each situation depicts several views that we all can learn from.” (MCF S...

GENDER AND SOCIETY CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER “Gender can be understood in different perspectives. Each situation depicts several views that we all can learn from.” (MCF Siwagan) Learning Objectives The terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably in the At the end of this chapter, students are able to: vernacular. However, in a scientific 1. Explain the concept of gender in sense, these words are not synonymous. contrast to sex; Sex pertains to the physical aspect of the human body. The sex of an individual is 2. Differentiate the three major determined by their respective theoretical perspectives on view reproductive organs and hormones, the of gender lens: functionalist, biological spectrum of the individual. conflict, and symbolic On the other hand gender is interactionist, and; “psychological,” “social,” or “cultural.” 3. Evaluate the importance of A person’s gender can be different from gender roles in the society. a person’s sex. Gender is thus “socially constructed” in the sense that, unlike biological sex, gender is a product of society. If society determines what is masculine or feminine, then society can change what is considered masculine, feminine, or anything in between. No one needs to be locked into fixed gender categories. Any individual is free to identify their gender as they see fit. Gender comes from the Latin word genus, meaning kind or race. It is defined by one's own identification as male, female, or intersex; gender may also be based on legal status, social interactions, public persona, personal experiences, and psychologic setting. On the other hand, sex, from the Latin word sexus, is defined by the gonads, or potential gonads, either phenotypically or genotypically. It is generally assigned at birth by external genital appearance, due to the common assumption that this represents chromosomal or internal 1  GENDER AND SOCIETY Key Concepts anatomic status. A person's sex is a primary state of anatomic or Gender – refers to socially learned behavior physiologic parameters. and expectations that distinguish between masculinity and femininity. As the main focus of this chapter, gender refers to Functionalism Perspective – emphasizes the the socially constructed roles interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by ascribed to individuals. These other parts roles, which are learned, change over time and vary widely Conflict Perspective – argues that society is a within and between cultures. struggle for dominance among social groups Unlike sex (the biological (like women versus men) that compete for distinction between males and scarce resources. females), gender refers to Symbolic Interactionist – aims to understand socially learned behavior and human behavior by analyzing the critical role of expectations that distinguish symbols in human interaction. between masculinity and femininity. The concept of gender also includes the expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes, and likely behaviors of both men and women. Men and women view the social world in various ways. An individuals’ views are based on our ones’ experiences and perspectives in life. A perspective is simply a way of looking at the world. A theory is a set of interrelated propositions or principles designed to answer a question or explain a particular phenomenon; it provides us with a perspective. Sociological theories help us to explain and predict the social world in which we live. Sociology includes three major theoretical perspectives: the functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective (sometimes called the interactionist perspective, or simply the micro view). Each perspective offers a variety of explanations about the social world, human behavior, and gender. Functionalist Perspective Society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole. For example, each of the social institutions contributes important functions for society: Family provides a context for reproducing, nurturing, and socializing children; education offers a way to transmit a society’s skills, knowledge, and culture to its youth; politics provides a means of governing members of society; economics provides for the production, distribution, and 2  GENDER AND SOCIETY consumption of goods and services; and religion provides moral guidance and an outlet for worship of a higher power. The functionalist perspective emphasizes the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts. Functionalist perspective explores the “what oath to be” of a particular individual. The functionalist perspective sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through a macro- level orientation and broadly focuses on the social structures that shape society as a whole. Functionalists use the terms functional and dysfunctional to describe the effects of social elements on society. Elements of society are functional if they contribute to social stability and dysfunctional if they disrupt social stability. Some aspects of society can be both functional and dysfunctional. For example, crime is dysfunctional in that it is associated with physical violence, loss of property, and fear. But according to Durkheim and other functionalists, crime is also functional for society because it leads to heightened awareness of shared moral bonds and increased social cohesion. Sociologists have identified two types of functions: manifest and latent (Merton 1968). Manifest functions are consequences that are intended and commonly recognized. Latent functions are consequences that are unintended and often hidden. For example, the manifest function of education is to transmit knowledge and skills to society’s youth. But public elementary schools also serve as babysitters for employed parents, and colleges offer a place for young adults to meet potential mates. The baby-sitting and mate- selection functions are not the intended or commonly recognized functions of education; hence they are latent functions. Functionalists 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 the home. These roles were considered functional because women were often limited by the physical restraints of pregnancy and nursing and unable to leave the home for long periods of time. Once established, these roles were passed on to subsequent generations since they 3  GENDER AND SOCIETY served as an effective means of keeping the family system functioning properly. This theory suggests that gender inequalities exist as an efficient way to create a division of labor, or as a social system in which a particular segment of the population is clearly responsible for certain acts of labor and another segment is clearly responsible for other labor acts. The feminist movement takes the position that functionalism neglects the suppression of women within the family structure. Conflict Perspective The origins of the conflict perspective can be traced to the classic works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. For Marx all societies go through stages of economic development. As societies evolve from agricultural to industrial, concern over meeting survival needs is replaced by concern over making a profit, the hallmark of a capitalist system. Industrialization leads to the development of two classes of people: the bourgeoisie, or the owners of the means of production (e.g., factories, farms, businesses); and the proletariat, or the workers who earn wages. 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. According to conflict theory, social problems are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups. Consider the Women’s Suffrage Movement or the debate over women’s “right to choose” their reproductive futures. It is difficult for women to rise above men, as dominant group members create the rules for success and opportunity in society (Farrington and Chertok 1993). Friedrich Engels, discusses 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, as noted earlier (Rismanand and Johnson-Sumerford 1998). 4  GENDER AND SOCIETY To discuss in context, Conflict theory asserts that social problems occur when dominant groups mistreat subordinate ones, and thus advocates for a balance of power between genders. Frederich Engels compared the family structure to the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, suggesting that women had less power than men in the household because they were dependent on them for wages. Men, like any other group with a power or wealth advantage in fought to maintain their control over resources (in this case, political and economic power). Conflict between the two groups caused things like the Women’s Suffrage Movement and was responsible for social change. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction. This is certainly relevant to the discussion of masculinity and femininity. Imagine that you walk into a bank hoping to get a small loan for school, a home, or a small business venture. If you meet with a male loan officer, you may state your case logically by listing all the hard numbers that make you a qualified applicant as a means of appealing to the analytical characteristics associated with masculinity. If you meet with a female loan officer, you may make an emotional appeal by stating your good intentions as a means of appealing to the caring characteristics associated with femininity. Because the meanings attached to symbols are socially created and not natural, and fluid, not fixed, we act and react to symbols based on the current assigned meaning. The word gay, for example, once meant “cheerful,” but by the 1960s it carried the primary meaning of “homosexual.” In transition, it was even known to mean “careless” or “bright and showing” (Oxford American Dictionary 2010). 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. This notion is based on the work of West and Zimmerman (1987). 