Introduction to
Gender Studies
What Is Gender?
Gender is seen as the process by which individuals who are
born into biological categories of male or female become the
social categories of men and women through the acquisition of
locally-defined attributes of masculinity and femininity”
Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a
given culture associates with a person’s biological sex.
Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is
referred to as gender-normative; behaviors that are viewed as
incompatible with these expectations constitute gender non-
conformity.
Difference between Gender and Sex
Gender Sex
It is the social-cultural construction Sex refers to the
of masculinity or femininity. biological/physical/anatomical
Gender refers to the difference between man and
characteristics of being feminine woman.
or masculine. It is natural.
It is a social construct.
It is universal term.
Gender varies from culture to
It is somewhat difficult to
culture.
change
Gender roles are different in
different societies and times.
Can be changed since gender Difficult to change
identity is determined by society
Defining Gender Studies
Gender Studies investigates the actual (physical and
biological) gender differences between women and men, but
thinks especially critical about what these differences mean in
a socio-cultural context. Gender is a classifying principle in
society and culture. It is a remarkable discriminating tool in
the distribution of labor, care, possession, income, education,
organizational qualities or diseases.
Women’s and Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary
field that examines gender as a social and cultural
construction. Drawing upon academic areas such as history,
psychology, popular culture, literary criticism, and
anthropology, the major crosses and blends the boundaries of
traditional disciplines.
Understanding Gender Studies
Gender studies looks at the manner in which the norms and patterns
of behavior associated with masculinity and femininity come into
being.
It studies the features of these norms and patterns – which traits are
considered masculine, which feminine, and why?
How do stereotypical models of men and women develop? How do
they change over time, and what factors contribute to changes? Also,
and very importantly, what impact do such stereotypes have upon
actually existing men and women?
Gender Studies also focus on existing men and women, because they
are not only biological beings but rather have a social role, caste,
class, position, religious identity and sexual identity.
What is Women Studies?
Women's studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted
to topics concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. It
often includes feminist theory, women's history (e.g. a history
of women's suffrage) and social history, women's fiction,
women's health, feminist psychoanalysis and the feminist and
gender studies-influenced practice of most of the humanities
and social sciences.
Early on courses drew especially on history, literature, and
sociology, but they quickly expanded to the other humanities
(philosophy, religious studies, comparative literature, art,
music) and the social sciences (anthropology, political science,
economics, psychology, geography). Science and technology
have been slower to embrace women's studies.
History and Evolution of Women and
Gender Studies
The first women's studies course is purported to have been
created by American historian Mary Ritter Beard, who in 1934
constructed a 54-page syllabus for a course titled "A Changing
Political Economy as it Affects Women“.
Development of Women’s studies, as an area of academic study,
came into being during the emergence of second wave feminism and
a new dawn of political activism.
The first courses were developed in the late 1960s in the USA. It
wasn’t until 1980 that the first MA in women’s studies was offered at
the University of Kent.
San Diego State University's program formally approved in 1970.
This was followed by a tremendous growth in the published literature
on women's studies, much of which has dealt with descriptions and
analyses of the emerging field.
Continued….
Since the 1970s, scholars of women's studies have taken post-
modern approaches to understanding gender as it intersects
with race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, age, and
(dis)ability to produce and maintain power structures within
society.
Since the late 1980s it became more common to find the term
‘women’s studies’ contested and at times replaced in favor of
‘gender studies’, the rationale being that feminist theories had
opened up the wider possibility of the analysis of gender
difference and its maintenance, so that masculinity and male
social roles might be of legitimate concern.
Inter-disciplinary Nature of Gender
Studies
Women’s and Gender Studies explores women’s past and
present contributions to societies as persons, creators and
thinkers. It also explores the cultural, racial, and economic
diversity of women’s experiences as well as the scholarship
concerned with the factors that affect women's and men's
lives. The minor prepares students to think critically about
issues with which they will be faced all of their lives. Thus,
Women’s and Gender Studies is an essential component of a
liberal arts education.
Women’s and Gender Studies draws upon methods and
content from a wide range of disciplines, including
anthropology, literature and the arts, biology, economics,
history, political science, psychology, religion and sociology.
Continued…..
Gender is understood as not a freestanding category, but
rather one that takes shape through its intersection with other
relations of power, including sexuality, race, ethnicity, class,
nationality, and religion.
It offers historical, contemporary, and transnational analyses
of how gender and sexual formations arise in different
contexts such as colonialism, nationalism, and globalization.
Globalization understands the ways that gender operates in
different national and cultural contexts.
Statues of Gender Studies in
Pakistan
The Ministry of Women’s Development (MoWD) in Pakistan is
committed to the overall development of women, including
their education. The aims and objectives of the ministry are to
enhance women’s literacy rates, improve attainment levels of
women at all educational level, to reduce gender gap by
reorienting current curricula and making them gender
sensitive.
The National Commission on the Status of Women also aims
at encouraging the generation of information, analysis and
studies relating to women and gender issues. Both these
institution are thus integrally related to the state of women’s
studies a s a discipline and has a strong base in activism and
implementation.
National Plan for Action
The national plan for action was endorsed by government in
1998.
It recommended the promotion of inert-disciplinary field of
Women’s Studies in public and private educational and
training institutions.
One of the main actions recommended was the funding of the
Women Studies Centers at five universities throughout
Pakistan, should be ensured through the ministry of Education
and Higher Education Commission.
It was also suggested that there must be a linkage and
exchange of information between private and public Women
Studies initiatives.
Women Studies Center
The Women Studies Centers in Pakistan can be divided into public
which are funded by the government and private sectors which are
funded by international donors only. In 1989, the Ministry of Women’s
Development established Women studies Centers in five universities,
initially as a five year project. The aims and objectives of these
departments are;
Critical examination of all factors which were responsible for
rendering women invisible in scientific investigation and development
Reorientation of existing curricula to include knowledge on women
and contributions made by female writers.
Creating awareness of women’s issues.
Development of introductory courses for the students of universities.
Continued…
Women’s Studies Department at Allama Iqbal Open University (1997)
Women’s research and Resource Center at the Fatima Jinnah women
University, Rawalpindi (1999)
Institute of Women Development Studies at University of Sindh,
Jamshoro (1994)
Women’s Studies Center at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad
Centre of Excellence for Women Studies program at Karachi
University
Women Studies Centre, University of Balochistan in Quetta
Department of Women’s Studies, Punjab University
Department of Women’s Studies, University of Peshawar
Government Fatima Jinnah College, Chunna Mandi,Lahore
