The Gender Perspective in

Development of women, social

characteristics, desegregated
roles responsibilities
 Sex- gender: Biological and Social
Differences
Women and men are differentiated first of all because of the physiological and
sexual characteristics with which we were born. These are natural and do not
change (not normally, anyway). These differences have to do with what we call
“sex”.

We are also differentiated because each society and each culture has given a
distinct value and meaning to these differences of sex and has formulated ideas,
conceptions and practices about BEING A MAN and BEING A WOMAN. This
set of social, economic, political, psychological and legal characteristics and
norms are what is called “gender” (Lagarde, M., 1994). As a result, there are two
genders: female and male.
 From Natural Differences to Social Inequality

In themselves, differences do not lead to inequality. However, the moment a

social group assigns a value to these differences - to the genders - this

situation changes, producing inequality in the development and well being of

women and men.

The inequality resulting from this social valuation keeps both genders from

having the same access to opportunities for personal and collective

development. People do not decide by themselves to live in conditions of

superiority or inferiority; their formation according to gender assigns them a

place in one of these two positions.

Socialization: How do we learn to become women
and to become men:

The process of configuration as people and members of society is called

socialization. We human beings are constituted according to psychosocial
processes in which gender is one determinant of our identity.

Our grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, mother and father
or the people who raised us - significant figures because of their closeness
during our first years of life - nourished a very important part of our process
of formation as people, making them our referents in terms of gender
behaviors. These people are called “other references”

Can you recall how family members treated women

and how they treated men?

What did you learn from these men and women?

In this process of socialization, behavioral codes ad valuations of inequality
are transmitted to us. We internalized these, because we were taught that it was
“natural” to behave in these ways.

Social groups are constantly transmitting gender formation, and this process
takes place from generation to generation through multiple media that act
simultaneously and are mutually reinforcing. We learn from the behavior of
others. We see what women do and what men do, where they go to, what they
do with their time, what decisions they participate in and the resources they
control. We perceive all these gender practices in the family, in school, at work,
in institutions, in development projects, in the government, in business and in all
the other social institutions that people can join.
 Gender Identity: Who Am I?

Our identities are constructed during this process of socialization: female identity,

male identity and forms of relating between them.

Our identities are constructed in relation to what we should feel, do, think, and even

imagine, all previously established for our gender. This also depends on other

conditions in the world where we are involved: the culture we belong to, the social

class or group that determines our material conditions of life, and our identity

according to age, religion and politics

Why to Incorporate a Gender Analysis in projects and researchs?

Gender equity perspective analyzes the reasons why inequality in the living
conditions of women and men produces inequity, and a lack of well being for
everyone, both women and men.

Each man and woman has a responsibility toward the achievement of

sustainable human development. Based on her/his own experience, girls and
boys, young people, adults, older women and men, each and every one of them
must make a contribution on behalf of the community and its development.

Gender analysis makes it possible for women and men to recognize for
ourselves the opportunities and constrains involved in achieving our personal
and collective development, within the historical and geographic context in which
we live.
 Incorporating the Terms we need:

Affirmative Actions

Affirmative actions becomes “ a strategy for equal opportunity through

measures to contrast or correct discriminations that are the result of social

practices or systems. Its purpose is to implement concrete programs giving

women concrete advantages”

While affirmative actions are often identified with measures aimed at increasing women’s

political participation, they can be designed to eliminate or reduce situations of discrimination

wherever they may exist, and be adapted to the particular circumstances of rural

development organizations and projects.

 Age groups

Classification of the population according to age, for

example, children, adolescents, adult women and
elderly adult men.
 Division of Labor:

Three types of work can be distinguished:

Productive work: Includes the production of goods and services for consumption or sale

(I.e., agriculture or fishing). This usually refers to work that generates income and is the kind

included in national censuses and statistics.

Reproductive work: Includes the care and maintenance of the domestic unit and its

members, as well as bearing and caring for children, preparing food, drawing water,

purchasing provisions, performing domestic chores and taking care of family health. This

type of work is not considered as such by society and has no exchange value.

Community Work: Includes the collective organization of social events and services. This

type of work is not taken into account in economic analyses, even when in involves many

hours of voluntary work.

EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment of women: This signifies providing women the opportunity to

attain greater power and control over their own lives and involves raising

awareness, developing confidence in oneself, giving opportunities and greater

access to and control over resources. Empowerment comes from within:

women empower themselves. “External agents”, such as donors, cannot

empower women. However, donors can play an important role as facilitators.

The instruments used to further the empowerment of women must simplify the

process of communicating their needs and priorities, and promote a more

active role in advancing these interests and needs.

