GENDER ISSUES

Introduction
Gender issues include all aspects and concerns related to
women’s and men’s lives and situation in society, to the way they
B
interrelate, their differences in access C D
to and use of resources,
their activities, and how they react to changes, interventions and
policies. The
Analysis of Philippines
Teachinghas a number of women inTeaching
especially
teaching strategy reflection
difficult circumstances. These include (i) women in armed
conflict, (ii) women victims of domestic violence, (iii) women in
prostitution, (iv) women in prison, and (v) single women.
I.Women’s Issues
Feminists’ advocates still believe that
sexism is still rampant in these modern
times. Although a number of women have
broken through male bastions in the past
decades, feminists argue that there is still
much work to be done. Changes in the
nation’s economies globally have brought
more opportunities for women to
participate in the workplace.
 A collection of research studies with real-world
applications, designed to help people understand the
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scores, and depression.

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A. Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment occurs when an individual is unable to
perform a task due to behavior characterized by the making
of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical
advances in a workplace or other professional or social
situation.
 Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature happens when submission to such conduct
is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s
employment or submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is
used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or such
conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an
individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
working environment. Unwelcome behavior is the critical word. Unwelcome
does not mean “involuntary”. A victim may consent or agree to certain conduct
and actively participate in it even though it is offensive and objectionable.
Therefore, sexual conduct is unwelcome whenever the person subjected to it
considers it unwelcome. Whether the person in fact welcomes a request for a
date, sex-oriented comment, or joke depends on all the circumstances.
Forms of Sexual Harassment:
✔ Sexist remarks
✔ Vulgar sexual language
✔ Convert physical conduct (deliberate or
improper touching of private or sensitive body
parts, patting) specially in the workplace
The position, authority and influence of employers open
opportunities for them to ask sexual favors or make sexual
advances on their women employees. A lot of stories have
been told about some employers imposing promotion and
higher pay rates to their chosen employee in exchange of
sexual favors. While turning down these advances would
result to hostility and/or termination of work for the female
employee.

Sexual harassment is also rampant in the academe. Some

students are subjected to sexual harassment from their
professor who promises them higher grades and easier
assignment loads.
B. Low Wages
In every country in the world, women continue to be paid less for comparable
work than men, says the ILO, and the wage gap narrowed only slightly over
the past decade. By the year 2000, women make up at least one-half of the
work force in most countries, as opposed to one-third in 1990. The massive
entry of women into active economic life has only rarely been matched by a
corresponding improvement in their living or working conditions, says the
International Labor Organization. Inequality of treatment marks virtually all
aspects of women’s working lives, beginning with wages and employment
opportunities and extending to access to decision-making and managerial
positions.
 “Women’s progress in the workforce over the past 10 years has
not meant greater access to quality jobs, nor has it brought an end to
discrimination”, says Mary Chinery-Hesse, ILO Deputy Director-
General and leader of the ILO delegation to the Fourth World
Conference on Women (Beijing, September 4-15). “Despite gains in
some areas, women earn an average of just two-thirds of men's
wages, and they are often denied access to opportunities leading to
the best jobs.”
 In addition, while more women work outside the home, a
greater percentage of women than ever before act as the
sole breadwinners for their families, contributing to the
feminization of poverty. This cycle of poverty cannot be
broken until women receive fair wages,” says Ms. Chinery-
Hesse.
Women’s employment is primarily concentrated in a narrow range of
sectors (especially services, where access to jobs is easier but wages
are often lower and job security minimal). Even within those sectors,
women find Titlethemselves
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Women The make up
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greater percentage of
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in “informal”
and other precarious forms of employment, which tend to lie outside
the purview of labor regulations and inspection, and are therefore
more prone to exploitation. In the industrialized countries,
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between
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65 and 90% of all part-time The user workers
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 Women compose 90% of the part-time labor force in
Germany and Belgium, 65% in Italy, Greece and the United
States, and 63% in the Netherlands.

A very high percentage of women in developing countries

work in the informal sector. These jobs do not provide the
benefits of full-time work in the formal sector including
steady wages, adequate occupational health and safety
conditions, job security and social protection. In the absence
of policy measures to improve earning and employment
opportunities for women, there is little evidence that the
situation will improve soon.
 The main reason that women hold part-time jobs is
because they cannot find full-time jobs. Child care and
work in the home are the other main factors.

