GENDER

EXERCISE I

BELOW ARE GIVEN A SET OF TERMS AND IDEAS.

CLASSIFY THEM AND WRITE THEM IN THE SPACE PROVIDED, BASED ON WHERE YOU THINK THEY BELONG.

• 1. BIOLOGICAL
• 2. SOCIOLOGICAL
SEX GENDER
• 3. CHROMOSOMES
• 4. HORMONES
• 5. CULTURE
• 6. PHYSIOLOGICAL
• 7. PSYCHOLOGICAL
• 8. SOCIETY
Exercise I
SEX GENDER

Biological Society

Chromosomes Sociological

Hormones Culture

Physiological Psychological
 SEX
THE WORD ‘SEX’ COMES FROM LATIN WORD ‘SEXUS’, WHICH IS DETERMINED BY A PERSON’S
REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.

• IT IS A BIOLOGICAL TERM; PEOPLE ARE TERMED EITHER MALE OR FEMALE DEPENDING ON THEIR SEX
ORGANS, I.E., REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS AND GENES.

• IT REFERS TO THE GENETIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT INDICATE WHETHER ONE IS
MALE OR FEMALE.

• SEX REFERS TO THE BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES.

• IT RELATES TO THE OBSERVABLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEIR GENITALS AND TO THEIR

PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS IN PROCREATION.

• “THERE ARE TWO SEXES, MALE AND FEMALE.

• TO DETERMINE SEX, ONE MUST ASSAY THE FOLLOWING PHYSICAL CONDITIONS: CHROMOSOMES,
EXTERNAL GENITALIA, INTERNAL GENITALIA, GONADS, HORMONAL STATES AND SECONDARY SEX
CHARACTERISTICS.
 GENDER

• THE WORD ‘GENDER’ COMES FROM LATIN WORD ‘GENUS’, WHICH MEANS KIND OR RACE.
• GENDER IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL TERM REFERRING TO ONE’S SUBJECTIVE FEELINGS OF
MALENESS AND FEMALENESS.

• GENDER MAY ALSO REFER TO SOCIETY’S EVALUATION OF BEHAVIOUR AS MASCULINE OR FEMININE.

• THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEFINITIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN ARE CALLED GENDER. FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS
SOCIETY THAT MAKES RULES THAT A GIRL WILL STAY IN THE HOUSE, WHILE A BOY CAN GO OUT OR THAT A
GIRL BE GIVEN LESS FOOD TO EAT AND LESS TIME TO PLAY THAN A BOY. A BOY SHOULD BE SENT TO A
BETTER SCHOOL, SO THAT WHEN HE GROWS UP, HE CAN LOOK AFTER THE FAMILY BUSINESS OR GET A
GOOD JOB, WHILE NOT MUCH ATTENTION IS PAID TO A GIRL’S EDUCATION. DUE TO THESE SOCIAL
DEFINITIONS, THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GIRLS AND BOYS CREATES TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS
 EXERCISE II
REFLECT ON THE EVENTS IN YOUR LIFE AND
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1. DO THE GIRLS AND BOYS / MEN AND WOMEN IN

YOUR FAMILY/SURROUNDING BEHAVE IN THE SAME
MANNER?

2. IF YES / NO, EXPLAIN HOW.

IN MOST ASPECTS OF LIFE, MEN AND WOMEN
BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY. THE MAJOR REASON
FOR THIS IS SOCIETAL EXPECTATION.
SOCIETY HAS ASSIGNED ROLES TO
INDIVIDUALS BASED ON THEIR GENDER AND
EACH INDIVIDUAL IS BOUND BY THIS SOCIAL
EXERCISE II
NORM.