UNDERSTANDING
GENDER

GENDER FRAMEWORK:

1. Biological
2. Social Construction,
3. Gender Characteristics,
4. Needs/Rights…
 1st Circle : biological/physiological

Male Female

SEX refers to the Individual’s identity

from the physiological characteristics of
male and female (1st/2nd steps)
 2nd Circle : Social Construction

Gender has to do with how we

think, how we feel and what we
believe we can and cannot do
because of socially defined
concepts of masculinity and
femininity
 Gender characteristics

Relational   …Does not refer to women and men in an isolated way but to
the relationships they have and how these relationships are
socially built,
Hierarchical … Differences between men and women are far from being
neutral and there is a tendency to attibute importance and
greater value to masculine characteristics and activities and
therefore justifying production of power relationships based
on Gender Inequality 
Change …Gender is historical: roles and relations change throughout
throughout the time which allow them with a good potential to be
the time modified thanks to Development interventions
Specific … they are multiple variations in gender roles and
context relationships depending on the context:   race, ethnic
groups, societal systems, socio-economic level, culture…which
make evident the importance of Diversity in Gender Analysis
Institutional Gender is institutionnally structured because it doesn’t refer
  only to women and men relationships at the personnal/private
level but to all societal system and institutions itself
underlied by values, legislation, policies, and translated into
practices.
 3rd Circle : Needs /rights?

Gender practical and strategic approach is

the only way to appropriately meet both
women and men needs and therefore
strengthen the well-being of individuals and
community,
The state of human well being has been
guaranteed as a human right through a
number of international conferences and
human rights treaties and covenants…
 Gender Principles

Equality Empowerment
Of Women
Equity
 GENDER EQUALITY

 Gender Equality connotes an equal number

or an equal % of women and men at given
position, place, space…
 This number/%, doesn’t imply necessarily
that women and men are identical but that
they have the same human value and
therefore should equally benefit from the
same opportunities and enjoy the same
human rights;
Equality is not always equitable,
 GENDER EQUITY

Equal opportunities and rights for women and

men require that both are equal at the starting
point….
Equity is about justice but not only. It is the
feeling of justice or injustice as expressed by a
given individual or group,
Responses to be built on a real-life status and
experience, an understanding of gender-related
expectations, needs, and rights and may need to
challenge adverse norms.
 Women Empowerment

When women and men have an unequal status

within a community and unequal access to and
control over resources, women need
preferential treatment and affirmative action
before their starting point could be considered
as equal with men:
This is positive discrimination.
To identify & reduce gender gaps in meeting Gender
Practical Needs (GPNs) and Gender Strategic Needs
(GSNs) to lead towards :
 Achieving Gender Equality in participation and decision
making in private and public life,
 Widening the range of equal opportunities, choices and
rights of women and men in all empowerment areas:
education, information, economic, legal, political, social
including sexual and reproductive health and rights…
 Making available instruments and provisions and ensuring
monitoring of their application/enforcement to achieve
Gender equality.
Step 1: identifying a number of Development
Challenges related to gender discrimination and
related HR violation.
Step 2: Identifying the claim-holders and duty-
bearers and of their corresponding capacities to
claim their rights on the one hand and fulfill the
rights of the others, on the other hand.
Taking into account that duty bearers are/could be
at the same time claim holders and vice-versa
(e.g. women in their different statute(s) and positions).
Gender Framework of Violence:
Gender violence is a complex social phenomenon,
deeply rooted in existing gender power relations,
sexuality, self- identity and, the structure of social
institutions. Three main elements to differentiate
GBV from other forms of violence including
against women
1. Sex discrimination
2.  Imbalanced distribution of power between the
perpetuator of (man) and the survivor to violence
(woman), characterized by the duality
Defining Sex and Gender

 Sex refers to biological identity.

 Gender refers to learned behaviors
associated with each sex.
 Gender desegregation

– Men and women work in gender

desegregated occupations.
Explanations Of Gender
desegregation
 Women and men are socialized equally
and choose to go into same fields.
 Structural obstacles do not discourage
women from entering male-dominated
jobs and from advancing once
employed.
Polling Question

 If you were taking a new job and had

your choice of a boss, would you prefer
to work for a man or a woman?
A.) Man
B.) Woman
C.) No preference
Consequences of Gender
Expectations
 Women are denied access to power,
influence, achievement, and
independence in the public world.
 Men are denied access to nurturing,
emotional, and other-oriented worlds
that women traditionally inhabit.
Cont…

 Women’s work is central to the

economy.
 Women have access to education.
 Ideological or religious support for
gender inequality is weak.
Thank you