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. Symbolic interactionism also suggests that our identity or sense of self is shaped by social interaction. We develop our self-concept by observing how others interact with us a label us. By observing how others view us, we see a reflection ourselves that Cooley calls the “looking glass self.” 5  GENDER AND SOCIETY Summary 1. Gender is the socially constructed roles ascribed to males and females. These roles, which are learned, change over time and vary widely within and between cultures. It is socially learned behavior and expectations that distinguish between masculinity and femininity. Unlike sex, which is the biological distinction between males and females. 2. The three major theoretical perspectives are: the functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective (sometimes called the interactionist perspective, or simply the micro view). 3. Functionalist perspective highlights the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts. 4. Conflict theory suggests that society is a struggle for dominance among social groups (like women versus men) that compete for scarce resources. From this perspective, we can view men as the dominant group and women as the subordinate group. 5. Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction. Gender is something we do or perform, not something we are. 6  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Exercise #1 General Instructions: Create an outline showing the differences of the three (3) major theoretical perspectives. Symbolic Functionalist Conflict Interactionist Definition Views on Gender Examples 7  GENDER AND SOCIETY 8  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Assessment #1 1. Using the following theoretical perspectives, apply it in the given situation: Mrs. A, a working mom of 3 kids, continues to assume the responsibility in the household because it keeps the household running smoothly. a. Conflict theory ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ b. Functionalism ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ c. Symbolic interactionism ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 2. Which of the following is appropriate to the concept, we “do gender” according to the symbolic interactionist perspective? Explain your answer in the space below. during half of our activities only when they apply to our biological sex only if we are actively following gender roles all of the time, in everything we do ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 9  GENDER AND SOCIETY 10  GENDER AND SOCIETY CHAPTER 2 GENDER IDENTITY, ROLE AND DEVELOPMENT “There may be several roles you portray in life but the best role you can have is to be yourself.” (MCF Siwagan) Learning Objectives Hormones play a huge role At the end of this chapter, students are in gender differences and the DNA expected to: is one of the main predictors of behavior as men and women. Men 1. Examine the differences between and women have different brain male and female biological makeup; structures. Women have evolved to 2. Distinguish the agents of be the carriers of children whilst men socialization; 3. Discuss the roles of culture and have evolved to be the providers for socialization in the construction of their families. Women have gender, and; predetermined characteristics like 4. Expound the theories of being: more caring, protective and socialization: Social Learning, and loyal than men. Men have Cognitive Development. predetermined characteristics like being: more aggressive, competitive and dominant than women. The fundamental cause of our gender differences is our genetic makeup, more specifically, the DNA found in our two 23rd chromosomes - the chromosomes that dictate which sex we are. Hormones: The Biological Cause of Gender Differences Key Concepts Hormones are chemicals in the body that regulate changes in our cells. This Gender identity – defined as a personal conception of oneself as includes growth and is as a result very male or female (or rarely, both or important in explaining our gender neither) differences. You may have heard of the largely male hormone: testosterone and the Gender role – refers to the largely female hormone: estrogen - and outward expression of gender know that they have effects in our bodies identity based on cultural and that lead men and women to act more like, social expectations well, men and women. Gender development – means the maturation of gender identity It is well documented that there are differences between the brain structures of 11  GENDER AND SOCIETY men and women (men have a larger hypothalamus - both the BSt and the SDN-POA). This can be seen by studying very young children (who have not yet had much social influence) and seeing if boys and girls act differently. The research made by Connellan et al. (2000) showed that newborn girls were more interested in faces (suggesting superior social skills) whilst newborn boys were more excited by mechanical items. Chromosomes: The Fundamental Cause of Gender Differences Humans typically have 23 pairs of chromosomes (totaling 46) and on the two 23rd chromosomes the DNA that decides whether a newly fertilized ovum (egg) becomes a male or female is found. If the sperm that fertilized the ovum is carrying a Y chromosome, then the zygote (the name given to an egg that has just been fertilized) will contain both an X and a Y chromosome and the baby will be a boy. If the sperm carried an X chromosome, then the zygote will have two X chromosomes (XX) and become a girl. The above statements are empirical facts and, so we know that at its very core the cause of physical differences in men and women is due to biological differences in DNA. At first, the embryo (the name given to a zygote that has started to develop) has the same sex organs whether it has XY or XX chromosomes. But 6 weeks after conception and the Y chromosome in males result in changes that lead to the gonads becoming testicles. If the Y chromosome is not present (and the zygote has XX chromosomes) then the gonads become ovaries. This idea that both males and females start off with the same sex organs is where the common 'fact' that 'all men were once women' comes from. The formation of testicles and ovaries are very important because they are the key producers for the sex hormones androgens (including testosterone) and estrogens which, as mentioned in the above section, result in many gender differences. Meanwhile, an individual's personal sense of maleness or femaleness is his or her gender identity. Outward expression of gender identity, according to cultural and social expectations, is a gender role. Either gender may live out a gender role (a man or a woman, for instance, can be a homemaker) but not a sex role, which is anatomically limited to one gender (only a woman can gestate and give birth). Gender identity appears to form very early in life and is most likely irreversible by age 4. Although the exact cause of gender identity remains unknown, biological, psychological, and social variables clearly influence the process. Genetics, prenatal and postnatal hormones, differences in the brain and the reproductive organs, and socialization all interact to mold a toddler's 12  GENDER AND SOCIETY gender identity. The differences brought about by physiological processes ultimately interact with social‐learning influences to establish clear gender identity. Psychological and Social Influences on Gender Identity Gender identity is ultimately derived from chromosomal makeup and physical appearance, but this derivation of gender identity does not mean that psychosocial influences are missing. Gender socialization, or the process whereby a child learns the norms and roles that society has created for his or her gender, plays a significant role in the establishment of her or his sense of femaleness or maleness. If a child learns she is a female and is raised as a female, the child believes she is a female; if a child is told he is a male and is raised as a male, the child believes he is male. Beginning at birth, most parents treat their children according to the appearance of their genitals. Parents even handle their baby girls less aggressively than their baby boys. Children quickly develop a clear understanding that they are either female or male, as well as a strong desire to adopt gender‐appropriate mannerisms and behaviors. This understanding normally occurs within 2 years of age, according to many authorities. In short, biology sets the stage, but children's interactions with social environments determine the nature of gender identity. Developmentalists indicate that adults perceive and treat female and male infants differently. Parents probably do this in response to having been recipients of gender expectations as young children themselves. Traditionally, fathers teach boys how to fix and build things; mothers teach girls how to cook, sew, and keep house. Children then receive parental approval when they conform to gender expectations and adopt culturally accepted and conventional roles. All of these lessons are reinforced by additional socializing agents, such as the media. In other words, learning gender roles always occurs within a social context, with the values of the parents and society being passed along to the children of successive generations. Gender roles Gender roles are both cultural and personal. These roles determine how males and females think, speak, dress, and interact within the context of society. Learning plays a role in this process of shaping gender roles. These gender schemas are deeply embedded cognitive frameworks regarding what defines masculine and feminine. While various socializing agents—educators, 13  GENDER AND SOCIETY peers, movies, television, music, books, and religion—teach and reinforce gender roles throughout a child's life span, parents probably exert the greatest influence, especially when their children are very young. There are four major theories that can be attributed to the development of a person’s identity: Psychoanalytic, Social-Learning Theory, and Cognitive-developmental Theory. Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychological development explained that children satisfy their basic biological motivations which were discovered through a treatment known as psychoanalysis, the examining of the unconscious. As Ovesey (1983) commented, “Thus, psychoanalysis was the first comprehensive personality theory that attempted to explain the origins of what we now call gender” He concluded that there were primary aspects of the psychoanalytic theory: the id, ego and superego. The personality combined the id (basic instincts such as, hunger, desires and aggression/personality for example, an infant is 100% id), ego (reality testing and rationalization/psychological) and the superego (conscience, moral judgment/social). The stages of psychosexual development were developed and based upon an erogenous zone. If a stage is unsuccessful and not completed it meant that a child would become fixated on that erogenous zone and either over or under indulge once he or she becomes an adult. The first stage called the oral stage takes place between birth and two years old where pleasure and self- gratification is centered on the mouth through the erotic, rooting energy of sucking. The next stage of psychosexual development is called the anal stage. The anus is the erogenous zone. The child must learn to control the id and meet the demand of society and parents by becoming toilet trained. Conflicts take place due to the child wanting to control retention and elimination. There is a conversion of involuntary to voluntary behavior and the first attempt at controlling instinctual impulses. Sexual identity is formed in the third early stage called the phallic stage. According to Freud, gender role development occurs during this stage at about five or six years old where identification takes place with the same sex parent. This is a time of discovery and pleasure which is now focused on the genitals. It is during this stage that patterns were seen in males and were considered the norm, yet female patterns were somehow deviant. (Golombok & Fivush 1994, 57). It is at this age when castration anxiety creates fear resulting in Oedipal Conflict. Also, when boys are proud of their penis, and girls wonder why they don’t have one. By five or six the child has completed the period of early development. 14  GENDER AND SOCIETY Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of gender development suggests that gender development takes place during the third stage of his psychosexual theory of personality development. He called this the phallic stage, which occurs between three and six years old. During this stage, the child’s libido is focused on his or her genitals. Development of gender in psychoanalytic theory is different for boys and for girls: boys experience the Oedipus complex and identify with their father and take on a male gender role; girls experience the Electra complex and identify with their mother and take on a female gender role. Social Learning Theory The Social Learning Theory was proposed by Bandura as a way of explaining how children acquire their gender identity based on the influence of other people (particularly their parents). Stages of Learning There are four stages that a child goes through when develop gender behavior. These are: 1 Attention. This is merely where the behavior is noticed and observed. 2 Memory. This is when the behavior is memorized and committed to memory. 3 Imitation. The behavior is performed or 'reproduced' based on Imitating what they see around them. 4 Motivation. Their behavior is based on the desired consequences or what will be gained by the behavior, either immediately or in the near future. This can be illustrated by the example of boys playing sepak takraw. A boy may see his friends playing the game (attention) and then memorize this. Later, at school, he joins in a game (imitation) and a teacher comments on how good he is (motivation). Social Learning theory is based on outward motivational factors that argue that if children receive positive reinforcement they are motivated to continue a particular behavior. If they receive punishment or other indicators of disapproval they will tend to stop that behavior. In terms of gender development, children receive praise if they engage in culturally appropriate gender displays and punishment if they do not. When aggressiveness in boys 15  GENDER AND SOCIETY is met with acceptance, or a “boys will be boys” attitude, but a girl’s aggressiveness earns them little attention, the two children learn different meanings for aggressiveness as it relates to their gender development. Thus, boys may continue being aggressive while girls may drop it out of their repertoire. Socialization of children is one of the major causes of gender differences between boys and girls. Children are encouraged to do the appropriate sex-typed activities by the parents, media, and school. Cognitive Developmental Theory This approach focuses upon the thought processes underlying learning. It emphasizes to cognition when understanding and explaining behavior. This theory gives importance to the internal states of the person as well as the environmental events; however, it is the thinking and perception that is the key factor. The term cognition refers to "knowledge" as well as "the process of knowing" Cognitive approach emphasizes: thoughts, feelings, thinking, values, expectations, etc. The theory proposes the interaction of mental schema and social experience in directing gender role behavior. The cognitive approach focuses upon the child's "understanding". A child's understanding refers to the way he/she perceives and tackles a phenomenon. Information about gender is organized into sets of beliefs about the sexes i.e. gender schema Gender schema (plural schemata or schemas) is a mental framework that organizes and guides a child understands of information relevant to gender. Example: information about which toys are for girls and which toys are for boys form schema that guides behavior. Example: If a son sees his mother and sisters respected in the family, he will perceive women as respectable beings; and if he has seen his mother being battered and maltreated by his father he will perceive that women are taken as some less valued individuals. Cognitive Learning states that children develop gender at their own levels. The model, formulated by Kohlberg, asserts that children recognize their gender identity around age three but do not see it as relatively fixed until the ages of five to seven. This identity marker provides children with a schema (A set of observed or spoken rules for how social or cultural interactions should happen.) in which to organize much of their behavior and that of others. Thus, they look for role models to emulate maleness or femaleness as they grow older. Children’s own cognitions are primarily responsible for gender role development Kohlberg children identify with and imitate same-sex parents, 16  GENDER AND SOCIETY and others of their same gender after children label themselves as male or female, the development of gender related interests and behavior quickly follow the following stages: 1 Gender Identity: children develop a concept of what sex category they belong to 2 Gender Consistency: children realize that their gender and that of other do not change with age, dress, or behavior appropriate female or male activities identified and imitated, once gender consistency is established external world rewards or punishes them for their choices. 17  GENDER AND SOCIETY Summary 1. Hormones play a huge role in gender differences. Biological aspects create a critical interplay with the gender roles pursued by an individual 2. Biological make up may play a major part on an individuals gender identity, however, psychosocial and societal factors still influence an individual’s view of himself/herself 3. Gender roles are both cultural and personal. It maybe derived from the environment directly affecting the individual, however the personal experiences of the person plays a crucial part in one’s gender role discovery. 18  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Exercise #2: A. Think –Pair-Share General Instructions: Write the traditional and modern gender roles of men and women based on your experiences and observations in the community. After identifying the gender roles, find a pair and compare your answers. Answer the following questions below. Traditional Gender Roles Men Women 1 2 3 4 5 Modern Gender Roles Men Women 1 2 3 4 5 Guide questions: 1. What are the similarities and differences in your identified gender roles of men and women? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 19  GENDER AND SOCIETY 2. What do you think are the reasons why you differ with your classmate? Explain. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 3. Did you find any overlapping between men and women gender roles? What could be the reason for this phenomenon? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 4. Why do gender roles change over time? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 20  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Assessment #2.1 Materials: Your own whole-body photo (3R) and glue. Instructions: Place your photo on the box below. Choose a theory of gender development (psychoanalysis, social learning, and cognitive development) that relates to your own personal gender development. Explain your answer in 5-10 sentences beside your photo. 