THIS PROCESS IS CALLED “GENDER

SOCIALIZATION.”
• HOW DID YOU REALISE TO WHAT
GENDER YOU BELONG?
• WHO WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE WHO
TOLD YOU HOW YOU SHOULD DRESS?
• HAVE YOU EVER FELT THAT YOU EXERCISE III
SHOULD BEHAVE IN A PARTICULAR
WAY BECAUSE OF YOUR GENDER? IF
SO, FROM WHERE DID THAT
REALIZATION COME FROM?
• THIS AWARENESS OF GENDER COMES FROM
OUR INTERACTION WITH THE SURROUNDING,
WHICH INCLUDES OUR FAMILY, COMMUNITY,
AND THE SOCIETY AT LARGE.
• THE BEHAVIOUR THAT IS EXPECTED OF US IN
RELATION TO OUR GENDER IS BY FAR
DETERMINED BY THE SOCIETAL, CULTURAL,
AND ECONOMIC VALUES OF OUR SOCIETY EXERCISE III
AND IT VARIES FROM SOCIETY- TO- SOCIETY.
• THE DIFFERENT UNITS OF THE SOCIETY SUCH
AS THE COMMUNITY, FAMILY, FRIENDS,
PEERS, ETC. ARE THE MAJOR AGENTS OF
GENDER SOCIALIZATION.
AGENTS OF GENDER SOCIALISATION

EDUCATION
PARENTS
SYSTEM

PEERS MASS MEDIA

QUESTION TIME: COMPLETE THE SENTENCES USING APPROPRIATE ANSWERS
1. GENDER SOCIALISATION IS ___________
A) AN INERT QUALITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL
B) A PROCESS THAT TAKES PLACE IN ISOLATION
C) A PROCESS OF LEARNING THE BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDES CONSIDERED APPROPRIATE FOR A
GIVEN GENDER
D) ALL OF THE ABOVE

2. GENDER NORMS ARE SET BY ______________

A) GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES
B) SOCIETY
C) THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF
D) ALL OF THE ABOVE

3. AGENTS OF GENDER SOCIALISATION ____________

A) TEACH US TO TREAT BOTH GENDERS AS EQUALS
B) TEACH US THAT EACH GENDER HAS ITS OWN PARTICULAR BEHAVIOURS AND ATTITUDES
C) HAS NOTHING TO TEACH US
D) NONE OF THE ABOVE
 WHAT ARE GENDER
ROLES AND HOW DO
THEY CONTRIBUTE TO
GENDER
DISCRIMINATION?
EXERCISE IV
CLASSIFY THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES/JOBS BASED ON YOUR LIFE-EXPERIENCES AS TO WHOM YOU
HAVE SEEN DOING THESE ACTIVITIES OFTEN (IGNORE THE EXCEPTIONS).
1. COOKING
2. SWEEPING THE HOUSE
3. WASHING UTENSILS
4. CARRYING HEAVY LOADS Women Men
5. RIDING A MOTOR BIKE
6. HEADING A COMMUNITY
7. PAYING BILLS
8. WATCHMAN
9. BABY-SITTER
10. PLUMBING WORK
EXERCISE IV
Women Men

Cooking Carrying heavy loads

Sweeping the house Riding a motor bike

Washing utensils Heading a community

Baby-sitter Paying bills

Watchman

Plumbing work
Does that mean a person
belonging to the other gender
cannot perform those activities?
Not really. It is the perception of
the society and people around us
that certain activities should be
completed only by a particular
gender for the reasons that they
consider are best. These roles
assigned to persons based on their
gender are called gender roles.
 GENDER ROLE
• A GENDER ROLE, ALSO KNOWN AS SEX ROLE, IS A SOCIAL ROLE
ENCOMPASSING A RANGE OF BEHAVIOURS AND ATTITUDES THAT ARE
GENERALLY CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE, APPROPRIATE OR DESIRABLE FOR
PEOPLE BASED ON THEIR ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED SEX.

• GENDER ROLES ARE USUALLY CENTRED ON CONCEPTIONS OF FEMINITY AND

MASCULINITY ALTHOUGH THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS AND VARIATIONS.

