Gender Studies Lecture 6

Bilal Rasheed
Dy CEO Peshawar
 PAPER: GENDER STUDIES (100 MARKS)
I. Introduction to Gender Studies
II. Social Construction of Gender
III. Feminist Theories and Practice
IV. Feminist Movements
V. Gender and Development
VI. Status of Women in Pakistan
VII. Gender and Governance
VIII. Gender Based Violence
IX. Case Studies

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 Syllabus Breakup
Lectures Topics

1 Status of Women in Pakistan

2 Violence against women

3 Gender and Governance

4 Feminist movements

5 Feminist theories and Practice

6 Gender and developement

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 Topics for Lecture 6
1. Definitions
2. Women In Development
3. Women And Development
4. Gender And Development
5. UN conferences on Women

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 Gender Studies
Is a field for interdisciplinary study devoted
to gender identity and
gendered representation as central categories
of analysis.

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 Gender stereotypes
• Are simplistic generalizations about the gender
attributes, differences, and roles of individuals
and/or groups. Stereotypes can be positive or
negative, but they rarely communicate accurate
information about others. When people
automatically apply gender assumptions to
others regardless of evidence to the contrary,
they are perpetuating gender stereotyping. Many
people recognize the dangers of gender
stereotyping, yet continue to make these types of
generalizations.

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• Masculinity (also manhood) is a set of
attributes, behaviors and roles generally
associated with boys and men. Masculinity is
both socially-defined and biologically-created.
• Femininity (also womanhood) is a set of
attributes, behaviors, and roles generally
associated with girls and women. Femininity is
socially constructed, but made up of both
socially-defined and biologically-created
factors

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Sexist Language
• Sexist language is language that excludes either men or
women when discussing a topic that is applicable to both
sexes. This includes using the word man to refer to
humanity, and using titles like Congressman and fireman.
Another common error that shows gender bias is
assuming that the subject of all sentences is male. For
instance, the statement "Each student chose his own topic
for his term paper," leads the reader to assume that all the
students in the class were male, despite the probability
that half of them were female.
• All men are created equal.
• Men don’t have feelings.
• Big boys don’t cry.
• Best man for the job
• Man’s achievements
• If a man drove 50 miles at the speed of .......
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 Gender Role
• A gender role is a set of
societal norms dictating the types of behaviors
which are generally considered acceptable,
appropriate, or desirable for people based on
their actual or perceived sex or sexuality.
Gender roles are usually centered on
conceptions of femininity and masculinity,
although there are exceptions and variations

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 Patriarchy
• In sociology, patriarchy is a social system in
which males hold primary power and
predominate in roles of political
leadership, moral authority, social
privilege and control of property. In the
domain of the family, fathers or father-figures
hold authority over women and children.

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 Feminism
• Feminism is a range of political
movements, ideologies, and social
movements that share a common goal: to
define, establish, and achieve political,
economic, personal, and social equality of
sexes.[1][2] This includes seeking to establish
educational and professional opportunities for
women that are equal to such opportunities
for men.

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 Sexism
• Sexism or gender
discrimination is prejudice or discrimination base
d on a person's sex or gender. Sexism can affect
either gender, but it is particularly documented
as affecting women and girls.[1] It has been linked
to stereotypes and gender roles,[2][3] and may
include the belief that one sex or gender is
intrinsically superior to another.[4] Extreme
sexism may foster sexual harassment, rape, and
other forms of sexual violence.[5]

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 Empowerment
• The term empowerment refers to measures
designed to increase the degree
of autonomy and self-determination in people
and in communities in order to enable them to
represent their interests in a responsible and self-
determined way, acting on their own authority.
Empowerment as action refers both to the
process of self-empowerment and to professional
support of people, which enables them to
overcome their sense of powerlessness and lack
of influence, and to recognize and use their
resources.

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 Gender Mainstreaming
• Gender mainstreaming is the public
policy concept of assessing the different
implications for women and men of any
planned policy action,
including legislation and programmes, in all
areas and levels. Mainstreaming essentially
offers a pluralistic approach that values the
diversity among both men and women.