21  GENDER AND SOCIETY 22  GENDER AND SOCIETY Assessment #2.1: Article Analysis GENDER IDENTITY: NATURE VS. NURTURE? It has long been believed by the scientific community that the gender identity of a child was determined by the child’s upbringing, surrounding environment, and the way the child was treated during growth. This idea was only enforced more in the 1960’s when Dr. John Money published his John/Joan case, claiming that a child’s gender was constructed through nurturing, not nature. The John/Joan case was an experiment that occurred after two twin boys, two months old, were sent in for a routine circumcision, but Brenda Reimer after a mechanical malfunction, one of the boy’s growing up external genitalia was extremely damaged. The boy’s parents, counseled by Dr. Money, were encouraged and assured that if they surgically made their son appear feminine, with the help of administering hormones and their nurturing, they could raise the child successfully as a girl. While Dr. Money published this experiment as a great success, years later, a man named David Reimer stepped forward and identified himself as the object of the John/Joan case. Apparently, the John/Joan case that was published was riddled with observer bias and skewed results, and in reality, David was a troubled, depressed, sometimes suicidal girl growing up and immediately reassumed his male identity as soon as his parents told him the truth of his birth at age 14, but eventually committed suicide in his late 30’s in relation to the trauma and emotional distress incurred during his childhood. This begs the question, is gender identity nature and innate or is it, as Dr. Money would have led us to believe, entirely based on cultural and nurturing factors? Research at the Johns Hopkins Children Center has shown that gender identity is almost entirely based on nature and is almost exclusively predetermined before the birth of the baby. Two David Reimer studies conducted by William Reiner, a child and after reassuming adolescent psychiatrist and urologist, have his male identity confirmed that the amount of exposure to male 23  GENDER AND SOCIETY hormones and androgens in utero almost exclusively decides whether the child identifies as masculine or feminine. In the first study, Reiner followed 14 children whose testicles and male hormone levels were completely normal at birth, but who were born without a penis — 12 of the children were surgically reconstructed to appear female. Today, all 12 of the children raised as females are strongly male a-typical in their behaviors, attitudes, friends and play and 6 of the 12 have already reassumed their male gender identities at the ages of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12 respectively. The 2 children who did not undergo sex reassignment surgeries as infants developed far more normally and more similarly to their normal male peers and were much more psychologically well-adjusted that the sex- reassigned children. In the second study, Reiner followed 12 genetically male children who were born with a similar defect, in that they lacked a penis at birth. All of these children underwent a sex reassignment surgery to appear female in infancy. Since then, 8 of the 12 have reassigned themselves back to a male identity. Of the 4 who remain female, 3 of the sets of parents plan to tell their child about their genetic sex at birth “soon” and all 3 sets of parents expect that their children will switch back to a masculine identity after learning about their birth sex. Reiner comments on the results of the studies stating, “These studies suggest that male gender identity is directly related to normal male patterns of male hormone exposure in utero. These children demonstrate that normal male gender identity can develop not only in the absence of the penis, but even after the removal of testicles or castration at birth, and unequivocal rearing as female. Rather than the environment forming these children’s gender identity, their identity and gender role seem to have developed despite a total environment telling them they were female.” These and consequent other studies have caused the scientific community to reevaluate their belief that gender identity is constructed through “nurture”. Most scientists now believe that gender identity is something that is predetermined by a biological aspect and cannot be chosen for a child. This new outlook has called for the reevaluation of sex reassignment surgeries on infants and parents who are considering one for their child are urged with extreme caution to consider letting their child decide on their own at a later age. Reiner believes, “These studies indicate that with time and age, children may well know what their gender is, regardless of any and all 24  GENDER AND SOCIETY information and child-rearing to the contrary. They seem to be quite capable of telling us who they are.” Guide questions: 1. Based on the article, would you consider the John/Joan case successful? Why? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 2. Why did David Reimer commit suicide? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 3. Is gender identity based on nature and innate or is it entirely based on cultural and nurturing factors according to Dr. Money? Explain. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 4. Explain “gender identity is directly related to patterns of exposure in utero.” ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 5. In your own understanding from the article, which contributes more to one’s gender development, is it nature or nurture? Defend your answer. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 25  GENDER AND SOCIETY 26  GENDER AND SOCIETY CHAPTER 3 Chapter 3 GENDER AND SEXUALITY “Friendship can only exist between persons with similar interests and points of view. Man and woman by the conventions of society are born with different interests and different points of view.” (J. August Strindberg, The Son of a Servant) Learning Objectives Gender Differences. To what extent the stereotypes of men At the end of this chapter, students are and women are true is difficult to expected to: judge. Even if male and female 1. Explain Human sexuality differences do exist, they must be 2. Classify the different Sexual placed in proper perspective. orientations Simone de Beauvoir’s famous 3. Make a sound judgment on the dictum stresses that “One is not born Issues on sexual orientations and a woman but rather becomes one.” preferences Science suggests otherwise, and it is 4. Analyze the Sexual inequalities in driving a whole new view of who various societies 5. Apply the theoretical perspectives and what we are. Males and females, on sex and sexuality it turns out, are different from the moment of conception, and the difference shows itself in every system of body and brain. In fact, men produce twice as much saliva as women. Women, for their part, learn to speak earlier, know more words, recall them better, pause less and glide through tongue twisters. See if you can spot gender differences in the cartoon illustration below. 27  GENDER AND SOCIETY If the sex of a person is biologically Key Concepts determined, the gender of a person is Gender – as the term is used by culturally and socially constructed. There many researchers, refers to are thus three types of biological sex (Male, perceptions about the differences Female, Intersex) and two opposite poles in among males and females the gender spectrum (masculine and feminine). The principal theoretical and Sexuality – is the quality or state political issue is whether gender as a socially of being sexual. constructed phenomenon is related to or determined by biology. For example, in nineteenth century various medical theories suggested that the female personality was determined by anatomy and women’s reproductive functions. These views have been challenged by feminism. Anthropological research has also shown the cultural specificity of notion about gender, sexuality and sex-roles. For example, M. Mead showed in a number of cross-cultural studies that, while gender differentiation is wide- spread, the social tasks undertaken by men and women are highly variable. There is no general relationship across societies between social roles and biological sex. Social psychologists have treated gender-identity as the product of child training rather than as biologically given. Ethnomethodology studies ‘gender’ as the problem of how individual sexuality is assigned. More recently, critics have challenged these interpretations, because (1) while sociologists distinguish between sex and gender, they often treat the latter as an expression of the former, thereby giving biology a determining significance, and (2) they fail to provide the connection between the economic subordination of women and its expression through the family and personal life. In the radical critique, it is the place of women in relation to economic production which ultimately determines male/female differences. In this sense, it can be argued that ‘gender’ is analogous to class relationships. The task of establishing systematic, causal connections between capitalism, class and patriarchy has, however, proved to be highly problematic. Theoretical attempts to develop a sociological perspective on biological sex, gender, sex-roles and personality have nevertheless transformed many taken-for-granted assumptions in a number of sociological topics. For example, feminists within the psychoanalytic tradition have challenged the basic ideas of Freud by showing that the Oedipus complex, penis envy and castration complex should be interpreted as features of the symbolic world of patriarchal power. (Nicholas Abercrombie, Stephen Hill and Brian S. Turner. Dictionary of Sociology. The Penguin. New Edition. 