Part-time or full time, women’s jobs are often the least

secure. “Women still tend to be the last to be hired and the
first to be fired,” says Ms. Chinery-Hesse.
 Gender discrimination remains responsible for sizable
differences in pay among sexes. In a number of workplaces, the
principle of “equal pay for equal work” is continuously being
resisted. Reasons for such gender discrimination include
substantial scientific claims like women are weak, women are
emotionally unstable, women gives birth frequently and go on
leave which have adversely affect their productivity.
C. Equal Work Opportunities and Promotions
Equal employment opportunity is an employment practice where
employers do not engage in employment NO.01
activities that are
prohibited by law. It is illegal for employers to discriminate against

NO.03
an applicant or employee on the basis of:
● Race
● Age

NO.02
● Color
● Sex
NO.01
● Religion
● National origin
 Equal employment opportunity is a government
policy that requires that employers do not
discriminate against employees and job applicants
based upon certain characteristics, such as age,
race, color, creed, sex, religion and disability.
 Women oftentimes encounter
attitudinal or organizational biases
that prevent them from reaching
their full potentials in the
workplace. They are often blocked
from top management positions in
businesses and industries.
 The gender mainstreaming strategy aims to change an
organization’s orientation and modes of operation in such a
way that the results and effects of the organization’s
activities support the advancement of gender equality in all
of an organization’s fields of intervention (output
dimension as per the SPO model). However, promoting
equal opportunities within an organization and its
personnel is not least a question of internal and external
credibility.
D. Sexist Advertising and Music
The media has often criticized for the
stereotyping of women and exploiting them via sexy
advertisements) portraying them skimpy swimsuits
almost naked). They have been portrayed either as sexy
vamps out to seduce the male population in liquor,
cigarette and satisfying the male’s appetite for libido.
Their intellectual capabilities are undermined and not
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advertisements. Media and advertising present models
of males and females greatly influence gender attitudes
and behavior.
 A number of popular music today have lyrics of sexual
overtones, most of which pertain to women. These lyrics in
some ways are shaping the minds of the listeners, particularly
the youth in the areas of sex, violence, drugs and Satanism.
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MTVs are inclined to promote sex rather than love, friendship,
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growing up, having fun and the like.
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 E. Domestic Violence

Photo credit:
https://americanspcc.org/domesticviolence/

Battering, child abuse, verbal abuse, abuse of the elderly and other forms
of domestic violence are ugly realities of family life in the Philippines. It
can begin as early as the dating and courtship stages. Victims are reluctant
to share their unpleasant experiences and typically confide in their peers
rather than their parents and authorities.
 Domestic violence is a global problem and is harsher in
societies that devalue certain family members like children born
out of wedlock, stepchildren, disabled children or women in
general. The oppressive situation of battered women is so
intolerable that it has been compared to that of prison inmates.
Like inmates these battered women are confined to their homes,
suffering from progressive loss of self-esteem, making them
prone to repeated abuse. Some are generally cut off from
physical and emotional assistance and moral support.
 Filipino society condemns such violence which manifests in
physical forms like pushing, slapping, punching, hitting with a
blunt object, choking as well as psychological and emotional
abuse.

