SEX, GENDER AND SEXUALITY
TERMS
❑SEX – the biological aspect of sex; maleness or
femaleness
❑GENDER – the social interpretation of sex;
masculinity, femininity, etc.
❑SEX CHROMOSOMES – chromosomal markers that
distinguish female from male species
❑INTERSEX – individuals with composite genitals
(possessing some characteristics of both male and
female genitals)
SEX
❑ is the biological dimension of your gender and
sexuality.
❑It is also referred to as biological sex or physical
sex.
❑It generally pertains to your identity depending on
your sexual anatomy and physiology.
❑It is typically determined by examining your
genitals
❑If the child is observed to have a: penis and
testicles – Male vagina - Female
❑HERMAPHRODITISM (from Hermes, the God of the
Sun & Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty) – also known
as intersexuality in modern times. This is a case when
a baby’s genital is a conglomerate of male and
female organs.
Pseudohermaphrodite “Ferms”
Pseudohermaphrodite “Merms”
❑CHROMOSOMES- another indicator to determine
the sex of an individual. It is a protein structure
which contain your genetic material
❑HORMONES – chemicals in our body that are
responsible for sustaining bodily processes.
GENDER
Since humans are meaning-making organisms, the
ability for higher-order thinking and creating social
norms allow us to attach social and cultural
meanings to things, including sex.
❑ This social dimension of one’s sexuality is referred
to as gender.
MASCULINITY – Male
FEMININITY – Female
THINGS TO MANIFEST GENDER:
❑Colors assigned to the baby (e.g. blue for boy; pink
for girl)
❑Toys (e.g. cars/ toy gun for boys; dolls/ makeups
for girls)
❑Behaviors
❑Programs to take in College
❑Works
The phenomenon of determining the normality of a
behavior based on whether it conforms or not to the
expectations relativeto one’s biological sex is known
as heteronomativity.
GENDER IDENTITY
One important aspect of our gender is our sense of
who we are:
“Do we see and experience ourselves as a man, a
woman, or neither?”
However, there are cases wherein a person’s
biological sex does not align with one’s gender
identity. People with this experience are referred to
as TRANSGENDERS (people may undergo gender
reassignment surgery), male who does not feel
comfortable identifying as a man (transgender
woman) or a female who is not comfortable
identifying as a woman (transgender man).
SEXUALITY
It is another aspect of our gender that pertains to
our emotional and sexual attraction to a person.
According to the Psychological Association of the
Philippines, typically at ages 6 or 8, we experience or
develop attraction to other people.
Everyone’s sexuality is different and deeply personal.
Our capacity for emotional and sexual attraction is
diverse and complex.
❑HETEROSEXUAL – “straight”
❑HOMOSEXUAL – “gay” or “lesbians”
❑BISEXUAL – attracted to both sexes
GENDER AND SEXUALITY ACROSS TIME
TERMS
❑PATRIARCHY – a social system where men primarily
hold power in the political and the private spheres.
❑FEMINISM – continuing series of social movements
that aim to challenge the patriarchal society that
creates these oppressive political structures, beliefs,
and practices against women.
❑DIVINE FEMININE – the sacredness of the woman
due to her ability to conceive children
❑EGALITARIAN – men and women have equitable
power and roles.
INTRO
Historical accounts show that across time, humans’
conception of gender and sexuality has also changed.
Archeological artifacts reveal that in the distant past,
humans have high regard for women because of
DIVINE FEMININE. Which makes the societies
EGALITARIAN.
However, humans’ discovery of PATERNITY which is
the role of the father in conception, began to
establish communities and have changed how the
societies have viewed women and men.
For the longest time thereafter, societies have
privileged men over other genders, mainly because
of the preferential given to them in the PRODUCTIVE
SPHERE (world of public work). Women who have
been revered due to their ability to conceive have
been viewed as solely capable only of
REPRODUCTIVE AFFAIRS (world of home and related
tasks such as child caring and home management).
During the INDUSTRIAL ERA, it intensified the gender
disparity where men were preferred because they
did not have to bear children for 9 months and
because of their physical strength that are necessary
in factories and work.
PATRIARCHY
❑It came from the Greek word PATRIARKHES which
means “the rule of the father”.
❑It is a system based on the control and oppression
of women wherein they are perceived to be the
weaker sex.
❑It is a structure that upholds male supremacy in
the law, at home, in the workplace, and in society.
❑It is a social system where men rule over women
and their children.
❑Patrilineal Society is a society that follows the
patriarchal system.
In a PATRILINEAL SOCIETY:
❑Men can only inherit property and the family
name.
❑Women are not allowed to go to schools
❑Women are not allowed to vote
According to FRIEDRICH ENGELS, a German
philosopher and sociologist, a patriarchy system
arises when people started having private property
instead of a communal living.
HISTORICAL VIEWS
GREEK
Aristotle, Plato, and other Greek philosophers
viewed women as the inferior sex and are
properties of men whose only job was to obey their
husbands, bear children, and take care of the
household.
Women were forbidden to learn philosophy, politics,
and science.
EGYPT
Herodotus, a Greek historian, observed the Egyptian
civilization citing that Egyptian women enjoyed
higher social status than Greek women because they
can inherit property and engage in trade and politics.
However, Greek influence quickly spread in Egypt
through the conquest of Alexander the Great across
Asia and Africa.
