Gender and Development – Lecture 7

Women, Development and the World

a. Sectoral Situationer – Gender permeates all aspects of society. This idea may be hard to imagine
because oppression due to gender has been so normalized that even those who experience the brunt of
this system see no wrong in it. The sectoral situationer will be given an overview of the condition of
women both in the Philippines and around the globe in relation to oppression.

i. Women and the Economy: Women and Work – while both men and women have problems
concerning work, women have specific labor issues related to their gender. Moreover, women’s work is
often invisibilized due to their socialized gender roles.

1. There are fewer women than men at work, and most women only work in one sector.

2. Not only are fewer women employed, they also experience the pay gap – they are paid less than what
men receive for doing the same work, across al sectors and occupations.

3. While many issues concerning women and work have yet to be addressed, some issues have gained
ground, such as maternity and paternity leaves.

4. Women also experience gender biases in the Philippines, such as their “limited career choices, lack of
support facilities, sexual harassment, lack of protection for the informal sector and domestic workers,
tenuous social protection, limited monitoring on labor standards, and unremitting promotion of labor
export policy.”

ii. Women and Education – Gender parity in primary education is present not just in the
Philippines, but also in the rest of the world, with girls performing better than boys in some regions.

1.Issues in education involve the gendered nature of certain specializations. Women may be
underrepresented in STEM fields.

2.Goal No. 3, Taget 3A or the MDG is “to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education,
preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015”

3. For every 100 boys, 69 girls dropped out of school during this period.

4.More girls were able to complete both primary and secondary education in school year 2010-2011.

iii. Women and Health – access to health care and health services constitute issues surrounding
women and health, as well as a woman’s emotional, psychological, and and social wellness. Globally,
maternal health has improved considerably. However, pregnancy and childbirth are still the main health
concerns of women aged 15-29.

1. The average life expectancy of women has risen to the age of 72 years, while it is 68 for men.

2. Issues surrounding health care in the Philippines involve the lack of access to healthcare facilities,
quality services, and actual health centers in the communities.

3. Women seeking treatment for abortion are still stigmatized, regardless of whether the abortion was
self-induced or spontaneous.
4. Teenage pregnancy in the Philippines has been increasing; specifically, a 65% rise from the years 2000
to 2010.

5. The groundbreaking Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (RA 10354) aims to
address the gaps in reproductive health. It aims to be pro-women as it helps young girls take charge of
their own bodies and pushes for adolescents’ access to SRHR (sexual and reproductive health rights)
information

iv. Violence against women (VAW) exists on a global scale, and affects millions of women on a
daily basis. Statistics on VAW show the reach of this gender-based epidemic.

Culture-specific violence such as bride burning, child brides, or female genital mutilation is still practiced
despite its violation of a person’s basic human rights.

v. Women in Armed Conflict – armed conflict is seen as a critical area of concern in terms of
women’s participation in peace panels and peacekeeping, as well as in terms of their victimization
during conflict around the globe.

1.A special form of victimization occurs for women in armed conflict. Women have gender-specific
needs apart from the basic survival needs that other victims of conflict have.

2.Due to women’s socialized gender roles as the keepers of culture and bearers of a race, rape and
sexual violence are seen as war tactics to instill fear in communities.

3.Other issues face by women include subhuman evacuation conditions, forced recruitment into rebel
camps, killings, abductions, psychosocial trauma, and hostage-taking.

vi. Women in Power and Politics – the number of women in parliament worldwide has doubled
in the years since the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA). However, women
compose only 22% of the parliament today.

1.The Philippines made it to the top ten countries in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap
Index for 2015.

2.There is increased participation of female voters (28K) against male voters (26K)

3. Some issues that hamper women’s participation in the elections involve sexrole stereotypes and
gendered assumptions. 4.Also, because women in politics are stereotyped by their roles, Filipino voter
often look for someone who is aggressive and assertive.

vii. The Magna Carta for Women is a groundbreaking law that serves as the “comprehensive bill
of rights for Filipino women”.

1.Likewise, the Women’s Empowerment, Development, and Gender Equality Plan for 2013-2016 is a
framework plan for gender mainstreaming developed by the Philippine Commission on Women.

2.Rampant sexism and violations against women on the basis of gender and sex occur, especially on
certain laws that are antiwomen. The Penal Code, for example, imposes a heavier consequence for
women who commit adultery versus men.
 viii. Discrimination against the Girl-Child – the BPfA sees the girl-child as an important sector
that faces numerous forms of injustice.

1.Women experience their first forms of discrimination during childhood. Because some cultures value
boys over girls, girl-children may fall victim to female infanticide and sex-selective abortion.

