NORTH CENTRAL MINDANAO COLLEGE

Maranding, Lala, Lanao del Norte

COLLEGE OF ART AND SCIENCES

GEC ELECT 1: GENDER AND SOCIETY
Summer of A.Y. 2021-2022

Topic

LEVELING OFF: GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Rationale

This course critically examines the ways Gender informs the social
world in which we live. This course exposes the “common-sense” world of
gender around us; considers how we develop our gendered identities; explores
the workings of the institutions that shape our gendered lives, and leads to an
understanding of the relationship between and the social structures.
Intended Learning Outcomes

Ordained by Nature: Biology Constructs the Sexes.

ILO 1: Understand and define the terminology used in sexology and

psychology of human sexuality:

ILO 2: Understand the biological basis of human sexuality:

ILO 3: Use psychological and sexological techniques to explain various

aspects of human sexual experience and behavior including gender and
gender roles.

ILO 4: Identify gender stereotypes and the problems stereotyping

brings.

Activity/Activities

Virtual Class Thru Google meet and Google Classroom, Online Quiz via Google Form
Discussion

OUR PURPOSE:
The purpose of the Gender Studies program is to involve students in this
intellectually challenging and engaging way of examining our world.
Gender studies courses examine how social structures including race,
class, sexuality, and other factors impact the lived experiences of men
and women.

LEVELING OFF: GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Sex and gender are two very essential yet underrated parts of human
life. They affect all aspects of our lives, from how we look at and act in
the jobs we take to how we regard the laws and values of our society.
This chapter will establish the difference between sex and gender,
define gender roles and relationship according to the United Nations and
other relevant national bodies, and determine how gendered interaction
at various levels within the family, workplace, community, and larger
society.

What is sex?
o Sex in the biological sense is a category for living beings specifically
related to their reproductive function.
 For most living creatures, there are two sexes, the MALE and the
FEMALE
 The female sex is determined by the following characteristics: produces
egg cells which are fertilized by another sex, and bears the offspring.
 The male sex, on the other hand, produces sperm cells to fertilize the
egg cells.
 What is chromosome?
 Are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal
and plant cells. Each chromosome is made of protein and a single
molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Passed from parents
to offspring. DNA contains the specific instructions that make
each type of living creatures unique.
 In human, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes,
for a total of 46. Twenty-two of these pairs, called
AUTOSOMES, look the same in both males and females. The
23rd pair, is the sex chromosomes, differ between males and
females

WHAT ARE GENITALIA?

 Is the organs used for reproduction, and secondary sex characteristics
are largely influenced by one’s X and Y chromosomes. These
chromosomes determine whether someone’s body will express itself as
a “female” or a “male”.
  Genitalia: The male or female reproductive organs. ... The female
external genitalia are the labia minora and majora (the vulva) and the
clitoris. The male internal genitalia are the testes, epididymis, and vas
deferens. The male external genitalia are the penis and scrotum.
 Chromosomes XX equates to female, and XY equates to male. The
copulation or the union of the sexes (XX & XY or male and female),
produces offspring.

WHAT IS HORMONES?

 A hormone is a chemical that is made by specialist cells, usually within

an endocrine gland, and it is released into the bloodstream to send a
message to another part of the body. It is often referred to as a ‘chemical
messenger’.

OTHER FEATURES:
 Physical features related to secondary sex characteristics are also
influenced by hormones. Both male and female have ESTROGEN,
TESTOSTERONE, AND PROGESTERONE but in varying amounts.
 Usually male have more amount of testosterone.
 Female have more amounts of estrogens

DEFINITION OF TERMS
ESTROGEN
The female sex hormones, and one that teenager girls knows all
too well, is responsible for setting off puberty. Produced primarily in
your ovaries, estrogens regulate your menstrual cycle, maintains
pregnancy and keeps bones strong for women and men too.

TESTOSTERONE
Plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues
such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual
characteristics such as increased muscle and bone mass, and the growth
of body hair.

PROGESTERONE
 Is a female sex hormone. It’s produced mainly in the ovaries
following ovulation each month. It’s a crucial part of the menstrual cycle and
maintenance of pregnancy. But its main job is to get your uterus ready for
pregnancy.

What is gender?

 Is a socially learned behavior usually associated with one’s sex

 Gender is also based on how people see themselves and on their
tendency to act along either the masculine or the feminine line.
 Gender is a social construct that determines ones roles, expected values,
behaviors, and interaction in relationship involving mean and women. It
affects what access is available to men and women to decision- making,
knowledge, and resources.

Table 1: Main Differences Between Sex And Gender

SEX GENDER

PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIAL
RELATED TO REPRODUCTION CULTURAL
CONGENITAL LEARNED BEHAVIOR
UNCHANGING CHANGES OVER TIME
VARIES WITHIN A CULTURE /
AMONG CULTURES

GENDER ROLE SOCIALIZATION

 Is defined as the process of learning and internalizing culturally
approved ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It starts as soon as
one is born and manifest from the color associated with one’s gender to
the roles one sees his or her gender performs the most. Socialization
affects all parts of one’s identity by dictating what is acceptable to do
because of one’s educational background, class, religion, and gender.
Thus, female and male gender roles develop.

GENDER STEREOTYPES:
 Develop when different institutions reinforce a biased perception of a
certain gender’s role. These institution include the family, the church,
 the school, the state, and the media. These beliefs can be limiting if
seen as prescriptive a gender’s role rather that descriptive of the many
possible roles one can have.

Definition of terms:

 STEREOTYPES
In social psychology, a stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a
particular category of people.

GENDER STEREOTYPES ARE OF FOUR TYPES

 SEX STEREOTYPES
Are a generalized view of traits that should be possessed by men
and women, specifically physical and emotional roles? These stereotypes are
unrelated to the roles women and men actually perform.
 SEXUAL STEREOTYPES
Involve assumption regarding a person’s sexuality that reinforce
dominant views. For example, a prevalent views is that all men are
sexually dominant. Another notion is heteronormativity, or the
assumption that all person are only attracted to the sex opposite theirs.
Two types of sexual stereotypes
HETERONORMATIVITY
Is defined as the notion that being heterosexual, or the
attraction to the opposite sex, is the standard for correctness.

HOMONORMATIVITY
Is the nation organizing for gay marriage, but not for trans
live.
Is a set of rules used to decide which people in the queer
community are the best.
 SEX-ROLE STEREOTYPES
Encompass the roles that men and women are assigned to base
on their sex and what behaviors they must possess to fulfill these roles.

 COMPOUNDED STEREOTYPES
Are assumptions about a specific group belonging to a gender.
Examples of groups subject to compounded stereotypes are young
women, old men, single men or women, women factory workers, and
 the like.

Exercise

Guide questions for discussion:

1. What is the meaning of gender and society?

2. How does gender play a role in society?
3. How does culture affect gender?

Assessment
ESSAY: Provide brief, yet complete, answers to the following questions.

1. What is the difference between gender roles and gender stereotypes?

2. What are gender stereotypes and how they influence the society?
3. What are the gender issues in education?

Reflection

How is gender identify influenced?

Resources

. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, by Joseph F.

Healey
Sex and Gender: A References Handbook ( Contemporary World
Issues)
Prepared By

LOID JAY B. KADILE, LPT

CED Faculty