CHINESE
Confucianism has stringent written rules that dictate
how women should conduct themselves. The written
documents titled “Three Obedience and four virtues”
and “Precepts of Women” states that women should
obey their father, when married she is to obey her
husband, and when widowed she is to obey her
son.
FORMS OF OPPRESSION
❑Sexism – prejudice, stereotypes, and
discrimination based on sex
❑Gender pay gap – men earn more that women
❑Underrepresentation in politics, military, executive
positions
❑Rape on women & stigma making women
ashamed on filing a report
❑Very conservative expectations on women’s
behavior
❑Unrealistic depictions of women in fiction
❑Women do more housework and childcare
FEMINISM
❑It is a continuing series of social movements that
aim tochallenge the patriarchal society that creates
these oppressive political structures, beliefs, and
practices against women.
❑During the 19th and early 20th century, the FIRST
WAVE FEMINISM spread across the western
countries as women demanded for their right to vote
or participate in elections and to be able to legally
own property.
❑The book written titled “The Second Sex” in 1949
by SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, stated how the
patriarchal society
disadvantaged women by slowly raising her into
submission and hindering their productivity and
happiness.
❑It inspires different women to write their own
books:
➢Betty Friedan (The Feminine Mystique, 1963)
➢Kate Millet (Sexual Politics, 1969)
➢Germaine Greer (The Female Eunuch, 1970)
❑Le Mouvement de Liberation des Femmes
(Women’s Liberation Movement ) was formed in
Europe and they sought the different rights:
➢Education
➢Work
➢Vote
➢Decide on their own body and Sexualities
❑Inspired by Beauvoir’s book, SECOND WAVE
FEMINISM in the 1960’s through 1980s, women
drew attention to various social and cultural
inequalities such as domestic violence especially
marital rape, reproductive rights, wage inequality,
etc.
❑The 1990s gave birth to the THIRD WAVE
FEMINISM
❑ In year 2012 started the FOURTH WAVE
FEMINISM.
❑The UN reports that women do more work than
men because even when they work at the office,
they are still expected to do household tasks.
❑Another report from UN Women states that
“women perform 66% of the world work, produce
50% of the food, but earn 10% of the income and
own 1% of the property”
❑To put simply, it demands equality.
FEMINISM DEMANDS
❑Women Suffrage – the right to vote
❑Equality in Politics and Society – right for proper
representation in politics and society
❑Reproductive Rights – woman is in control of her
body, and she can decide for herself on what she
sees is best for her.
❑Domestic Violence – by passing the RA 9262 or
Anti Violence Against Women and their Children.
❑Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence - by
establishing Center for Women’s Resources in the
country.
❑Other Rights (Right to make pregnancy, equitable
wages, and equal employment opportunity)
GENDER AND SEXUALITY AS A SUBJECT OF INQUIRY
TERMS
❑GENDER STUDIES - a field of study concerned
about how reproductive roles are interpreted and
negotiated in the society through gender.
❑SOCIAL RESEARCH - the process of investigating
social realities.
❑RESEARCH APPROACH- the orientation in
understanding social realities. This can be qualitative
(interpretive), quantitative (deductive), or both.
❑ETHICS IN RESEARCH - these are considerations in
conducting research to make sure that the well-being
of the participants is ensured, and that the outcome
of the study is sound without undue harm to people
involved.
GENDER STUDY
As an area of knowledge, it is about
looking into, analyzing, and examining society so that
we notice power relations in the seemingly “simple
things”.
GENDER is a big part of our individuality and society;
it is a form of social organization, and it is often
unnoticed.
GENDER ROLES played a big part of social
organization.
It emerged from the need to analyze how gender,
sex, and sexuality impact our lives, especially how it
creates gender inequality.
It started in the middle of 1970s, after the second
wave of feminism as a way to challenge the male-
defined and male-centered knowledge.
GENDER ROLES are “sets of culturally defined
behaviors such as masculinity and femininity”.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION Gender roles are socially
constructed and are not something that we are
“born with”. Society, through a lifelong process of
normalization, encourages or reprimands behavior to
make a child adapt to these social expectations.
It utilizes a systematic approach in identifying
problems, making hypotheses and assumptions,
gathering data, and making conclusions. This
systematic process is referred to as the research
process.
APPROACHES IN RESEARCH
QUALITATIVE- It focuses more on the meanings
created and interpretation made by people about
their own personal or vicarious experiences.
 Phenomenology- Conducting intensive
interviews with individuals who have
experienced a particular event and
understanding their “lived experience”
 Hermeneutics- Understanding the meaning
of texts (literary works, art works) and what
they convey about human realities.
 Ethnography- Immersing in a community
and taking note of their experiences, beliefs,
attitudes, and practices.
QUANTITATIVE-It focuses more on characterizing a
population or a sample, and in some cases, making
generalizations about the population based on the
behavior of the sample.
 Survey
 Experiment
ETHICAL PRINCIPLE
There are some principles to remember in
conducting gender and sexuality researches.
 Informed Consent-Participants should be
aware of the study’s purpose and processes
they are participating in.
 Confidentiality and Anonymity-Researchers
should not reveal any information provided
by the participants to anyone who is not
concerned with the study
 Distributive Justice- Any study should not
disadvantage a particular group especially
the marginalized and the oppressed.
 Non-maleficence and Beneficence- A study
should do no harm to anyone and be
beneficial to everyone