2.Despite child marriage being illegal in most countries, there is a prevalence of forced marriages that
involve marrying young girls to older men.

3.Female circumcision is a harmful traditional practice that targets young girls. And while this is a
practice of certain tribes, it poses risks to the girl’s health due to infection and bleeding

ix. Women and the Environment – talks about the environment have remained mostly gender-
neutral before the BPfA. However, “women and the environment” has been named as a critical area of
concern due to the disproportional impact of environmental issues on women.

1.While men and women are equally affected by access to water or the exposure to disasters, women
are more burdened. The caregiving, cooking and cleaning assigned to them requires water and fuel in
their homes.

2.Women are also excluded from land titles and ownership of other natural resources.

3.During food shortages, women often prioritize the needs of their husband and children over their own.

4.Women are not involved in decision-making bodies about the environment.

x. Women and Disaster – the accelerating effects of climate change have increased the
unpredictability of the weather systems around the world.

1.Gender and disaster resilience are strongly correlated. Case studies on post-disaster communities
show that women and girls are more susceptible to the effects of a tragedy.

2.Women are most often the ones who attend to the immediate survival needs of their family members
such as setting-up their temporary shelter and lining up for relief goods from the government and other
organizations.

3.Post-disaster scenarios have incidences of gender-based violence that include rape, human trafficking,
and domestic abuse.

xi. Women in the Indigenous Communities – there are 14-17 million indigenous peoples in the
Philippines belonging to 110 ethno-linguistic groups.

1.Historically, the indigenous peoples have been subjected to discrimination and marginalization in the
course of political processes and economic activities.

2.Women in the indigenous communities face issues regarding land ownership.

3.In some cases, indigenous women deal with “discriminatory attitudes and insensitivities” of
mainstream health facilities”.

4.Child marriage is another pressing issue in the indigenous communities.

xi. Filipino Women in Other Sectors – Muslim women in the country are affected by armed
conflict.

xii. When communities are displaced due to such situation, women and children are the majority
among the internally displaced people.

Gender and Development – Lecture 8

a. Gender analysis helps us understand that there is a difference between practical needs and strategic
interests. Understanding this difference helps us to identify positive measures that can be undertaken to
rectify inequalities between women and men.

i. Practical needs are those that can be considered as immediate necessities for both women
and men (basic needs such as water, food, income, shelter and health care). Initiatives that only aim to
meet practical needs seek to respond to issues arising from inadequate living conditions.

ii. Strategic interests pertain to the relative status of women and men within their society. These
interests differ from one context to another, and relate to changing women’s position or status through
addressing gender roles and expectations, as well as gender division of labor, resources and power.
Examples of initiatives to promote strategic interests include protection from domestic.

Gender and Development – Lecture 9

a. Gender Equality is also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes; it is the state of
equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic
participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs
equally regardless of gender.

UNICEF defines gender equality as “women and men, and girls and boys, enjoying the same
rights, resources, opportunities and protections. It does not require that girls and boys, or women and
men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike.”

Gender Equality

– equality between men and women.

- equality in dignity and rights

- equality in outcomes: All human beings, both men and women, are free to develop their personal
abilities and make their personal choices without being limited by stereotypes, rigid gender roles and
prejudices.

Gender Inequality
 b. Concepts of Inequality – acknowledges that men and women are not equal and that gender
affects an individual’s living experience.

i. The 2010 HDR introduced the GII (Gender Inequality Index) which reflects gender-based inequalities in
three dimensions:

1. Reproductive health is measured by maternal mortality and adolescent birth rates:

2. Empowerment is measured by the share of parliamentary seats held by women and attainment in
secondary and higher education by each gender; and

3. Economic activity is measured by the labor market participation rate for women and men.

Subordination - secondary status of women in society. Because of this, women have less access and
control over the resources and benefits. Men continue to dominate the corporate world, politics and
sports.

Marginalization – women’s participation in development is limited to traditional programs and projects.

ii. The GII can be interpreted as the loss in human development due to inequality between female and
male achievements in the three GII dimensions.

1. The Philippines has a GII value of 0.425, ranking it 98 out of 162 countries in the 2018 index. In the
Philippines, 29.1 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women, and 75.6 percent of adult women
have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 72.4 percent of the male
counterparts.

2. For every 100,000 live births, 114.0 women die from pregnancy related causes; and the adolescent
birth rate is 54.2 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19.

3. Female participation in the labor market is 45.7 percent compared to 74.1 for men.

4. In comparison, Indonesia and Thailand are ranked at 103 and 84 respectively on this index.

iii. Women work longer than men.

