GENDER

SENSITIVITY
ANTONETTE B. DUMALE
Presentor
SEX and GENDER:

Are they One

and the same?
 WHO ARE YOU?

● * how do you picture a man?

● * how do you picture a woman?
● * what word, image or situation
comes into your mind when you
hear the word, man or woman?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SEX AND GENDER?
SEX GENDER

Refers to Refers to the

biological and characteristics
physiological of women, men,
characteristics girls and boys
that define men that are socially
and women constructed.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SEX AND GENDER?
SEX GENDER

“Male” and “Masculine” and

“Female” Feminine
”
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SEX AND GENDER?
SEX GENDER

Biologically Socially
determined determined
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SEX AND GENDER?
SEX GENDER

Refers to Refers to
physical learned
characteristics behavior
THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN
THE WAY WE SEE MEN AND
Most of the differences we have identified
WOMEN
are:
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES
EMOTIONAL DIFFERENCES
DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOR
INTELLECTUAL DIFFERENCES
ROLE DIFFERENCES
Men and women demonstrate
different emotional, intellectual and
social characteristics.
They also exhibit different patterns
of behaving and relating.
 SEX GENDER

BIOLOGICAL SOCIALLY
CONSTRUCTED
Born with
Not Born with

Can’t be changed
(generally) Changeable
Only women can give birth Women can do traditional
male jobs as well as men
can take good care of their
children
 BOYS GIRLS

• Pilot • Stewardess
• President • First lady
• Doctors • Nurses
• Policemen • Policewomen
• Eat • Cook
• Build houses • Keep Houses
• Invent things • Use what boys invent
• Fix things • Need things fix
GENDER ROLES AS ATTRIBUTED TO MALES

PERCEPTION Strong, Primary,

Rational, Cannot feel

ROLES Hard work, Leader/Boss,

No care giving

EXPECTATIONS Don’t make women do

hard work, Always be
smart/in control, Get the
best, Don’t cry
GENDER ROLES AS ATTRIBUTED TO FEMALES

PERCEPTION Weak, Secondary

emotional, Cannot think

ROLES No hard work, Not a

leader/boss, No
decision-making
EXPECTATIONS Stay at home, Don’t
assert, Don’t participate
in decision-making, It is
okay to cry
DETERMINANTS OF SEX

FEMALE MALE

GENITALIA vagina, clitoris penis, scrotum

INTERNAL uterus, ovaries testes

REPRODUCTIVE
ORGANS

CHROMOSOMES XX XY
 What is
Gender
Sensitivty?
GENDER SENSITIVITY
● It is the act of being aware of the
ways people think about gender, so that
individuals rely less on assumptions
about traditional and outdated views on
the roles of men and women
GENDER SENSITIVITY
● Is the process by which people are made
aware of how gender plays a role in
life through their treatment of others.
GENDER SENSITIVITY
● Often gets expressed through people’s
language choice. We can choose more
inclusive language and use gender-
neutral words.
GENDER SENSITIVITY
● Pertains to one’s effort to show how
gender shapes the role of women and men
in society, including their role in
development, and how it affects the
relationship between them.
GENDER SENSITIVITY
● is behaviour that avoids discrimination
by understanding and accepting the
multiple differences between men and
women. It is a way of thinking that
fosters respect and compassion for
others — regardless of these
differences.
 GENDER ROLE
It determines how males and females should
think, speak, dress, and interact within the
context of society
● Are not inborn but are passed on through
generations
● Learned in early stages of childhood and are
further reinforced
● This become gender issues once it block
people’s capacity to do and to be
 AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION
OF GENDER
ROLES
 SOURCES:
FAMILY
SCHOOLS
MEDIA
RELIGIOUS SECTORS
LEGISLATION, and
ECONOMIC SYSTEM
FAMILY

Family is the most important agent of socialization

because it serves as the center of a child’s
life. Socialization theory tells us that
primary socialization – the process that occurs when a
child learns the attitudes, values and actions expected
of individuals within a particular culture – is the most
important phase of social development, and lays the
groundwork for all future socialization.
SCHOOL
Schools are major contexts for gender socialization, in
part because children spend large amounts of time
engaged with peers in such settings. For nearly all
psychological traits on which young boys and girls differ
(e.g., reading ability, play preferences), the distribution of
the two groups is overlapping. Schools can magnify or
diminish gender differences by providing environments
that promote within-gender similarity and between-
gender differences, or the inverse (within-gender
variability and between-group similarity).
MEDIA
Media play an important role in how people form their
identities, social norms and values in relation to gender.
Research shows that from a young age, children are
influenced by the gendered stereotypes that media present to
them. For example, Plan International and the Geena Davis
Institute on Gender in Media conclude that girls and young
women lose confidence and ambition if they do not see role
models and women as leaders on screens.
RELIGIOUS SECTOR
LEGISLATION
ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Some Cultural Practices/Traditions
1. India, Somalia, Iran, Morocco, Egypt – “Clitoredectomy”, dowry, cremation,
construction are also for women
2. Bangladesh – if you are poor, women, landless; you are nothing
3. Africa – crude farming given to women & children; men’s beauty contest ;
bigger hips/slim, curvaceous
4. Thailand – c0nstruction are also for women
5. Saudi – urination (squatting for men), greeting kiss for men
6. Nepalese – nods for “no”; and shakes head for “yes”
7. Europeans – also for men
8. Tahiti – women inviting men to dance during menstruation a
9. Zumi Indians – women are the sexual aggressors (Brazilian tribe)
10. Alaska – wives are offered to keep the visitors warm
11. Taste & beauty – are also cultural (universal)
12. Japanese culture - where the women follow the men while walking
HOW CAN YOU
SAY THAT YOU
ARE GENDER-
SENSITIVE?
No matter gay, straight, or bi', lesbian, transgender life
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born to survive
No matter Black, white or beige, chola, or Orient' made
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born to be brave

I'm beautiful in my way 'cause God makes no mistakes

I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself, and
you're set
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way,