MODULE CONTENT

TOPIC 2: INTRODUCTION TO GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

Nominal Duration: 3 hours

OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this topic, the student must be able to:
1. explain the meaning of development in relation to gender and how it has been
operationalized in the context of the Philippines and the global arena in a people
– centered perspective; and
2. present indicators of development in the Philippines as compared to its Asian
neighbors (ASEAN) in the different areas such socio-cultural opportunities and
economic benefits and opportunities.

Introduction

What is the story behind the relationship of gender and development? This topic
introduces the concepts of gender and development and the factors that gave rise to
their emergence. It briefly traces the historical approaches to women’s development
and the fundamental policy shifts that has been taking place. It discusses also how
development and feminist frameworks intersected to become the two main competing
feminist development frameworks, Women In Development (WID) and Gender And
Development (GAD).

The subordination of women and the dominance of men in all facets of life in
the history of patriarchal societies has been very problematic. The power struggle has
been from womb to tomb in the social, political, economic, technological, educational,
health, and environmental domains among others. The changing landscape of
struggle towards a more egalitarian society has been the existential project of women’s
movements and activism, a change that could fulfill the potentials of all human beings
– both women and men, hence, the concept of development. The difficult relations
between women and men as shown in the systemic inequality and subordination were
continuously examined and challenged by women’s organizations and movements
and they have worked for social-welfare causes, reforms, and empowerment over the
years. (Reddock, 2000).

The United Nations Charter of 1945 and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights in 1948 established the first official worldwide recognition of women’s equality
and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. However up until the late 1960’s the focus
was on women’s reproductive roles, as women were seen as wives and mothers and
their main issues were supposed to be obtaining access to food, contraceptives,
nutrition and health care.

The 70’s and 80’s marked a new phase in which the debate moved beyond
women’s equality and the domestic sphere of women’s role as wives and mothers onto
the global stage where the role of women was promoted as an aid for economic
development. The important events such as the First World Conference for Women
held in Mexico 1974, the UN decade for women “76-85” and the promotion of the
GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 20
Women In Development (WID) approach emphasized women’s right to development,
recognition of women’s economic role in national economies and, most significantly,
gave a voice to women in developing countries. At the end of the decade, assessment
of progress made necessitated a shift to the Gender and Development approach
(Chege, 2007).

Some of the shortcoming of the approaches such as the WID applied in the 70’s
were that they fell short of improving unequal relationships, and a significant number
of projects were unsustainable as development projects failed to consider the multiple
roles carried out by women, leading to a development model that in the end
disadvantaged women.

In the late 80’s the Gender and Development (GAD) approach was developed
with the idea of improving the development model by “removing disparities in social,
economic, and political balances between women and men as a pre-condition for
achieving people-centered development” (GWA, 2006).

However, since the 1990’s the gender perspective is still struggling to be clearly
set into the development agenda of international treaties or objectives such as the
Millennium Development Goals. The principles only focus on gender equality and do
not concentrate enough on women’s centrality to other development areas (Bunch,
2006).

The Philippine Context

Before the arrival of western colonizers, women were highly respected and they
occupied a special role in the community. Most babaylan, for example, were women
who performed vital functions, and were recognized for their social and cultural
leadership: as community doctor or healer, spiritual leader, and astronomer among
others. Spain with its Catholic faith drastically changed these gender roles and
colonized women’s body. The Spanish friars demonized them and claimed that the
babaylan were endowed with powers from the black magic. Alongside aggressive
Christian indoctrination, the friars did not just police the religious and spiritual belief of
women, but also took control of their bodies and libido: their sexuality was suppressed
and controlled through practices like the confession. The friars took the liberty to widen
the scope of the Christian doctrine on prohibitions of adultery and labeled other sexual
activities as sinful, unclean and thus must be confessed to a priest. These included
masturbation, homosexuality, sexual touching ('foreplay' in colloquial terms), among
others.

Despite the religious maneuverings of a western ideology, women's

participation in affairs dominated by men cannot be taken for granted. Women played
a vital role during the Philippine Revolution against Spain, America and Japan in spite
of falling victims of war crimes such as rape and sexual slavery from foreigners and
Filipinos alike.

The establishment of democracy by the Americans and its restoration after

World War II including EDSA 1 gave women a wider platform to assert their egalitarian
roles whether at home or in the society. Different organizations, trade unions and
GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 21
movements of women were organized to improve their conditions and empower them
of their great contributions to nation building. The concept of gender and development
all the more emboldened them to assert their rights against injustice, inequality,
discrimination and subordination. The concept of Gender and Development traces its
roots to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW), an international treaty adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly in 1979. The late Leticia Ramos-Shahani played a critical role in the crafting
and adoption of this vital document (Hega et al., 2017; Philippine Statistics Authority,
2016; Gealogo, 2010; “GAD Program”, n.d.).