1.Women’s work is relegated to the home, performing unpaid tasks; men are the breadwinner and so
holds the power and status – and the money.

2.Women of poor families are subject to dual burden of working at home and outside the home for
extra money, thus having double shifts which the men do not perform.

Multiple Burden – women perform several tasks and responsibilities despite their limited time and
energy.
v. Inequality in Employment and Earnings

1. Historically, men have more opportunities for work outside the home, thus women have little or no
opportunities at all. If there is, the type of work is very limited for growth.

2. Since these jobs are inferior to those of the “male jobs”, there exists the gender pay gap – the average
difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. A pay gap of 4.84%
currently exists in the Philippines.

v. Ownership Inequality

1.In most of the societies, ownership over property and means of production rests mainly on male
members. Laws on inheritance provides such ownership rights on the male child. Such denial coming out
of hierarchical dualism within the family not only reduces the voice of women but also prevents them
from participating in commercial, economic and social activities.

vi. Survival Inequality

1. Another crudest form of gender disparity is the unusually high mortality rates of women. More boys
than girls are born everywhere leading to a “deficit” of women and a “surplus” of men.

2. In developed countries, because of the absence of gender-bias in health care and nutrition, women
outnumber men. But in developing countries, women receive less care and support than men. There is
strong “son preference”. There is a male-bias in food allocation.

vii. Gender Bias in the Distribution of Education and Health

1. In 51 countries, only 57 percent of women aged 15 to 49, married or in union, make their own
decisions about sexual relations and the use of contraceptives and health services.

viii. Gender Inequality in Freedom of Expression and Participation

1.They lack not only economic freedom at home because of the absence of autonomy in household
decisions, limited or complete absence of property ownership rights and the poor wages earned but also
lack freedom and participation in decision making.

ix. Gender Inequality in Respect to Violence and Victimisation

1. Recent data from 106 countries show that 18% of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15-49 have
experienced physical and/or sexual partner violence in the previous 12 months.
2. The practice of child marriage has continued to decline around the world.

3. At least 200 million girls and women have been subjected to female genital mutilation from 30
countries. But this data declined by one quarter between year 2000 and 2018.

Gender and Development – Lecture 10

a. Definition – As children, we develop gender-related beliefs and expectations through our observations
of and interactions with the people around us. An “agent” of gender socialization is any person or group
that plays a role in the childhood gender socialization process. Gender socialization is a lifelong process.
The beliefs about gender that we acquire in childhood can affect us throughout our lives. The impact of
this socialization can be big (shaping what we believe we are capable of accomplishing and thus
potentially determining our life’s course), small (influencing the color we choose for our bedroom walls),
or somewhat in the middle.

• As adults, our beliefs about gender may have grown more nuanced and flexible, but gender
socialization can still affect our behavior, whether in school, the workplace, or our relationships.

Gender - roles assigned by society to males and females. Activities deemed by society as appropriate for
males and females. Behaviors expected of males and females. Characteristics expected of males and
females.

Socialization happens in “social institutions’

These institutions:

- perpetuate the assignment of characteristics associated with women and men

- influence gender roles association

- provide mechanism of social control that maintains gender roles

Socialization – the process by which individual learns to conform to the norms of the group where one is
born with¸ internalize these norms, acquire status and plan corresponding roles.

a. Setting

i. Family – parents are typically a child’s first source of information about gender. Starting at birth,
parents communicate different expectations to their children depending on their sex. For example, a son
may engage in more roughhousing with his father, while a mother takes her daughter shopping. The
child may learn from their parents that certain activities or toys correspond with a particular gender
(think of a family that gives their son a truck and their daughter a doll). Even parents who emphasize
gender equality may inadvertently reinforce some stereotypes due to their own gender socialization.

Family – primary force of socialization and has the most influence because the formative years of every
individual is almost always spent with and developed by the family.

Manipulation – refers to a way by which parents deter or encourage behavior on the basis of
appropriateness as regards gender.
 - parents encourage “normal” behavior through praise and rewards, and discourage
“abnormal” behavior through punishments or disapproval.

Canalization – refers to the way by which parents channel the child’s interest in activities in
conjunction with gender as deemed appropriate.

Verbal Appellations – use of language to label children in a way that reinforces appropriate
gender identification.

- telling children what they are and what expectations we have them.

Activity Exposure – boys and girls are encouraged to do different activities t familiarize them
with gender-appropriate tasks.

