GENDER Notes SET 3  Patriarchy draws a clear demarcation line between males and

Notes Compiled by R. Chipfiko 2019 female.

 It also creates a social stratification system with males always on the
Definition of Key Terms & Concepts (KTCs): top ranks of the social ladder.
 Sociologist, Meena (1992) says that in patriarchal social system,
Feminism even the weakest man has a woman to oppress and exploit.
 Feminism is a social and political movement that is intended to  In patriarchal society, women are perceived as perpetual minors i.e.
defend and expand the rights of girls and women. they are considered as children, kids or youngsters, who cannot
 It is both a cause and a result of the changing positions of girls and make independent decisions.
women in society.  In short, patriarchy a systematic societal structure that
 Feminism also an ideology and theory which recognizes the institutionalizes male physical social and economic power over their
systematic discrimination against girls and women on the basis of female counterparts in society.
their gender. Sex roles
 It gives commitment to work towards correcting the undesirable
conditions that girls and women find themselves in, in society.  Sex roles are duties, activities, tasks or responsibilities that males
 Feminism challenges the idea that gender like sex is natural, yet and females perform or undertake that are an inevitable product of
it is apparently a social construction. one’s biology, e.g. breastfeeding for females and impregnating for
the males.
Patriarchy  Like sex, these assignments are biologically determined, fixed,
 Patriarchy is a social system that propagates male superiority, power universal and exclusive to a particular sex.
and control over women as natural, although this is not the case. Gender roles
 It oppresses, exploits and subordinates women.
 The term ‘patriarchy’ refers to a system of male power and  Gender roles are duties, chores, tasks, responsibilities or
dominance over women, e.g. in the fields of politics, work and assignments that a particular cultural group consider appropriate
education. for its males and females on the basis of the meaning attached to
 In a patriarchal society, men, more than women, have unequal their sexual identity.
access to:  These roles are not a direct or an inevitable product of males’ or
o leadership roles, females’ biology.
o decision making influence,  Rather, they are socially transmitted and culturally determined, and
o power and authority, thus internalised e.g. caring for children by females and mending a
o control over valuable resources, puncture for males.
o unwarranted privileges.  Therefore, they are learnt, and vary within and among cultures.
 Gender roles are dynamic, interchangeable and can be influenced by
factors such as:
1|Page
 o class, and women in all processes of development, i.e. the composition of
o religion, males and females at all levels should be fair.
o age,  Practicing gender equity is illustrated by an enrolment of male and
o race, females into a university, e.g. the ratio of males to females should
o ethnicity, be commensurate with the national population ratio of 48:52.
o education, Respectively.
o geographical location.  Gender equity leads to gender equality.
Gender Equality Gender bias
 Equality is a state of being essentially equal.  Gender bias is the tendency to be in favour of, or against males and
 Gender equality implies the same valuation of men and women and females on the basis of their gender rather than on anything else.
sameness of enjoyment of rights, power, opportunities, treatment  e.g. teachers encouraging only female learners to pursue Clothing &
and control of resources in society e.g. equality before the law, i.e. Textiles/Textiles Technology & Design or Home Economics
the right to equal protection of the laws between women and men because of their stereotypical belief that women are better at sewing
 Gender equality does not necessarily mean that men and women and managing households than men.
become the same.
Gender Discrimination
 It simply means women and men should equal life chances and
should have the same opportunities in life e.g. the enjoyment of  Gender discrimination is an act of unfair treatment directed against
same voting rights. an individual or a group on the basis of their gender which denies
 Therefore, gender equality means equivalence in access to resources those rights, opportunities or resources.
that matter in life between women and men in human society, taking  e.g. when an organisation prefers to recruit only male applicants at
into account their different needs and interests. the expense of their female counterparts, it would be practising
gender discrimination.
Gender Equity
 Another e.g. to illustrate gender discrimination is when a university
 Gender equity is a process of achieving fairness and justice among lowers entry qualifications for only female students, at the
men and women. disadvantage of qualified male students.
 The fairness and justice is in relation to distribution of opportunities,  For whatever reasons, such an institution would be discriminating
responsibilities, resources and access to and control of the benefits against the male students.
accrue from such resources.  Gender discrimination can be positive or negative; positive when the
 Gender equity is achieved by eliminating the disadvantages that goal is to empower the disadvantaged gender; and negative when
prevent women and men from enjoying equality in all spheres of the other gender is unfairly treated.
life.  However, whether positive or negative, differential and preferential
 It entails proportional distribution of not only economic, but social treatment is given to males and females on basis of their gender.
resources and services, as well as proportional representation of men
2|Page
Gender Neutrality  Gender awareness is, the ability to identify problems arising from
gender discrimination and bias which affect men’s and women’s
 Gender neutrality is the claim that one is indifferent to issues of ability to access and control resources.
gender as he or she does not practice gender bias or gender  The resources may be economic or social.
discrimination.  The ability to identify problems related to access and control of
 Gender neutrality assumes fairness in gender issues, and that all benefits from societal resources is also an example of gender
people are already equal, therefore, should be treated the same way. awareness.
 However, gender neutrality may not allow for sensitivity to  It is still gender awareness even when and where the problems are
disadvantages, hence it replicates stereotypes and restrictive views disguised and defended as a matter of culture and tradition.
of males and females.
Gender Responsiveness
Gender Blindness
 Gender responsiveness mainly constitutes responding to gender
 Gender blindness is the inability to perceive or recognize the issues with a view to eradicate gender-related problems, such as,
differences between males and females. bias and discrimination in order to ensure gender equality and equity
 That failure may be a result of complete gender ignorance. prevails.
 It may subsequently lead to failure to provide or cater for the  Gender responsiveness is the ability to practice gender equity and
apparent differences between the sexes. gender equality following a process.
 Gender blind people fail to realize that policies, programmes and  The process starts from gender sensitivity through gender awareness
activities can have different effects on men and women. to gender responsiveness.
 This often leads to inflexibility and unchanging attitudes.
 Gender blindness is a characteristic feature of conservative Gender Mainstreaming
societies, where gender bias and discrimination is a result of
 Gender mainstreaming is a strategy for making women’s as well as
innocence or lack of knowledge.
men’s concerns and experiences an integral part of the design,
Gender Sensitivity implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and
programmers, including legislation, in all political, economic, and
 Gender sensitivity is the ability to perceive existing gender social spheres so that women and men benefit equally.
inequalities and unfair treatment between the sexes.  Gender mainstreaming is aimed at ensuring that inequality is not
 It is basically awareness that gender inequality exists and that it perpetuated.
needs to be addressed.  The ultimate goal of gender mainstreaming is to achieve gender
 When one is gender sensitive, he or she acts consciously aware and equality.
sensitive to the differences and needs of members of the opposite  It is a strategy to achieve gender equality that was universally
sex.
adopted at the fourth world conference on women in 1995, at
Gender Awareness Beijing.