Today, the conservative socio-cultural traditions are clashing with the younger
generation. The long history of colonialism has embedded a patriarchal culture among
Filipinos. The conception of women as full-time homemakers, as subordinated to men,
violence against them is private, as reserve labor force, and as sexual objects is now
being weathered by modern women asserting themselves in many aspects of life. But
on the other hand, some are either marginalized, discriminated, or even exploited by
the harsh realities of global economy and consumerism.

Both the changes and the inertia of traditions are the backdrop of a very active
and dynamic women’s movement. The Philippines is a main player in the international
women’s arena and this is anchored on a very vibrant local women’s movement.
Numerous organizations and NGOs exist for the cause of gender equality and other
related women issues.

Gender situation in the Philippines graphically showcases samples of women’s

advancement in politics, academic and professional excellence, and even legislation.
Despite this, images of prostituted women, battered wives, economically
disadvantaged women and exploited migrant workers are still being addressed.

This puts the gender equality issues at the forefront of national discourse and
precludes further downslide of women status. Indeed, there are many handles for the
changes to happen. These legal and policy gains resulted from the strong voice of
women that started even during the anti-dictatorship struggle that culminated with the
ascension of Corazon Aquino as the first woman president of the country (Anonuevo,
2000). It was only in August 14, 2009 that the Magna Carta of Women was
institutionalized by the Philippine government to spearhead the GAD program (RA
9710, PSA, 2016).

GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 22

LEARNING CONTENT

1. Defining Development

The meaning of development in this course takes the multidisciplinary approach

in the advancement of a better Filipino society.

Philosophical Perspective

Development is a process towards total human development; it is the ability and

capability of all individuals to actualize their potentials and become the kind of person
they ought to be in the society. It is a process that creates growth, progress, positive
behavioral change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, socio-political
and demographic components. The purpose is to rise in the level and quality of life of
all people, and the creation or expansion of income and employment opportunities,
without damaging the resources of the environment. Development has to be
concretized. Essential human capabilities, for instance, are entitlements that must be
constitutionally guaranteed to ensure a decent and dignified human life for all. It is
visible and useful, not necessarily immediately, and includes an aspect of quality
change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change such as but
not limited to life, bodily health, bodily integrity, senses (imagination and thought),
emotions, practical reason, affiliation, other species, play, and control over one’s
environment.

This kind of development happens only if there is freedom. This freedom is a

tool enabling people to reach the highest level of their ability, through granting freedom
of action, i.e., freedom of economic, social and family actions, etc. In the field of
gender, the empowerment of women as a development tool is emphasized. Injustice
and inequality have to be resolved at home and in the global village if development
has to make any sense at all so that human dignity is upheld to the highest degree.
Total human development is best achieved through participation, and global
institutions have a moral duty to protect and promote the central human capabilities
(Israel, 2018; Nussbaum, 2011; Maboloc, 2008; Sen, 1999).

Socio-political Perspective

The evolution of the concepts of development describes the diversity of human

experience and the alternative measures of value and standards that human progress
has achieved from a pure modernization and neoliberal interest to popular and
sustainable development.

What is this popular development? It is a people centered approach to

development that avoids ‘grand theories’ and emphasizes solutions viewed in the
context of development which is part of a historical process; it is constantly changing
in scale and time in that it accommodates geographical and historical diversity. It
stresses community differences, human creativity, and process of social change
through practicality, flexibility and context. More importantly, it examines sources of
empowerment, inequality and discrimination. It regards empowerment that seeks to
engender self-help and self-reliance but also effective collective decision making
GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 23
(Sakalasooriya, 2020). This approach affirms the Sustainable Development Goals of
the United Nations of which one of its goals is gender equality and women’s
empowerment. Its central point is that both women and men must be lifted from poverty
and both must contribute to and benefit from development efforts (Abebe, 2015).

Feminist Perspective

Feminism is all about genders having equal rights and opportunities. It’s about
respecting diverse women’s experiences, identities, knowledge and strengths, and
striving to empower all women to realize their full rights. So, anyone can be a feminist:
believing in practicing equal rights for all genders. It’s not about hating men. It’s not
about women being better than men. It’s not about avoiding femininity. For feminists,
development happens when there is an acknowledgment of the interplay between
gender and other forms of discrimination, like race, age, class, socioeconomic status,
physical or mental ability, gender or sexual identity, religion, or ethnicity. In other
words, feminist conversations boldly highlights the differences between women’s and
men’s interest even within the same household and how these interact and are
expressed; the conventions and hierarchies which determine women’s and men’s
position in the family, community and society at large, whereby women are usually
dominated by men; the differences among women and among men, based on age,
wealth, ethnic background and other factors; and the way gender roles and relations
change, often quite rapidly, as a result of social, economic and technological trends.
(International Women’s Development Agency, n.d.; Abebe, 2015).