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 Women In Development
Background:
• Welfare Approach:
• Identified women solely in their roles as wives and mothers and
policies restricted to providing nutritional education and home
economics.
• Reproductive concerns were highlighted.
• Ester Boserup (Women’s Role in Economic Development)
• Analyzed “female farming systems” of Sub-Saharan Africa where
females prarticipated substantially in food production.
• Boserup also highlighted that with the advent of modern
technology, women were limited to traditional subsistence farming
and men had gained monopoly over cash-crops and mechanized
farming.
• 1973 Percy Amendment to US Foreign Assistance Act:
• To help “integrate women into the national economies of foreign
countries, thus improving their status and assisting the total
develpment effort”.

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• WID:
• Developed in 1970’s by the liberal feminists.
• Refjected the anrrow view of women’s role as wives and
mothers.
• Instead of characterizing women as “needy” beneficiaries
or passive recipients of aid, WID represents them as
“productive” members of the society, and as active
contributors to development.
• WID believes that female subordination is the result of
their exclusion from the marketplace.
• Overlooking females is considered a planning error and
inefficient use of resources by WID.
• Directing scarce resources towards women oriented
projects, increasing women’s access to technology and
credit, etc. would increase women’s productivity and
impact positively on national development.
• Equality in employment (productive instead of reproductive
role) was highlighted.
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Impact:
• Generated discussion and research on the topic.
• Development agencies and governments established
institutional machineries with the mandate to integrate
women into development.
Criticism:
• Increased focus on development than welfare can
cause problems too. As for example, increased burden
of agricultural work can have consequences for
women’s health.
• Divorcing welfare concerns from policy discourse may
in fact generate as many problems as women’s
severance from production did in earlier generations.

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 Women And Development: (WAD)
• Rose after the First World Conference on Women in
Mexico City in 1975.
• Essentially a theory of Marxist Feminists.
• Whereas WID advocated for active famale participation
in development, WAD went a step further and
suggested that development was made possible
because of participation of women.
• Women had always been an integral part of
development.
• WAD emphasizes the roles women play in the
maintenance and development of their societies, both
in public and private spheres.

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• It also emphasizes the distinctive nature of women’s
knowledge, work, goals, and responsibilities, as well as
advocatin for the recognition of this distinctiveness.
• WAD believes that patriarchy and capitalism have
always undervalued or neglected female role in
development and have disadvantaged them.
• So, there should be women-only development
projects.
• Criticism:
• Women-only development projects would struggle, or
ultimately fail, due to their scale and mariginalized
status of the women participating therein.
• WAD views women as a class and doesn’t recognize
differences of race, ethnicity, etc.
• Ignores the reproductive aspect of women’s work.
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 Gender and Development Approach:
(GAD)
• Focuses on socially constructed basis of differences
between men and women and the need to challenge
existing gender roles and relations.
• These gendered relations have subordinated women.
• Whereas WID percieved womne’s problems in terms of
their biological differences, GAD emphasized the role
of society in determining a person’s gender.
• Instead of focusing on womne as a “target group” or
“untapped resources” for developemnt, focus should
be shifted to understand how men and women are
socially constructed and how these constructions are
reinforced by social activities.

