CHAPTER 1:

UNDERSTANDING
GENDER AND
SEXUALITY AS A
SOCIAL REALITY
 Learning Objectives:

Differentiate the concepts of sex, gender, and

sexuality and discuss the implications of such
differences;
Discuss historical origins and importance of gender
studies.
1.1 CONCEPT OF SEX,
GENDER, AND
SEXUALITY
 SEX VS. GENDER

SEX GENDER
Physical Social
(Biologically determined) (Socially-determined; culturally-defined)
Universal Cultural
Congenital Learned behavior
Unchanging Changes over time
Unvarying Varies within a culture/among cultures
 Sex (Biological Dimension)

● Biological and physiological differences between males and females as

determined by nature.
● Differentiating people based on biological attributes, such as:
1. Physical (body contour, features, genitals, reproductive
organs);
2. Genetic (chromosomes, hormones);
3. Label (female or male; man, or woman)
Biological Basis/Determinants Male Female

Chromosomes XY XX
Gonads Testes Ovaries
Hormones Testosterone Estrogen
Internal Reproductive
Wolffian ducts Mullerian duct system
Structures
External Sex Structures Penis and Scrotal Sac Clitoris and Vagina
 Gender (Socially-determined; culturally-defined)

● Distinctive qualities of men and women, the masculinity and the

femininity of an individual that are culturally created.
● The state of being male or female
● Socially and culturally constructed differences between men and
women.
● Differentiating people based on:
1) Perception
2) Roles, and Social Expectations
3) Femininity and Masculinity.
 SOCIAL DEFINITION

Male Female
Logical Emotional

Leader/Achiever Follower/Supporter

Sexually aggressive Sexually submissive

Independent Dependent

“Can do anything, anytime, anywhere” Incompetent

HETERONORMATIVITY
 The phenomenon of determining the normality of a behavior based on whether it conforms or not to the
expectations relative to one’s biological sex.

GENDER IDENTITY
 Aspect of gender referring to the sense of who we are. How we see and experience ourselves (as a
man, a woman, or neither).

TRANSGENDER
 Cases when a person’s biological sex does not align with one’s gender identity. May undergo gender
reassignment surgery

SEXUAL ORIENTATION
 Aspect of gender that pertains to our emotional and sexual attraction to a person:
1. Heterosexuals or “straight” – attracted to the opposite sex
2. Homosexual (gay or lesbian) – attracted to people of the same sex
3. Bisexual – attracted to both sexes, male or female
1.2 STUDY OF GENDER
AND SEXUALITY
 EVOLUTION OF UNDERSTANDING GENDER AND
SEXUALITY
Across time, humans’ conception of gender and sexuality has changed.

1. Dawn of civilizations – human societies have high regard for women

- Concept of divine feminine (the sacredness of woman due to her
ability to conceive children) has prevailed –treated women equally with
men
2. Egalitarian societies – men and women have equitable power and roles
3. Agricultural era (presumably) – humans’ discovery of paternity
(fatherhood/role of the father in conception)
4. Industrial era – gender disparity was intensified
 PATRIARCHY

● From the Greek word, Patriarkhes (“the rule of the father”)

● A social system where men primarily holds power in the political and the private
spheres
● Society is organized and maintained in a way that men rule over women and their
children
● Patrilineal - only men can inherit property and family name
 Patriarchy as a social construct

● Viewed as a social construct and not as a biological phenomenon

● Came about when people started having private property instead of a
communal living (F. Engels)
● Development of agriculture – led to creating product surplus which allows
people to have private property.
 Historical views on GENDER

● GREEK
o Aristotle, Plato, and other Greek philosophers viewed women as inferior sex
and are properties of men whose only job was to obey their husbands, bear
children, and take care of the household.
o Women are forbidden to learn philosophy, politics, and science.
● EGYPT
o Egyptian women enjoyed higher social status than Greek women because
they can inherit property and engage in trade (Herodotus)
o However, Greek influence quickly spread in Egypt through the conquests of
Alexander the Great across Asia and Africa.
● CHINA
o Confucianism's written rules – dictate how women should conduct
themselves
o “Three obedience’s 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.
Patriarchy has taken on subtle forms of
oppression:
• Sexism – prejudice, stereotypes, and
discrimination based on sex;
• Gender pay gap – men earn more
than women
• Underrepresentation in politics,
military, executive positions, etc.;
• Rape on women and the stigma
making women ashamed to report the
crime;
 Women Empowerment

● First Wave: 1848 – 1920

 primarily characterized by the women’s suffrage
movement and their championing of the woman’s right to
vote.
● Second Wave: 1963 - 1980s
 encompassed far more issues such as pay equality,
reproductive rights, female sexuality, and domestic
violence
 made some attempts to encompass racial justice, it
remained a lesser priority than gender.
 Class and race were viewed as secondary issues.
 Women Empowerment