Feminism envisions a levelling of the playing field between genders, and

ensuring that diverse women and girls have the same opportunities in life available to
boys and men. The various contributions of feminism to development has been a
painstaking yet emancipatory journey. It arose as a political challenge to the effects of
androcentrism (androcentrism is the practice of placing a masculine point of view at
the center of one’s world view, culture and history, thereby culturally marginalizing
femininity in all roles of life: from domestic to economic, political, social, educational,
environmental, technological and agricultural among others). It has emerged as a
revolutionary movement especially among women, in analyzing the various
dimensions of power from inequality and subordination to political advocacy and from
control of resources to positions of authority. Early proponents focused on the welfare
of women (Abebe, 2015; Lempert, 2014; Tasli, 2007).

2. Gender and Development

Gender and Development (GAD) refers to the development perspective and

process that are participatory and empowering, equitable, sustainable, free from
violence, respectful of human rights, supportive of self-determination and actualization
of human potentials. It seeks to achieve gender equality as a fundamental value that
should be reflected in development choices; seeks to transform society’s social,
economic, and political structures and questions the validity of the gender roles they
ascribed to women and men; contends that women are active agents of development
and not just passive recipients of development assistance; and stresses the need of
women to organize themselves and participate in political processes to strengthen
their legal rights (RA 9710).
GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 24
 Gender and development is important because it focuses on connections
between gender and development initiatives and feminists’ perspectives, and deals
with issues such as health and education, decision making and leadership, peace
building, violence against women and economic empowerment. Development cannot
be realized without the very significant component of gender. Countries the world over
have shown that exclusion of women in development has rendered their development
efforts unsuccessful (Abebe, 2015).

How did gender and development start? Gender and Development was
developed in the 1980’s as an alternative to Women in Development (WID) approach.
Unlike WID, the GAD approach is not concerned specifically with women, but with the
way in which a society assigns roles, responsibilities, and expectations to both men
and women (Chege, 2007; “GAD Program”, n.d.).

Women and development is an inclusive term used to signify a concept and a

movement whose long-range goal is the well-being of society - the community of men,
women and children. Its formulation is based on the following suppositions:
“development,” in accordance with the International Development Strategy for the
Second Development Decade, means “to bring about sustained improvement in the
well-being of the individual and to bestow benefits on all.” Because women comprise
more than half of the human resources and are central to the economic as well as the
social well-being of societies, development goals cannot be fully reached without their
participation. Women and development is thus a holistic concept wherein the goal of
one cannot be achieved without the success of the other. Women, therefore, must
have "both the legal right and access to existing means for the improvement of oneself
and of society" (Snyder & Tadesse, 1995 as cited by Reddock, 2000).

Women in Development (WID)

The impact of modernization was unfavorable to women because unequal

gender relations in various social and economic settings remain unaddressed, so, the
solution was to integrate them into the economic system. Research and information
collected throughout the UN Decade for Women (1975-85) highlighted the existing
poverty and disadvantage of women and their invisibility in the development process.

The term WID originated from Danish economist Esther Boserup in her work
Woman’s Role in Economic Development that came to prominence in the early 1970’s
as an approach to include women in development. The WID consists of three sub-
approaches which are: the equity approach; the anti-poverty approach; and, the
efficiency approach. The equity approach addresses the inequality between women and
men, demands economic and political equity for women, and therefore recognizes a
strategic gender need. In order to create true equality of opportunity, fairness is needed
to ensure that everyone has the same chance of getting there. Examples of economic
equity are: increase in the minimum wage, build assets for working families, investment in
education, end residential segregation among rich, middle class and poor families.
Examples of political equity are equal representation of women in politics and civil society
and other sectors in society. But this was difficult to implement, and it became diluted in
order to make it more acceptable. The anti-poverty approach shifts to reducing income
inequality so that poor women can rise above poverty: women can buy basic needs or

GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 25

physical needs such as food, clothing, shelter, etc. as well as social needs such as
education, human rights, and ‘participation’ through employment and political involvement.
The anti-poverty approach concentrated on programs which were designed to increase
women’s employment and income-generation (i.e. skill training) as well as their access to
productive resources. The efficiency approach focuses mainly on economic growth, and
considers women simply as an input factor for the economy. Therefore, it does not only
shift the emphasis from women to development, but also limits the concept of development
solely to economic growth. As such, it fails to understand development as a
multidimensional phenomenon, with not only economic, but also social and cultural
aspects (Razavi and Miller, 1995 and Buvinic, 1986 as cited by Tasli 2007; Chege, 2007).

