Lesson 2:Gender and Sexuality Across Time

Learning Outcomes:
 Discuss the historical roots of our understanding of gender and sexuality; and
 Show appreciation of how this understanding evolved through time, affected various aspects of
human life.

Indicative Content:
 Patriarchy
 Historical Views on Gender
 Women Empowerment

Discussion:

Society has progressed so much in a way that information

and knowledge is available everyone. Historical accounts show that
across time, humans’ conception of gender and sexuality has also
changed.

For the longest time thereafter, societies have privileged

men over other genders, mainly because of the preferential given to
them in the productive sphere (world of public work).

Women who have been revered due to their ability to

conceive have been viewed as solely capable only of reproductive
affairs world of the home and related tasks such as suckling the
young, child rearing and home management).

The gender disparity was intensified by the Industrial era

where factors were built and men were preferred because they did
not have to bear children for nine months and because of their
perceived physical strength.

But how did really the conceptualization of gender and sexuality

changed? This lesson tackles movements in history which shows
how men, women, and people of other genders are viewed in
human societies.
PATRIARCHY

 Patriarchy is from the Greek word Patriarkhes which means “the rule of the father”.
 It is a social system where men primarily hold power in the political and private sphere.
 A structure that upholds male supremacy in law, at home, in the work place, and in society.
 Patriarchy is viewed by most sociologists as a social construct and not as a biological
phenomenon.
 History would tell that pre-historic hunter-gatherer (Stone Age) tribes and civilization prioritized
equality of all members, male and female which is called Egalitarian System. Men and women
contribute to society, and enjoy the same social status.
 Friedrich Engels, a German philosopher and sociologist, argues that patriarchy came about when
people started having private property instead of a communal living.
 The development in agriculture and domestication of animals led to creating product surplus
which allows people to have a private property. This development is called Neolithic Revolution.
 The Neolithic Revolution, or (First) Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of
many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one
of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly larger population possible.
 HISTORICAL VIEWS OF GENDER

Greece
 Aristotle, Plato and other Greek Philosophers
viewed women as the inferior sex and are
properties of men whose only job was to obey their
husbands, bear children and take care of household.
 They were forbidden to learn philosophy, politics
and science.

Egypt
 Herodotus, a Greek philosopher, observed the Egyptian civilization citing that Egyptian women
enjoyed higher social status than Greek women because they can inherit property engage in trade
and politics. However, Greek quickly influence spread in Egypt through the conquests of
Alexander the Great across Asia and Africa.

China
 Confucianism has stringent written rules that dictate how women should conduct themselves.
 The written documents titled “Three obedience’s and four virtues” and “Precepts women” states
that women should obey their father, when married she is to obey her husband, and when
widowed she is to obey her son.

Gendered biases in ancient patriarchal societies were very strict, heavily enforced and often violent.
Imagine not being able to school just because you are a woman.

Women have come a long way since the ancient times through the feminist movement, however,
patriarchy has taken on subtle forms of oppression that often go unnoticed such as:

 Sexism- prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination based on sex;

 Gender pay gap- men earn more than women;
 Underrepresentation in politics, military, executive positions, etc;
 Rape on women and the stigma making women ashamed to report the crime;
 Very conservative expectation on how they behave;
 Unrealistic depictions of women in fiction, often very sexualized;
 Women do more housework and childcare;
 Boys were trained to be leaders while women were trained to do house chores.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Women’s Liberation movement, women’s movement, or feminism is a continuing series of social

movements that aim to challenge the patriarchal society creates these oppressive political structures, beliefs,
and practices against women.
In France, Simone de Beauvoir wrote
book titled “The Second Sex” in 1949. it
outlined how the patriarchal society
disadvantaged women by slowly raising her
into submission and hindering their
productivity and happiness by relegating
them to housecleaning.
Beauvoir’s book was instrumental in
awakening women about their plight as t he
“wife-servant” to their husband in her famous
quote “one is not born, but rather becomes a
woman”.

Le mouvement de Liberation des Femmes or the

women’s liberation movement was formed in Europe. The
movement sought the right to education, right to work, right
to vote in the 1940s. They won women’s right to decide on
their own bodies and sexualities. This movement views the
intersectionality of economic status or class to patriarchy.

To put simply, feminism demands equality. Here are a few salient points that feminism demands:
 Women Suffrage – Women were not allowed to vote because they were viewed as
irrational and temperamental, cannot make rational decisions. This change after World War
1(1914-1918) wherein women were uprooted from the household. They took on jobs and
made significant contributions to their country. Since then many countries changed their
perspective to women and let them vote.
 Equality in Politics and Society – for hundreds of years, women’s voices were silenced,
so society must take an effort to restore their rights. Representation is very important for
women, so that their genuine concerns are heard in politics and in society. Feminist have
always criticized that old, privileged men always make the decisions for women at home
and in politics.
 Reproductive Rights – the woman is in control of her body and she can decide for herself
on what she sees is best for her. Contraception, abortion and other reproductive options
should be available to women because it is their body.
  Domestic Violence – such as marital rape and physical abuse are often dismissed by
society as part of “marriage”. Although we have RA9262 or Anti Violence Against Women
and Children, our culture still dismiss such incidents as “away mag-asawa”.
 Sexual harassment and sexual violence – the Center for Women’s Resources in the
Philippines estimates that one woman or child is raped every hour mostly by someone they
know.

Post Activity:

CONTEMPLATE: Think about the phrases “babae kase”, “lalaki kase”, “haligi ng tahanan”, “ilaw ng
tahanan” and “pakipot”. How do these words affect one’s personality and behavior?

Evaluation/Assessment:

Interview people from different age groups (adolescent, adult, elderly) within your household or
community compound and ask them what they can think of when they hear the words gender and sexuality.
Ask them what influenced them to have these thoughts?

References:
 Peralta, E.P. et al (2019): Course Module for Gender and Society: A Human Ecological Approach
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution#:~:text=The%20Neolithic%20Revolution%2C
%20or%20(First,an%20increasingly%20larger%20population%20possible.