3|Page
Gender Empowerment  Gender affirmative action entails gender discrimination because it
gives unfair, though justifiable, advantage to the once discriminated
 Gender empowerment is an increased awareness of, and an sex group.
understanding of the causes of powerlessness because of one’s  It is, therefore, positive or reverse discrimination.
gender, and the strategy to reassert that power.  Gender affirmative action is meant to redress the effects of past
 It is also gaining the ability to recognize systematically oppressive gender injustices and forms of discriminations rather than to
forces and acting individually and collectively to change the discriminate.
unfavourable conditions of life that are gender-based.  An example of gender affirmative action is the practice by most
 Basically, gender empowerment implies one’s participation in universities that lower their entry qualifications for female students
decisions and processes affecting one’s life. only.
 It is a process about people, taking control over their own lives,
setting their own agendas, building self-confidence, solving Gender Stereotypes
problems that are gender-based
 Gender stereotypes are socially constructed ideas or beliefs about
 Gender empowerment is a process initiated and directed by those
men and women which are not necessarily true, but taken as truth
who need an enabling environment and resources that will allow
by society.
them to determine their life course.
 They are maintained, perpetuated and transmitted from generation
Gender Affirmative Action to generation by social institutions.
 Social institutions that perpetuate gender stereotypes include:
 Gender affirmative action is a corrective or compensatory measure o the family,
for past injustices or gaps.
o the school,
 It catalyst in the process of equitable development among men and o the media,
women. o religion,
 Affirmative action is an intended measure through fairness and o culture
justice accorded.
 Gender affirmative action means deliberately granting the  Most common gender stereotypes are based on:
previously excluded or disadvantaged sex group preferential, but o Sex, e.g. males are aggressive while females are
justified treatment. affectionate
 The preferential treatment is intended to increase the group’s o Personality, e.g. men are cheerful while women are nervous
representation in many areas of life; these include: o Age, e.g. young men are rebellious while older women are
conservative
o education,
o Ethnicity, e.g. Ndebele women are good home managers
o employment,
while Shona women are good fieldworkers
o business, o Class, e.g. upper class men are playful while lower class
o politics, men are ambitious
o and others.

4|Page
 o Occupations, e.g. male nurses are kind and loving while  These are human requirements which, when they are met, challenge
female nurses are rude and short-tempered with women in and change power relations between men and women.
labour.  Gender strategic needs are often less visible than the practical ones,
 Stereotypes can be positive or negative. and they are long term, e.g. access to decision making positions.

Gender Identity Gender Socialisation

 It is how an individual adapts the prescribed sex role to his or her  Gender socialisation refers to the means by which social
individual identity. expectations regarding gender appropriate characteristics are
conveyed to the child.
Gender Relations  These expectations are often based on stereotyped beliefs.
 Gender relations are the range of gendered practices, such as the  Gender socialisation provides children with models for present
division of labour and resources. behaviour, and it prepares them for adult life
 They also include gendered ideologies such as ideas of acceptable  Research shows that the importance children place on gender varies
behaviour for men and women. by:
 They are simply the social relationships between men as a sex group o class,
and women as a sex group. o race,
 Gender relations determine what is socially acceptable and what is o family structure,
socially inappropriate. o sexuality of parents,
 They work in most cases to subordinate and discriminate against  The most important insight from research on gender socialization is
women. that because boys and girls are treated differently, and put into
different learning environments, they develop different:
Gender practical needs o needs,
 These are the concrete, immediate and often essential needs/wants o wants,
for human survival. o desires,
 In society, men and women survive better in their socially accepted o skills,
roles, within their gendered power structures, rather than when o temperaments.
they attempt to or do reverse roles.  In short they become different types of people – men and women –
 Practical gender needs include food and shelter among other who hardly question why they are different or how they ended up
things. that way.
 If men and women stick to their socially accepted roles, they do
not risk being ostracized by members of society.
This resource was created by Regis Chipfiko
Gender strategic needs
e-mail: [email protected] phone: + 263 77 245 5988

5|Page