1994. Pp.180-181) 28  GENDER AND SOCIETY One of the most heard-of behavior among sexual deviations is homosexuality. It is not only common in one place but is even universal. Many human societies, such as in Ancient Greece, accepted it as normal. During the Middle Ages it is probable that there were homosexuals not only in military camps but also in religious monasteries and convents. This sexual behavior was also frequent among men of intellect and fame: Michael angelo, the greatest sculptor of the Renaissance, cherished homosexual ideas and passions; Marlowe, one of the chief poets of the Renaissance in England, was clearly of the same feeling, and there is also ground for believing that Bacon was one (Havelock, Ellis, Psychology of Sex. New York: The New American Library, 1957, 162). Sex Differences. In her article, “Sexism,” Marilyn Frye argues that the whole system of gender is really one of power. She implies that masculinity is about dominance, and femininity is about subordination. She notes that we go to a great deal of trouble to keep the sexes distinct; even products that have no inherent differences---like shampoos, deodorants, and razor blades—are packaged differently for men and women. Men and women talk, move, and sit differently from each other. In a myriad of unnecessary details, men and women are different. Although sex differences in brain and body take their inspiration from the central agenda of reproduction, they don’t end there. “We’ve practiced medicine as though only a woman’s breasts, uterus and ovaries made her unique—and as though her heart, brain and every other part of her body were identical to those of a man,” says Marianne J. Legato, M.D., a cardiologist at Columbia University who spearheads the push for gender differences. Legato notes that women live longer but break down more. Everyone gains from the new imperative to explore sex differences. When we know why depression favors women two to one, or why symptoms of heart disease literally hit women in the gut, it will change our understanding of how our bodies and our minds work. Whatever sets men and women apart, it all starts with a single chromosome: the male-making Y, a puny thread bearing a paltry 25 genes, compared with the lavish female X, studded with 1,000 to 1,500 genes. But sex genes themselves don’t leave everything to hormones. Over the past few years, scientists have come to believe that they too play ongoing roles in gender- flavoring the brain and behavior. Females, it turns out, appear to have backup genes that protect their brains from big trouble. To level the genetic playing field between men and women, nature normally shuts off one of the two X chromosomes in every 29  GENDER AND SOCIETY cell in females. But about 19 percent of genes escape inactivation; cells get a double dose of some X genes. Having a fallback gene may explain why females are far less subject than males to mental disorders from autism to schizophrenia. Ruben Gur, Ph.D. discovered that females have about 15 to 20 percent more gray matter than males which is another major sex difference: Men, overall, have larger brains than women, (their heads and bodies are larger), but the sexes score equally well on tests of intelligence. Gray matter, made up of the bodies of nerve cells and their connecting dendrites, is where the brain’s heavy lifting is done. The female brain is more densely packed with neurons and dendrites, providing concentrated processing power---and more thought---linking capability. Meanwhile, the larger male cranium is filled with more white matter and cerebrospinal fluid. “That fluid is probably helpful,” says Gur, director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. “It cushions the brain, and men are more likely to get their heads banged about.” Moreover, white matter, made of the long arms of neurons encased in a protective film of fat, helps distribute processing throughout the brain. It gives males superiority at spatial reasoning. White matter also carries fibers that inhibit “information spread” in the cortex. That allows a single-mindedness that spatial problems require, especially difficult ones. The harder a spatial task, Gur finds, the more circumscribed the right-sided brain activation in males, but not in females. The white matter advantage of males, he believes, suppresses activation of areas that could interfere with work. On the other hand, the white matter in women’s brains is concentrated in the corpus callosum, which links the brain’s hemispheres, and enables the right side of the brain to pitch in on language tasks. The more difficult the verbal task, the more global the neural participation required---a response that’s stronger in females. Furthermore, women have another heady advantage---faster blood flow to the brain, which offsets the cognitive effects of aging. Men lose more brain tissue with age, especially in the left frontal cortex, the part of the brain that thinks about consequences and provides self-control. “You can see the tissue loss by age 45, and that may explain why midlife crisis is harder on men,” says Gur. Also, he added that, “Men have the same impulses, but they lose the ability to consider long-term consequences.” 30  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Exercise #3 General Instructions: 1. Form a group of 5-7 members. 2. Select a leader-facilitator, a recorder, and a presenter. 3. Brainstorm on gender difference from their experiences and/or observations. 4. Discuss your group output to the class. 31  GENDER AND SOCIETY 32  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Assessment #3 Do you agree with Simone de Beauvoir’s famous dictum, “One is not born a woman but rather becomes one”? Defend your answer. _________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 33  GENDER AND SOCIETY 34  GENDER AND SOCIETY CHAPTER Chapter 4 4 GENDER AND FAMILY “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” (Jane Howard) Socialization plays an Learning Objectives important part in determining what At the end of this chapter, students are children believe to be acceptable expected to: behaviors for members of their own sex. As defined, socialization is the 1. Explain the importance of process by which people learn the socialization in the child’s gender characteristics of their group-the development. 2. Point out the norms in selecting knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, marriage partner. and actions thought appropriate for 3. Differentiate the gender roles in them (Henslin,2007). Noteworthy, marriage. the family is considered the primary 4. Relate the different forms of agent of socialization. It is within the marriage and its authority. family that the first socializing 5. Assess the parenthood transition. influence is encountered by most 6. Evaluate the emerging families as children, and this influence affects alternative to traditional families. them for the rest of their lives. 7. Analyze the various issues confronted by Filipino family (Eshleman, Cashion, Basirico,1988). today. Needless to state that children are as well socialized to believe that getting married is what adult men and women do. Mate Selection Do women and men love differently? One theory is that gendered beliefs about love are shaped by how we as a culture define the roles of men and women (Birth and Merville, 1994). Historically, men are considered to value resources and that women are dependent to men for economic resources (Rubin, Peplau, & Hill, 1981). Choosing a life partner is still influenced by the cultural barriers or restrictions which limits the pool of eligible partners (Cate and Lloyd, 1992). Cultural barriers are societal norms and expectations that restrict the choice of marital partners to those with certain demographic or personal characteristics. Homogamy is the tendency to choose to marry someone similar in age, 35  GENDER AND SOCIETY education, religion, social class, and race. Heterogamy refers to the tendency of people to marry others not like themselves on the same characteristics (Bird and Merville, 1994). Basically, people are most likely inclined to choose a partner of the same status, class, race, religion and family values for the main reason that commonality establish a lasting relationship. This norm tends to block the relationships between people of different backgrounds. Nonetheless, heterogamy is becoming increasingly acceptable (Surra, 1991). In Filipino society, homogamy is observed mostly among Muslims and other religious groups who adhere to their traditions and beliefs in terms of marriage. However, on the dawn of the internet age, access to social media has started to alter how people see each other resulting to a more dynamic appreciation of different backgrounds. Social media has broken through topographical barriers, socio economic statuses, education backgrounds, and even language barriers, resulting to more heterogamic relationships. This notion aligns to the premise of Technological Determinism theory which states that cultural and societal norms may be altered or are dependent on the technology being consumed by its individuals. Gender Roles in Marriage Aside the legal mandates imposed on marriage, people make personal adjustment when they marry. Spouses accept certain cultural prescriptions for husband and wife roles-role taking-while working out discrepancies between each other’s marital assumptions. They also actively create marital roles based on their own individual and couple values, needs, and goal-role making. Functionalism assumes that the family system operates best when husband and wife do not overlap roles. In a traditional nuclear family which consists of wife, husband, and their dependent children who live together in their own residence, tasks are divided so that the husband is the breadwinner with the wife maintaining the responsibility of domestic tasks, including child care. In this perspective, everyone is assuming a role for the full function of the family. The father provides, the mother manages the domestic household, and their dependents are to pursue the same roles in the future. This traditional view of marital affair has been seen as one of the limiting factors of women’s agency all throughout different cultures. Cultural and societal reinforcement of such norm has created an alienation on women since, if they will deviate from such gender presumptions, they will be tagged as counter intuitive to societal order, that will trigger unnecessary backlashes to their living conditions. 