An abusive family is a dangerous place not only for women

but also for children and the elderly. Domestic violence on
children and elderly takes the form of neglect, physical or verbal
abuse.
 Victims of domestic violence are in need of emotional support
that will bolster their self-esteem, assess their inner strengths and
provide information about available resources. Government
officials have addressed domestic violence as a social policy
issue through increased funds for telephone hotlines to assist
victims, shelters for battered women and other social services
that will reduce assaults within the family.
F. Working Mothers
Gone are the days when a woman’s place is in the house. The
Filipina mother has metamorphosed from a responsible loving
homemaker to an empowered woman.
 Maternal employment is a fact of modernity and a
positive response to a social change that meets the needs
not met by the ideal of a full-time mother and homemaker.
The needs of a growing child require his/her mother to
loosen the hold on him/her. This would be easier
accomplished by a working mother whose career is an
additional source of high self-esteem and a confident
gender self-identity.
 With the increasing population of working
mothers, simultaneous improvements in
child care services and leave schemes,
flexible working time arrangements, and
access to career training and development
must be implemented.
G. Adolescent Pregnancy
Pregnant adolescents come from different ethnic groups and from different
places, but their circumstances have the same stressfulness. They represent a
flaw in society’s fabric. At present, even if society places less stigma associated
to an unmarried mother, the lives of most pregnant adolescents are anything but
rosy.
Adolescent pregnancies create health risks for both mother and child. Moreover,
adolescent parents are more likely to have low-paying, low-status jobs or be
unemployed than those who delay childbearing. They tend to have less desirable
child rearing practices and less realistic expectations for the babies’
development.
 A sound sex education, family planning and acceptance to contraceptive
methods alone will not remedy an adolescent’s unwanted pregnancy. They have
to have opportunities to improve their academic and career related skills, job
opportunities, lifelong consultations and extensive mental health services. They
also need a broad community involvement and support.
Men’s Issues
The early beginnings of men’s movements date back to the ‘70s and ‘80s, a
certain Herbet Goldberg stressed that men cannot sense and articulate their
problems and feelings. His important message to men is to become attuned to
their inner self and emotions and work on developing more positive close
relationships.
 In the 1990s, Robert Bly, a poet, storyteller, translator, best-selling
author and Carl Jung’s disciple, stated that today’s makes are “soft” as a result
of absentee fathers and strong attachment to their mothers.
A. Adolescent Fathers
Adolescent fathers have lower incomes, are less educated and have more
children. As soon as they are out of school, they land low-paying jobs. Most
adolescent fathers have little notion of what a father’s role is.
B. Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment involving male victims is a reality, but very few cases are
reported. Prisons are vulnerable setting for sexual harassments. The absence of
heterosexual partners in prison cells make men turn to the same gender for
sexual favors and release.
 In workplaces, men like women are also unwilling or willing victims of
sexual harassments. Men are unwilling victims of sexual advances from either
gay bosses or lady executives proposing sexual favors in exchange of
accelerated promotions in the corporate ladder. Victims are forced to reciprocate
these advances to lessen their workload, to promote them to higher ranks and/or
to increase their pay or at times, to free them from certain liabilities.
 However, some men may be willing victims of sexual harassment in the
work places. They may even put up or open themselves to gay bosses and lady
executives for sexual advances in exchange for promotion, increased salaries,
and lessened workload.
C. Discrimination Against Gay and Lesbians
People harbor many misconceptions against gays and lesbians, otherwise
known as the “third sex”. They not only suffer harassment and discrimination
but have minimal rights under the law. They are discriminated against when
seeking employment. They are victims of such unwarranted emotions as disgust,
fear or hatred. Child custody rights and visitation privileges are issues for
homosexual partners.
 Gay and lesbians suffer not only sexual harassment but also verbal
harassment. They are the butt of jokes in certain segments of society. A number
of gays and lesbians experience assaults and physical violence.
 In Nevada, equal protection of the law is guaranteed by the Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments and reinforced by hundreds of local, state and federal
civil rights laws. Although the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified at the end of the
Civil War, was designed to ensure legal equality for African Americans,
Congress wrote it as a general guarantee of equality, and the courts have
interpreted the Equal Protection Clause to prohibit discrimination on the basis
or gender, religion and disability.
In schools, nothing is more important than making schools and welcoming
places for gay and lesbian youth, who often face tremendous hostility from their
family and community during their formative years. This means protecting
students from violence guaranteeing their rights to organize events and clubs
like other students, and making sure that gay teachers who might serve as
healthy role models are not themselves victimized by discrimination.
 The court said the language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which
prohibits sex discrimination, applies to discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
D. Age Discrimination
One of the horrors of becoming old is age discrimination. In a lot of businesses,
there are instances where workers are laid off and replaced by younger
workers, ignoring the capabilities and experiences of aged workers. Even if
some elders are still capable of working, they are no longer hired in companies.
 In the Philippines, we have an age limit for employment. Those in the
age bracket of 35-40 years old have a hard time finding employment.
Employers prefer to hire young, new graduates or those below 35 years old,
probably because of the risks of accidents, deaths and weak physical stamina is
generally associated with advancing age.