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• Gender roles determine gendered division of labour and
the resulting rewards each sex gets.
• Maleness and Femaleness determines access to resources,
and the relative position in society.
• To ensure that women have same opportunites as men,
they should be provided same opportunities.
• Gender equality can be achieved if ender roles are
redefined.
• Results:
• Beijing Platfrom for Action 1995 established “gender
mainstreaming” as a policy to be adopted by all
governments.
• Criticism:
• Emphasized the soical differences between men and
women and neglected the bonds between them.
• Ignores the fact that most women idealize marriage, family
and motherhood.
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The Four Global Womens'
Conferences 1975 - 1995
• Of the original 51 Member States, only 30 allowed
women equal voting rights with men or permitted them
to hold public office.
• Nevertheless, United Nation Charter emphasized on
"equal rights of men and women”
• During the first three decades, the work of the United
Nations on behalf of women focused primarily on the
codification of women's legal and civil rights, and the
gathering of data on the status of women around the
world.
• The struggle for equality entered a second stage with the
convening of four world conferences by the United
Nations.
1. Mexico 1975
2. Copenhagen 1980
3. Nairobi 1985
4. Beijing 1995
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1. Mexico City: A Global Dialogue is Opened
Year: 1975 (International Women's Year)
Venue: Mexico
No of State Delegations: 133
International Women's Year Tribune (NGO) : 4000 participants
Sharp Differences Emerged among the participants:
1. Women from the countries of the Eastern Block were most interested
in issues of peace,
2. Those from the West emphasized equality
3. Those from the developing world placed priority on development.
Goals:
1. Full gender equality and the elimination of gender discrimination;
2. The integration and full participation of women in development;
3. An increased contribution by women in the strengthening of world
peace.

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Decision:
World Plan of Action
(A guideline for governments and communities that set minimum
targets, to be met by 1980 on securing equal access for women to
resources such as education, employment opportunities, political
participation, health services, housing, nutrition and family planning)
Achievements:
1. By the end of the United Nations Decade for Women, 127 Member
States had responded by establishing some form of national
machinery, institutions dealing with the promotion of policy, research
and programs aimed at women's advancement and participation in
development.
2. The General Assembly proclaimed the United Nations Decade for
Women Equality, Development and Peace (1976-1985) five months
later.
3. International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of
Women (INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) were established
4. In 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted.
2. Copenhagen: The Review Process Begins
Year: Copenhagen
Venue: 1980
No of State Delegations: 145
Objectives to achieve broader goals:
1. Equal access to education
2. Employment opportunities
3. Adequate health care services
Decision:
Program of Action
(stronger national measures to ensure women's ownership and
control of property, as well as improvements in women's rights to
inheritance, child custody and loss of nationality, and ending
stereotypical attitudes towards women)

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 Program of Action cited these factors for the
discrepancy between legal rights and women's ability
to exercise these rights
1. Lack of sufficient involvement of men in improving women's
role in society;
2. Insufficient political will;
3. Lack of recognition of the value of women's contributions to
society;
4. Lack of attention to the particular needs of women in
planning;
5. A shortage of women in decision-making positions;
6. Insufficient services to support the role of women in
national life, such as co-operatives, day-care centres and cr
facilities;
7. Overall lack of necessary financial resources;
8. Lack of awareness among women about the opportunities
available to them.

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3. Nairobi: “The Birth of Global Feminism”
Year: 1985
Venue: Nairobi
No of State Delegations: 157
International Women's Year Tribune (NGO) : 15000
Recommended Measures:
1. Constitutional and legal steps
2. Equality in social participation
3. Equality in political participation and decision-making
Decision:
“The Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies to the Year 2000”
1. (employment, health, education and social services, to
industry, science, communications and the environment)
2. Women's participation in decision-making and the
handling of all human affairs was also recognized
4. Beijing: Legacy of Success
Year: 1995
Venue: Beijing
No of State Delegations: 189
International Women's Year Tribune (NGO) : 17000
Recommended Measures:
1. The fundamental transformation that took place in Beijing was the
recognition of the need to shift the focus from women to the
concept of gender
2. Governments were asked to effectively include gender dimension
throughout all their institutions, policies, planning and decision-
making
3. Restructuring institutions and political and economic decision-
making in society as a whole was emphasized upon
Decision:
“Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”
It emphasized these critical areas:
1. Women and poverty;
2. Education and training of women;
3. Women and health;
4. Violence against women;
5. Women and armed conflict;
6. Women and the economy;
7. Women in power and decision-making;
8. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women;
9. Human rights of women;
10. Women and the media;
11. Women and the environment;
12. The girl child.
 Q/A

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