36  GENDER AND SOCIETY On the other hand, Conflict theories view marriage and family as made up of individuals who possess differing amounts of resources and power, and who have individual interest to consider and defend. The conflict theorist assumes that women and wives today explore and experiment newer roles which have been the prerogative of men and husband in the past. When the wives enter into the labor force the sharing of household tasks become the primary concern of the couple in order to balance the harmony of marital relationship. Bloode and Wolfe (1960:63) concluded that husbands feel obligated to take on an appreciably larger share of the house works when their wives are working. This being so the wives need the cooperation of the husbands to take part in the household chores especially both of them are working and may also give each other respite from work. Forms of Marriage There are various forms of marriage in different societal contexts, however in the Philippines what is accepted as a form of marriage may be either monogamous or polygamous/polygyny. Monogamy permits a man to take only one spouse at a time. This is practiced by almost everybody and sanctioned by the church. Its advantage over polygamy is that it offers a more balanced division of labor and minimizes emotional and psychological tensions. Polygamy is a plural marriage wherein a man can marry to two or more women at the same time. This is practiced by Muslims and other tribal groups whose laws, religion, or traditions allow them to have more wives at the same time. This is allowed among muslims due to the Philippine Government’s recognition of the Sharia Law, or Islamic Code derive from the Quora’n. Marriage Based on Authority It is well settled that authority may be vested on the husband, the wife, or both as the case maybe depending on the prevailing norms observed by spouses. Patriarchal family is one which the authority is vested on the oldest male in the family, often the father. Matriarchal Family is one which the authority is vested on the mother’s kin. This presupposed that the mother dominates the households. 37  GENDER AND SOCIETY Egalitarian family is one which the husband and wife exercise a more or less equal amount of authority. Egalitarianism in marriage is strongly associated with employment opportunities for women. This is one which marriage is no longer tied to traditional beliefs about gender roles. Household tasks are divided by skills, desires, rather than what is seen as a masculine or feminine. There is an equitable distribution of household chores between the husband and wife. Family Relations The Parenthood Transition Motherhood The belief that a woman’s greatest fulfillment and ultimate achievement will be her role as a mother is socialized into girls very early in life. The “motherhood mandate” assumes that it is the woman’s obligation to dedicate her life unselfishly to the raising of her children and to be constantly on call for her child’s need (Russo, 1979). From this parlance, it is viewed that mother’s role said to be instinctive or comes naturally. On the contrary, it pervades guilt in women who work outside the home for personal or economic purposes. Employed wives are not immune to this motherly role since they are absent most of the time at home in lieu of work and may heavily feel guilty in the process. Fatherhood The fact that most fathers take their breadwinning role seriously does not diminish other interest they have in their families. Like women, men also see raising a family as a very important goal in their lives, although they still believe women should be primarily responsible for child care (Astin, 1985). From the foregoing, it is presumed that a father assumes the role of provider, breadwinner, and disciplinarian among other things attached to his social role as a father. Alternatives to Traditional Families The massive social change occurring in other segments of society has impacted the family to a great extent. As a result of alterations involving such areas as expanded employment opportunities for women and men, separation, annulment, remarriage, and definitions regarding acceptable parenting behavior, non-traditional families are emerging. 38  GENDER AND SOCIETY Househusbands The paths are virtually unchartered for men who give up their breadwinning roles to take on primarily responsibilities for household tasks and child care. Mothers and the Single-Parent Household Financially uncertainty is one of the problems faced by the single- parent family, particularly the woman. Being separated from the husband, or as a result of separation, annulment of marriage, and divorce, the wife carries the burden of rearing the children alone. Under the law, the child below 7 years old the custody of the child automatically goes to the mother unless the court decides otherwise. Moreover, single mothers must rely more in their children to get certain household tasks completed yet are also expected to be available to their children for any crisis which comes up at home or in the work place. In fine, the only positive side of this situation is the wife has the autonomy in making decision and it makes her life better without her husband than to stay in a miserable marriage. Fathers and the Single-Parent Household As far as household tasks and child care is concerned, single fathers appear to adapt rather well, perceive themselves as capable as the primary parent, share most of the household responsibilities with their children, and do not rely on outside help to a great extent (Chang and Deinard, 1982). Another study concluded that the inordinate responsibilities associated with single parenting, it is impossible to weigh whether single fathers or single mothers as a group have an easier time adapting (Greif, 1985). Gay and Lesbian Families and Relationships Marriage between homosexuals is not universally accepted, though there are other countries that legalized same sex union. As such is still the heated debate in Philippine Congress nowadays as to whether or not to pass such bill of same sex marriage considering Filipinos are typically conservative with respect to the sanctity of marriage. In some other countries like the United States, yet a small but growing number of gay men and lesbian women have gained custody of their own children or have adopted children and live in permanent households with them and/or their homosexual partners. The Supreme Court has ruled that all States must recognize Same Sex Union. 39  GENDER AND SOCIETY Filipino Family Issues and Relations Filipino family is undergoing many changes due to myriad factors that affect the family per se, among these are geographical mobility, increasing population, industrialization and urbanization, the changed status of Filipino women, and mass media (Panopio, 2004). Today, emerging patterns include mate selection based on free choice. Sex norms have changed. Young girls initiate in inviting the boys out. Premarital sex, early pregnancies, children out of wedlock, and live-in unions are now accepted and permitted. Marriage markets are now available via social networking. There is also the emergence of solo-parent families because of marital separation, migration, illegitimacy and adoption even by single men and women. These social changes bring about conflict in values and mores, which may in turn bring about social problems. Problems that may beset the Filipino families today are conflict in the families, separation and desertion, abortion, illegitimacy, prostitution, juvenile delinquency, drug abuse and others. The extent of these problems is difficult to ascertain. Summary Family is considered the primary agent of child’s socialization. It is within the family that the first socializing influence is encountered by most children, and this influence affects them for the rest of their lives. Selecting marriage partner is governed by certain norms which limits the choices of couple in choosing a mate which could either be homogamy to marry someone similar in age, education, religion, social class, and race or heterogamy to marry others not like themselves on the same characteristics. Gender role in marriage is trapped with the traditional view of family where wife do the domestic tasks including child care while the husband is the sole breadwinner. However, the traditional nuclear family is challenged upon entry of women in the work force paving the way to egalitarian family so much so that the household chores and child rearing are equally divided by the spouses. Furthermore, alternative families to traditional families are as well emerging due to various factors that cause the significant change in the family structure like the househusband, single-parents, and gay and lesbian relations. Inevitably, families are affected by social change brought by mass media, increase of population, industrialization and urbanization and the like. 40  GENDER AND SOCIETY Key Concepts 1. Family – primary agent of the child’s socialization. 