- activities’ conformity to norms and practices reinforces appropriate gender

ii. Mass Media – media, including movies, TV, and books, teaches children about what it means to be a
boy or a girl. Media conveys information about the role of gender in people’s lives and can reinforce
gender stereotypes. For example, consider an animated film that depicts two female characters: a
beautiful but passive heroine, and an ugly but active villain. This media model, and countless others,
reinforces ideas about which behaviors are acceptable and valued (and which are not) for a particular
gender.

Mass Media – reinforces gender stereotypes and sex-based discrimination through media portrayal of
men and women.

iii. School – Teachers and school administrators model gender roles and sometimes demonstrate gender
stereotypes by responding to male and female students in different ways. For example, separating
students by gender for activities or disciplining students differently depending on their gender may
reinforce children’s developing beliefs and assumptions.

Educational Institutions – the formal school system promotes and encourages the different gender roles
between men and women in many ways.

iv. Workplace - Organizational cultures shape and reinforce socially appropriate roles for men and
women. Drawing on a performativity framework, which assumes that gender is socially constructed
through gendered “performances.

Workplace – gender discrimination in relation to occupation and pay. It is a balance of family life and
work and questions of power relations as well as access to and control over resources.

v. Peer Group – peer interactions also contribute to gender socialization. Children tend to play with
same-gender peers. Through these interactions, they learn what their peers expect of them as boys or
girls. These lessons may be direct, such as when a peer tells the child that a certain behavior is or is not
“appropriate” for their gender. They can also be indirect, as the child observes same-and othergendered
peers’ behavior over time. These comments and comparisons may become less overt over time, but
adults continue to turn to same-gendered peers for information about how they are supposed to look
and act as a man or a woman.
vi. Religion - Many religious institutions also uphold gender norms and contribute to their enforcement
through socialization. From ceremonial rites of passage that reinforce the family unit to power dynamics
that reinforce gender roles, organized religion fosters a shared set of socialized values that are passed
on through society.

Religion – reinforces gender stereotypes through religious symbols, teachings, doctrines and their
interpretations.

vii. The State, similar with Religion, is what governs the people and sets laws that dictate what is and
what is not, what should and should not be.

State – creates laws and policies that ensure the maintenance of the system and instrumental in passing
laws that are discriminatory to women and other sexual orientations.

Gender and Development – Lecture 11.1

Gender communication is a specialization of the communication field that focuses on the ways we, as
gendered beings, communicate. Sexism in language exists when language devalues members of a
certain gender. Sexist language, in many instances, promotes male superiority. Sexism in language
affects consciousness, perceptions of reality, encoding and transmitting cultural meanings and
socialization.

a. Nature - Language is one of the most powerful means through which sexism and gender
discrimination are perpetrated and reproduced.

• The content of gender stereotypes, according to which women should display communal/warmth
traits and men should display agentic/competence traits, is reflected in the lexical choices of everyday
communication.

• As a consequence, language subtly reproduces the societal asymmetries of status and power in favor
of men, which are attached to the corresponding social roles.

• Moreover, the hidden yet consensual norm according to which the prototypical human being is male is
embedded in the structure of many languages.

• Grammatical and syntactical rules are built in a way that feminine terms usually derive from the
corresponding masculine form. Similarly, masculine nouns and pronouns are often used with a generic
function to refer to both men and women.

• However, such linguistic forms have the negative effects of making women disappear in mental
representations.

• Although the use of gender-fair linguistic expressions can effectively prevent these negative
consequences and promote gender equality, there are even more implicit forms of gender bias in
language that are difficult to suppress.

• By choosing terms at different levels of abstraction, people can affect the attributions of the receiver in
a way that is consistent with their stereotypical beliefs.
• Linguistic abstraction, thus, is a very subtle resource used to represent women in a less favorable way
and thus to enact gender discrimination without meaning to discriminate or even be aware that this
linguistic behavior has discriminatory results.

• In order to reduce gender bias, it is necessary to change people’s linguistic habits by making them
aware of the beneficial effects of gender-fair expressions.

b. Gender-fair Language - Gender-fair language minimizes unnecessary concern about gender in your
subject matter, allowing both you and your reader to focus on what people do rather than on which sex
they happen to be.

• For example, the practice of using he and man as generic terms poses a common problem.

• Gender-fair language minimizes unnecessary concern about gender in your subject matter, allowing
both you and your reader to focus on what people do rather than on which sex they happen to be.

• For example, the practice of using he and man as generic terms poses a common problem.

• Rather than presenting a general picture of reality, he and man used generically can mislead your
audience.

• Research by Wendy Martyna has shown that the average reader's tendency is to imagine a male when
reading he or man, even if the rest of the passage is gender

Gender and Development – Lecture 11.2