● ​Third Wave: 1990s

 challenging female heteronormativity.
 sought to redefine femininity and sought to celebrate
differences across race, class, and sexual orientations.
 development of intersectionality began to take form.
● Fourth Wave: Present Day
 characterized by action-based viral campaigns,
protests, and movements like #MeToo advancing from
the fringes of society into the headlines of our
everyday news.
 It seeks to further deconstruct gender norms.
 THE STUDY OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY

● Social research – the process of investigating social realities

● Research approach – the orientation on understanding social realities
● Ethics in research – considerations in conducting research to make sure that
the well-being of the participants are ensured, and that the outcome of the study
is sound without being undue harm to people involved
● Gender role or sex role:
 “sets of culturally defined behaviors such as masculinity and
femininity”
 Not fixed; vary in terms of time and country or tribe
 Binary system – men as masculine (matipuno/matapang); women as
feminine (mahinhin) – the NORM

In gender studies, we are asked to disrupt and question these kinds of social
expectations, gender roles, and gender norms.
 Gender studies

● A field of study concerned about how reproductive roles are interpreted and
negotiated in the society through gender
● Analyzing, and examining society to notice power relations in the seemingly
“simple things”
● Helps us see the issues in our everyday lives through a different lens
● Came about in the mid 1970’s after the 2nd – wave of feminism as a way to
challenge the male-defined and male-centered knowledge
• Gender studies is not just for women or all about women, it
is about everyone
• It explores how our gender roles have changed throughout
our history and how it created inequalities. How society
repressed women’s potential

“Is it still right to say that the men are the providers of the
family when both mothers and fathers now work and earn
money?”
• Gender roles are socially constructed, not ”born with”. Society, through a lifelong process of
normalization, encourages or reprimands behaviors to make a child adapt to these social
expectations. Examples:
1. Boys are encouraged to be brave, to play rough, to be loud and not to show signs of
weakness like crying; Girls are discouraged from playing rough and being loud, but
gentle and soft. Otherwise, they are reprimanded
2. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people often do not fit in the traditional binary
gender roles so they are often reprimanded, bullied and discriminated
3. LGBTs are often subjected to violence and hate just because they do not fit in what
society calls “normal”
Gender studies lets us analyze the creation
and maintenance of these gender norms so
that it does not create inequalities in our
social, political, and economic spheres.
 Gender Studies (GS) and Research

● GS utilizes a systematic approach in identifying problems, making

hypotheses and assumptions, gathering data, and making
conclusions – research process

● Approaches in Research:
1) QUALITATIVE
2) QUANTITATIVE
 QUALITATIVE
APPROACH
• Focuses more on meanings created and
interpretations made by people about their own
personal or vicarious (observed) experiences
• Used when you want to know how women,
men, or LGBTQ+ live their lives on a daily
basis and how they make sense of their lived
experiences
METHODS
• Phenomenology – conducting intensive interviews
with individuals who have experienced a particular
event and understanding their “lived experience”
• Hermeneutics – understanding the meaning of
texts (literary/art works) and what they convey
about human realities
• Ethnography and ethnomethodology –
immersing in a community and taking note of their
experiences, beliefs, attitudes, & practices
 QUANTITATIVE
APPROACH
• Focuses more on characterizing a population
(total number of individuals in a group) or a
sample ( a sub-group within the population),
making generalizations about the population
based on the behavior of the sample
• Used when you want to know how many
Filipino adolescents engaged into a romantic
relationship, how many still believe in marriage
METHODS
• Survey – collecting information from a
sample
• Experiment – creating actual set-ups to
observe behavior of people in an experimental
group (receives treatment like training or new
experience) and comparing it to the behavior
of people in control group (without any
treatment)
 MIXED METHODS

• combining qualitative and quantitative methods

to derive data form multiple sources.
 Ethical Principles
● Making sure that people involved in the research are
protected from harm
 Ethics in Gender and Sexuality Research:

1. Informed consent
 Researchers should make sure that the participants in the study are aware of
the purpose and processes of the study they are participating in.
 Should ensure that only those participants who agree (in writing) will be
included, and that they shall not force any participant to join
2. Confidentiality and anonymity
 Researchers should not reveal any information provided by the participants,
much so, their identity to anyone who are not concerned with the study.
 All data gathered from surveys or interviews should also be placed in a
secure location or filing system
 Ethics in Gender and Sexuality Research:

3. Non-maleficence and beneficence

 A study should do no harm (non-maleficence) to anyone.
 Especially in researches involving humans, a study should be beneficial
(beneficence) for it to be worth implementing
4. Distributive justice
 Any study should not disadvantage a particular group, especially the
marginalized and oppressed (e.g. poor, women, LGBTQ+, elderly).
 The benefits of the study should be for all.
THANK
YOU!!!