2. Socialization – is the process by which people learn the characteristics of their group-the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and actions thought appropriate for them 3. Homogamy – is the tendency to choose to marry someone similar in age, education, religion, social class, and race 4. Heterogamy – refers to the tendency of people to marry others not like themselves on the same characteristics 5. Monogamy – permits a man to take only one spouse at a time 6. Polygyny – is a plural marriage wherein a man can marry to two or more women at the same time 7. Patriarchal family – is one which the authority is vested on the oldest male in the family, often the father 8. Matriarchal Family – is one which the authority is vested on the mother’s kin 9. Egalitarian family – is one which the husband and wife exercise a more or less equal amount of authority 10. Motherhood – woman’s obligation to dedicate her life unselfishly to the raising of her children and to be constantly on call for her child’s need 11. Fatherhood – father’s obligation in raising his family 12. Househusbands – men who give up their breadwinning roles to take on primarily responsibilities for household tasks and child care 13. Mothers and the Single-Parent Household – the single mothers who take the sole responsibility in raising the children as a result of separation, annulment, and divorce 14. Fathers and the Single-Parent Household – the single fathers who take the sole responsibility in raising the children as a result of separation, annulment, and divorce 15. Gay and Lesbian Families and Relationships – children raised by homosexuals are apparently recognized and accepted 41  GENDER AND SOCIETY 42  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Exercise #4: Role Play General Instructions: The class will be divided into groups, and then they will choose what type of traditional or alternative families they will portray in order to illustrate the gender role in the family. Reflection: 43  GENDER AND SOCIETY 44  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Assessment #4 Prove or contradict the following statements. 1. God planned for woman to be under her husband’s rule. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. Marriage is beneficial to men. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 45  GENDER AND SOCIETY 46  GENDER AND SOCIETY CHAPTER 5 Chapter 5 GENDER AND EDUCATION "To the hardworking soul, gender does not dictate wisdom nor skill." (JE Patrimonio) Learning Objectives In all aspects of the school and its surrounding education community, the At the end of this chapter, students are rights of the whole child, and all children, to expected to: survival, protection, development and participation are at the centre. This means 1. Summarize the influence of that the focus is on learning which education process to gender issues; strengthens the capacities of children to act 2. Examine the impact of education on gender issues and struggles, progressively on their own behalf through and; the acquisition of relevant knowledge, useful 3. Illustrate the importance of women skills and appropriate attitudes; and which empowerment. creates for children, and helps them create for themselves and others, places of safety, security and healthy interaction. (Bernard, 1999) In the context of our educational institutions, this presents an inevitable debate on matters of gender equality in education. According to Frederick H. Harbinson, “A country which is unable to develop the skills and knowledge of its people and to utilize them effectively in the national economy will be unable to develop anything else.” It is in this regard that our formal education systems have become our primary institutional mechanism for the development of knowledge and skills, as well as attitudes and values that will enable individuals to effectively contribute to society. The value of education is, therefore, widely acknowledged. According to Eirene P. Mesa, we recognize it (education) as a vital instrument for the improvement of welfare and alleviation of poverty. Internationally, education is recognized as a leading global concern. This premise makes equal access to education important because it allows the possibility for social and economic mobility especially among marginalized sectors of society. It is believed that education is an important factor in ending the vicious cycle of poverty through the enhancement of skills of the underprivileged. It is also clear that education does not just benefit the 47  GENDER AND SOCIETY Key Concepts individual but the economy as a whole because of the Education - “the aggregate of all the improvement in the quality of processes by which a person develops human capital brought about by abilities, attitudes and other forms of behavior of practical values in the society education. Despite this, the in which s/he lives; the social process by struggle of making education more which people are subjected to the influence accessible to the masses is a of selected and controlled environment problem many countries still face. (especially that of the school), so that they may obtain social competence and optimum individual development” (Good, In recent years, increasing 1973) attention has been paid to equity issues in education especially in the Gender - refers to a culture's social international arena. As several of construction of differences between the these studies suggest, access to sexes education among various groups in many countries is severely unequal (Thomas et al., 2001). For a lot of countries, disparities among geographical areas, across social classes and even between sexes still exist and the Philippines is not exempt from these gaps. “Philippine Education is a product of long history of struggle.” (Durban et.al., 2012) Understanding the inequality in the Philippines in terms of education over the years is of great interest because the unequal distribution of educational opportunities is a representation of even larger welfare losses for society. As pointed out in the Philippine Human Development Report (2000), “insufficient or poor education deprives a person of the means of doing and becoming.” Education increases productivity and creativity, whereas unequal access to schooling opportunities may create greater inequities (Alonzo, 1995). It is useful to explore education inequality across different facets of Philippine society to gain a better grasp of both our economic and social situation and for the purposes of this course, we cannot stress enough how important it is to also study this inequality within genders. This is largely due to the fact that, although the country has achieved some level of gender equality in education, and gender statistics show that we are one of those countries where the little disparity in education generally favors females, the general discussion of dispersion of education within males and females has been rarely, if not at all touched. 48  GENDER AND SOCIETY According to the Philippine Commission on Women: The 2008 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) shows that of the estimated 68 million Filipinos 10 years old and over in 2008, 95.6% are basically literate. The basic literacy rate among females is 96.1% while 95.1% among males. Functional literacy among females in the same period is also higher at 88.7% as against 84.2% among males. In the 2003 FLEMMS, the results show that 8 out of 100 (more than 2 million) Filipino women and 11 out of 100 (around 3 million) Filipino men cannot read and write. There were an estimated 5 million illiterates of the 58 million Filipinos 10 to 64 years old during that period. Women who are considered basically literate (those who can only read and write) were estimated at 26 million (90 for every 100 women), higher than men at an estimated 25 million (87 in every 100 men). This is evident in the elementary and high school completion rates where females were consistently higher than males. Aside from acquiring basic literacy, women with numerical skills (functional literacy) were estimated at 25 million (86 for every 100 women), also higher than men with numerical skill estimated at 24 million (82 for every 100 men). Another requisite of functional literacy aside from the basic reading, writing and numerical skill is the ability to communicate and comprehend. In that period, there were an estimated 20 million (69 in every 100) women in this level of functional literacy while men in this level were estimated at 18 million only (63 in every 100). Girls have fared better in terms of enrolment indicators in elementary and secondary education. At public elementary level during the school year 2010-2011, female Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) was computed at 91.07 percent while male NER was lower at 88.78 percent. This means that there were around 9 in every 100 girls and 11 in every 100 boys aged 6 to 11 who did not go to school during that period. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) which is used to assess differences between girls and boys enrollment is computed at 1.03 (103 girls in every 100 boys) which means that more girls had enrolled in elementary education than boys during that period. 