• THE SPECIFICS REGARDING THESE GENDERED EXCEPTIONS MAY VARY

SUBSTANTIALLY AMONG CULTURES, WHILE OTHER CHARACTERISTICS MAY BE
COMMON THROUGHOUT A RANGE OF CULTURES.
Nature of Gender Roles
• Gender roles are learned behaviour.
• These roles vary in their social, economic, and
political dimension across cultures. Values and norms
differ widely from culture- to- culture.
• Gender roles have certain universality, but are
largely culturally determined.
• Gender roles are affected by a number of factors
such as age, class, race, ethnicity, religion and
ideologies, in addition to geographical, economic,
and political environment.
• Roles may be complementary or conflicting.
 NATURE OF GENDER ROLES

1. GENDER ROLES ARE LEARNED BEHAVIOUR.

2. THESE ROLES VARY IN THEIR SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL DIMENSION ACROSS
CULTURES. VALUES AND NORMS DIFFER WIDELY FROM CULTURE- TO- CULTURE.

3. GENDER ROLES HAVE CERTAIN UNIVERSALITY, BUT ARE LARGELY CULTURALLY DETERMINED.

4. GENDER ROLES ARE AFFECTED BY A NUMBER OF FACTORS SUCH AS AGE, CLASS, RACE,
ETHNICITY, RELIGION AND IDEOLOGIES, IN ADDITION TO GEOGRAPHICAL, ECONOMIC,
AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT.

5. ROLES MAY BE COMPLEMENTARY OR CONFLICTING.

QUESTION TIME: IDENTIFY IF THE FOLLOWING
STATEMENTS AS TRUE OR FALSE:

1) GENDER ROLES ARE ROLES DECIDED BY AN INDIVIDUAL FOR

HIS/HER OWN SELF.

2) ALL GENDER ROLES ARE UNIVERSAL.

3) AGE, CLASS, RACE, ETHNICITY, RELIGION AFFECT GENDER ROLES.
4) ACCORDING TO THE GENDER ROLE ASSIGNED TO WOMEN, THEY
ARE EXPECTED TO BE EMOTIONALLY SENSITIVE.
 EXERCISE V
• IMAGINE THAT YOU HAVE A SON AND A DAUGHTER. IF YOUR FAMILY
INCOME IS SUFFICIENT EDUCATE ONLY ONE CHILD, WHOM WOULD
YOU EDUCATE? GIVE REASONS FOR YOUR CHOICE.

• RECALL YOUR LIFE AND LIST FIVE THINGS THAT YOU WERE
DEPRIVED/NOT ALLOWED BECAUSE OF YOUR GENDER.
GENDER DISCRIMINATION
 GENDER DISCRIMINATION
GENDER DISCRIMINATION IS DISCRIMINATION BASED ON THE GENDER OF THE PERSON.
USUALLY, WOMEN ARE TREATED DIFFERENTLY AND UNEQUAL THAN MEN IN THEIR EDUCATION,
CAREER, ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT, AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE. IT IS A COMMON TYPE OF
DISCRIMINATION THAT HAPPENS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, EVEN IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

WOMEN ARE NOT ONLY CONSIDERED TO BE PHYSICALLY WEAK, BUT ARE ALSO CONSIDERED
TO BE WEAK IN MANY ASPECTS COMPARED TO MEN. THESE ARE REFLECTED IN SOCIETY’S
TREATMENT OF THE TWO GENDERS.
IN A BROADER SENSE, WE CAN DEFINE GENDER
DISCRIMINATION AS, ‘‘ANY ACTION THAT
SPECIFICALLY DENIES OPPORTUNITIES, PRIVILEGES,
OR REWARDS TO A PERSON (OR A GROUP)
BECAUSE OF GENDER”.
AREAS OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

• DENIAL OF BIRTH
• DENIAL OF FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS
• DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATION
• DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT
• WAGE DISCRIMINATION
• POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
BREKING GENDER STERIOTYPES
THANK
YOU
MAYAPATI
TGT SOCIAL SCIENCE
PM SHRI KV NO. 1, SATNA
[email protected]