Gender and Development (GAD)

The GAD perspective emerged in the late 1980’s as an alternative to the

prevailing Women in Development or WID approach. Unlike WID, which focused on
women only, and called for their integration into development as producers and
workers, GAD focuses on the interdependence of men and women in society and on
the unequal relations of power between them. The GAD approach aims for a
development process that transforms gender relations in order to enable women to
participate on an equal basis with men in determining their common future. The GAD
approach emphasizes the importance of women’s collective organization for self-
empowerment.

GAD applies gender analysis to uncover the ways in which men and women
work together, presenting results in neutral terms of economics and competence. GAD
focus primarily on two major frameworks, Gender Roles and Social Relations Analysis.
Gender Role focuses on social construction of identities within the household, it also
reveals the expectations from ‘maleness and femaleness’ in their relative access to
resources. Social Relations Analysis exposes the social dimensions of hierarchical
power relations imbedded in social institutions; also it’s determining influence on ‘the
relative position of men and women in society. In an attempt to create gender equality,
(denoting women having same opportunities as men, including ability to participate in
the public sphere) GAD policies aim to redefine traditional gender role expectations
(Tasli 2007; Chege, 2007).

GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 26

Table of Comparison

In terms of: Women In Development (WID) Gender and Development (GAD)

Approach An approach which views women An approach to the development of
as the center of a problem both women and men
Focus Women Relations between women and men
Problem The exclusion of women (half of Unequal relations of power (rich/poor,
the productive resources) from the women/men) that prevent equitable
development process development and women’s full
participation.
Goal More efficient, effective and just Equitable, sustainable development
development with women and men as decision-
makers
Solution Integrate women into the existing Empower the disadvantaged and
development women and transform unequal
process relations
Strategies  Women’s projects  Reconceptualize the development
 Women’s components process, taking gender and global
 Integrated projects inequalities into account
 Increase women’s productivity  Identify and address practical needs,
 Increase women’s ability to look as determined by women and men,
after the household to improve their condition; at the
same time, address women's
strategic interests
 Address strategic interests of the
poor through people-centered
development
Source: Adapted from Canadian Council for International Co-operation. 1991. Two Halves Make a
Whole: balancing gender relations in development. Ottawa, CCIC; Chege, 2007; Moffat et al. 1991.

Historical Transition from WID to GAD

1940s - 1960s 1970s 1980s/90s

Policy Approach To State socialist Economic self- Social sustainability
Development development reliance and political with economic and
non-alignment political reforms
(economic
liberalization and
institutional
restructuring)
Policy Approach To Emancipation Empowerment GAD mainstreaming
Women/Gender
Period Most Popular In 50s and 70s 1975 until 80s, still 80s till present
quite popular
Origins State socialism  Arose out of failure Most recent
of equity approach approach, shift
 Third World from WID to GAD,
feminist and reaction to
grassroots marginalization of
organizations institutionalized WID
activities

GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 27

 Purpose To increase Development should Integrate gender
women’s political empower women awareness &
participation and and men to greater competence into
harness their labor self-reliance and “mainstream”
capacities to meet assertion of own development
national capabilities
development goals
Gender Needs Met  Productive,  Productive,  Productive,
reproductive & reproductive, reproductive,
community politics community community
roles of women management & management and
met community politics community politics
 Access to roles of women met roles of women
employment and  Access to factors of and men met
income, but not to production/goods/  Access to and
factors of services control over
production  Access to and resources in
 Access to social control over mainstream
goods and information development (with
services, but not  Enhancement of specific
policy confidence- components)
 Access to legal building,
system participation skills Practical gender
and decision- needs of women
Practical gender making and men addressed
needs: employment/
income Practical gender Strategic gender
needs: bottom up needs of women
Strategic gender mobilization and men pursued
needs: political
participation Strategic gender
needs: organization
Gender Critique  Women’s issues  Recognizes gender
are important but relations with
subordinated to women organized
national autonomously in
development goals separate or mixed
 No challenge of organizations
gender relations  Focus on solidarity
 Hostility towards between “Third
autonomous World” women and
women’s men, challenging
organizations western
development
models
NB: Tables sourced from GTZ gender training manual; Chege, 2007

GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 28

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

ASSESSMENTS

ANSWER KEY

GE Elec: Social Sciences and Philosophy (Gender & Society) 29

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