49  GENDER AND SOCIETY The Net Enrollment Ratio in the public secondary level during the same school year was lesser compared with elementary level. Female NER was 66.09 percent (66 in every 100 girls) while male NER was 56.63 percent (57 in every 100 boys) all aged 12 to 15 years. There was a greater disparity between girls and boys in high school at 1.17 GPI which is equivalent to 117 girls in every 100 boys. The completion rates for SY 2010-2011 indicated that more girls were able to complete the prescribed number of years in both elementary and secondary education. The completion rate of females at the elementary level was 77.14 percent (77 in every 100 girls), while male completion rate was 67.65 percent (68 in every 100 boys) with 1.14 GPI (114 girls in every 100 boys). The completion rate of female in the secondary level is higher at 80.27 percent (80 in every 100 girls) compared with that of male at 69.88 percent (70 in every 100 boys), with gender disparity at 1.15 GPI or equivalent to 115 girls in every 100 boys. Average Dropout Rate (ADR) at the elementary level was lower for female at 5.02 percent compared with male at 7.45 percent. This means that 5 in every 100 girls and 7 in every 100 boys failed to finish the school year 2010-2011. The Gender Parity Index is computed at 0.67 which implies that only 69 girls in every 100 boys dropped out in that period. For the school year, 2006-2007, the recorded number of enrollees in government Madrasah elementary school reached a total of 240,072 students. It accounted barely for 2 percent of the total enrollment for that period. Females were recorded at 126,213 (52.57%) while males at 113,859 (47.43%). The number of high school students in Madrasah schools was very minimal compared to elementary data. The recorded number was only 34,241 with females accounting for 57.24 percent while males at 42.76 percent. For the same school year, the number of students in the elementary level who belong to the indigenous peoples was 337,616 or barely 3 percent of the total enrolment in the elementary level. Females were slightly less than males at 167,610 (49.65%). High school records showed a total of 86,771 students from the indigenous peoples, of which 53.76 percent (46,644) were females. For higher education enrollment during the school year 2005-2006, females accounted for more than half of the total 2,483,645 enrollees at 54.48 percent compared with males at 45.52 percent. In terms of school preference, 6 in every 10 women and 7 in every 10 men preferred to enroll in private universities and colleges than in public. 50  GENDER AND SOCIETY For the same school year, Medical and Allied Discipline courses posted the highest percentage of female enrollees at 27.44 percent followed by Business Administration and Related Discipline at 24.35 percent. In the preceding school year, Business Administration and Related Discipline posted the highest percentage of female enrollees at 24.77 percent followed by Medical and Allied Discipline at 23.25 percent. The increasing number of students, both female and male, who took up nursing courses, may have caused this surge. Among the 263,634 graduates for school year 2005-2006, female graduates accounted for 56.61 percent (149,246) while males accounted for 43.39 percent (114,388). Business Administration and Related Discipline produced 48,369 (18.35%) female graduates while Medical and Allied Discipline produced 37,371 (14.18%) female graduates. Education and Teacher Training which came third produced 24,523 (9.30%) female graduates. Among women enrollees and graduates in vocational courses from July 2005-August 2006, Housekeeping and Guestroom Maintenance accounted for the highest number at 13.27 percent and 14.07 percent respectively. Jewelry making accounted for the least number of enrollees at 7.40 percent and graduates at 6.73 percent. As of July 2010, the percentage of licensed professional women was higher at 63.7 percent than licensed professional men at 36.3 percent (1,860,901 vs. 1,060,404). And of the total 1,860,901 professional women, Teachers accounted for the highest percentage at 44 percent (819,377), followed by Nurses at 27 percent (504,902). Among the women dominated professions, Midwives top the list followed by Nutri- Dietitians, Social Workers, Pharmacists, Librarians, Guidance Counselors, Dental Hygienists, Interior Designers, Teachers, and Nurses. In the school year 2008-2009, data revealed that 89.58 percent of the public elementary school teachers are female; only 10.42 percent are male teachers. In the public secondary schools, 77.06 percent are female; only 22.94 percent are male teachers. The 2007 Census of Population also shows that about 3 out of 5 persons (63.3 percent) in the household population 5 to 24 years old had attended school at anytime during the School Year 2007 to 2008. School attendance was higher among females (64.0 percent of all females aged 5 to 24 years) than among males (62.7 percent of all males aged 5 to 24 years) during the said school year. Other census finding is that, among those with academic degrees, there were more females (56.2 percent) than males (43.8 percent). Similarly, among those with post baccalaureate courses, females (56.3 percent) outnumbered males (43.7 percent). 51  GENDER AND SOCIETY According to Carolyn Medel-Anonuevo, as women's education became one of the key development objectives in the nineties, it also became crucial to examine the assumptions that have become the basis for the projects, programs and policies that were formulated to this end. More over and in recent years, the concept of women empowerment has been associated to the range of activities undertaken by and for women in different areas, education included. In all these, an important question to be raised is: Whose perspective are we going use to evaluate these assumptions and its overarching outcomes? Since the "UN Declaration of the Decade of Women" in 1975, attention and action on women's concerns have steadily increased and education, whether it be the form of consciousness-raising or skills acquisition, was one of the areas women's organizations, government agencies and international donor agencies focused on. The underlying assumption was that if women understood their conditions, knew their rights and learned skills traditionally denied to them, empowerment would follow. Eighteen years have passed and there are different views as to whether such assumptions about increasing access to education and training have resulted in the tilting of the power balance in favor of women. (UNESCO Institute for Education, 1995) However, the ultimate takeaway from this lessons is that education provides agency. Removing access to education is prevent a person to develop their own capabilities to act with their full capacity. That is why it is imperative for the State to act on the UN Declaration since it is the greatest equalizer. Not all genders are equal, however, the State must pursue possible areas of equity, one of such is the maximazing of access to education of all genders, especially the most marginalized ones. 52  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Exercise #5 General Instructions: Post a picture of an expert of the opposite sex in your desired field that you consider your role model and include an explanation of why you look up to him/her in the caption. 53  GENDER AND SOCIETY 54  GENDER AND SOCIETY Assessment #5 General Instructions: 1. Form a group of 3-5 members. 2. Identify a department in the university as your respondent for this assignment. 3. Initially, discuss and list down among your members all your gender- related assumptions regarding your respondent. 4. Set an appointment with the department chair (or any qualified representative) for a short interview covering the following questions: a. What is the general gender distribution of enrollees in your program? b. In terms of performance, how well do they perform relative to each other? c. What is the general gender distribution of those who successfully complete the program? d. If the information is available, what is the general gender distribution of those who are successfully employed and excel in your industry? 5. Compare your original assumptions with the information you have gathered from your interview and submit a reflection paper based on the following guide questions: a. Where were your original gender-related assumptions based on? b. Based on the information you have gathered, were your assumptions true? Why or why not? Please explain comprehensively. c. What are your major realizations from this assignment and how are you challenged by these realities? 55  GENDER AND SOCIETY 56  GENDER AND SOCIETY Name: __________________________________________________ Section: ____________ Date Submitted: __________________ Assessment #5 Reflection: 57  GENDER AND SOCIETY 58  GENDER AND SOCIETY CHAPTER Chapter 8 6 GENDER AND WORK “Countries with higher levels of gender equality have higher economic growth. Companies with more women on their boards have higher returns. Peace agreements that include women are more successful. Parliaments with more women take up a wider range of issues---including health, education, anti-discrimination, and child support.” (Ban Ki-moon) Learning Objectives The past 30 years have seen the emergence of the At the end of this chapter, the students are working mom, the single mom, expected to: and the supermom. Such surge is seen as women’s deviation from 1. specify the contributions of women in the labor force; the traditional narrative that 2. give examples of successful women in women, once becoming a parent, the business; must surrender all of her agency 3. clarify the factors influencing to household work. women’s choice of work, occupation, or career; Traditional Gender Ideology 4. generate the effects of working womenemphasizes that men’s sphere is on the family of orientation and family work and women’s sphere is the of procreation, and; home. The implicit assumption is 5. assess the effects on the society women in the workplace. that men have greater power than women. This is commonly referred to as the patriarchal system, because such traditional perspective tends to sway power towards men and women to be at serviced to such authority. On the other hand, the Egalitarian Gender Ideology proposes that power is distributed equally between men and women and that each group identifies equally with the same spheres. This ideology focuses on the “humanist” aspect of gender, being that both men and women are human beings, and that their life should be seen as equal to each other. This view pushes an equalized view of men and women, and blurs the line between gender roles. Men can cook, women can fight, men can housekeep, women can work physically challenging 59  GENDER AND SOCIETY tasks, men can cry, women can tank. However, statistics prove otherwise. Here are some facts about gender inequality: In 2015 there were only 21 female heads of state in the entire world. Women currently hold 24, or