Gender Equality
When we say 2+2=4, we mean that the value of 2+2
and the value of 4 are the same. In
gender equality, we are interested in the same valuation of men and women and
sameness of enjoyment of rights, power, opportunities, treatment and control of
resources between males and females in society. We are also interested in the
sameness in enjoying of the benefits from resources. Gender equality is
therefore not only the absence of discrimination and bias, but “… the equal
valuing by society of both the similarities and differences between women and
men and the varying roles that they play” (Gender Equality Analysis
Policy-Status of Women Canada page 5).It does not mean that men and women will
become the same. No. But they will have same opportunities in life. An example
of practicing gender equality is according men and women enjoyment of same
voting rights. Gender equality, therefore, “denotes the equivalence in life
outcomes for women and men, recognizing their different needs and interests and
requiring a redistribution of power and resources” (Bridge Report No. 55:10).
Gender Equity
Gender equity is a process of achieving fairness
and justice among men and women. The fairness and justice is in relation to
distribution of opportunities, responsibilities and resources as well as in
accessing and controlling the benefits from the resources. “To ensure fairness,
measures must often be made available to compensate for historical and social
disadvantages that prevent women and men from operating on a level playing
field” (Gender Equality Analysis Policy- Status of Women Canada page 5).
Gender equity also entails proportional
distribution of social resources and services, as well as proportional
representation of men and women in the development process, that is, the
composition of males and females at all levels should closely represent the
general population. What we mean here is that, if we are practicing gender
equity, say in our enrolment of male and females into university then the ratio
of males to females should be commensurate with the national population ratio
of 48:52. Gender equity leads to gender equality.
Gender bias
Gender bias is the tendency to be in favor of, or
against males and females on the basis of their gender rather than on anything
else, like what some teachers do when they take only females for fashion and
fabrics because of their stereotypical belief that women are better at sewing
than men.
Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination is an act of unfair
treatment directed against an individual or a group on the basis of their
gender which denies those rights, opportunities or resources. When universities
lower entry points for only female students, (whatever the reasons may be) they
will be discriminating against the male students. Gender discrimination can be
positive or negative and whether positive or negative, differential treatment
is given to males and females on basis of their gender.
Gender Neutrality
This is the claim that one is indifferent to
issues of gender as he/she has no ultimate gender practice. It assumes that all
people are affected by programmes or polices in the same way. “It is premised
on the theory that all people are already equal, therefore treating all people the same way is fair,”
(Women’s Policy Office, Government of Newfound land and Labrador (undated)
Facilitator’s Guide, Gender Inclusive Analysis….An Overview St Johns, NF, p.14)
like what most universities do when they give one tissue roll to every student in
residence for a specified period of time. Female students, by virtue of their
biology require more tissue paper. It thus may not allow for sensitivity to
disadvantages, hence it replicates stereotypes and restrictive views of males
and females.
Gender Blindness
When one is blind one cannot see. Gender blindness
is total failure, out of sheer gender ignorance, to recognize the differences
between males and females and subsequently leads to failure to provide or cater
for the differences.
Gender blind people fail to realize that policies,
programmes and activities can have different effects on men and women and this
often leads to rigidity and unchanging attitudes. It is a characteristics
feature of conservative societies, where gender bias and discrimination is
orchestrated on ill knowledge and innocence. A good example is what happened at
a certain school which had been originally a boys’ only school and then decided
to become co-educational. The school administration made girls stay in hostels
that were previously boys’. The toilets in these hostels had urinals and the
administration did not see anything wrong with that. This is gender blindness.
Gender Sensitivity
Imagine
entering a bus which is ferrying students from your university home and you
find that 90% of the bus load is males and the majority of those that failed to
enter the bus are females. You will obviously sense a gap of something between
male students as a group and female students as a group. What is it that you
are sensing? You are right!-that, whatever the reason, there is a gender gap
between men and women. You see, you are becoming gender sensitive. Gender
sensitivity is the mere ability to perceive existing gender inequalities. It is
gender perceptiveness or gender consciousness, which is, looking at an issue
with a gender eye. It is the beginning of gender awareness.
Gender Awareness
In the example of the bus situation given
immediately above, what do you think is the cause of the problem given that the
passengers in the bus were self drawn from a population of equal numbers
between males and females? You are now searching for the possible gender
problems. You are now becoming gender-aware. Gender awareness is, therefore,
the ability to identify problems arising from gender discrimination and bias
which affect men’s and women’s ability to access and control resources and /or
even access and control of benefits from the resources is gender awareness. It
is still gender awareness even when and where the problems are disguised and defended
as culture and tradition.
Gender Responsiveness
What solutions would you offer in the transport
problem above so that females are not discriminated against? You are now
becoming gender responsive. Gender responsiveness mainly constitutes responding
to gender issues with a view to eradicate the bias and discrimination in order
to ensure equality and equity (FAWE, 2004).It is the ability to visualise and
practicalise gender equity and gender equality. You see, it starts from gender
sensitivity to gender awareness then to gender responsiveness. For detail we
refer you to Unit 7.
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system that propagates male
superiority, power and control over women as natural. It oppresses exploits and
subordinates women. In patriarchal society’s leadership roles, control of
valuable resources and decision making is a male preserve. Patriarchy draws a
clear demarcation line between males and female. It also creates a social
stratification with males always on top. Meena (1992) says that, in patriarchy,
even the weakest man has a woman to oppress and exploit. In patriarchy women
are perceived as perpetual minors who cannot take independent decisions. It is
in short, “systematic societal structures that institutionalize male physical
social and economic power over women” (Bridge Report No. 55:29). For detail we
refer you to Unit 2.
Gender Mainstreaming
“…..is the process of assessing the implication
for women and men of any planned action; including legislation, policies or
programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s
as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the policies and programmes in all
political, economic, and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally
and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender
equality.” (Towards Earth Summit, 2002: 2).It is a strategy to achieve gender
equality that was universally adopted at the fourth world conference on women
in 1995, at Beijing- a means to the bigger end of attaining gender equality.
For detail you go to Unit 7.
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Gender Empowerment
This is one of the words that are difficulty to
define because of taking different forms in different people and different
contexts. Babikwa (2004:72) says “empowerment does not mean individual self
assertion, upward social mobility or increased disposable income or when
psychological experience of feeling self realized….it means....an understanding
of the causes of powerlessness, recognizing systematically oppressive forces
and acting individually and collectively to change the conditions of life”
Basically, then, it is to do with one’s participation in decisions and
processes affecting one’s life. It is a process about people, taking control
over their own lives, setting their own agendas, building self confidence,
solving problems [Kabeer, (1994) in March et al 1999:25] “Empowerment cannot be
given, it must be self generated” because such change must be believed in,
initiated, and directed by those whose interests it is meant to serve. What
other external forces like education can do is to provide those who need
empowerment with an enabling environment and resources which will allow them to
take greater control of their lives; determine what relations they would want
to live within and devise strategies to help them get there (Naila Kabeer, in
March, Smyth and Mukhopadhyay, 1999:.25).For detail you go to Unit 9.
Gender Affirmative Action
Gender affirmative action is a corrective or
compensatory measure for past injustices or gaps and an accelerator for the
process of equitable development. It is an intended justice measure through
deliberately according the previously excluded or disadvantaged sex group preferential
treatment to increase the group’s representation in areas of education,
employment, business and politics among others. It entails gender
discrimination because it gives unfair, though justifiable, advantage to the
once discriminated sex group. It is therefore positive or reverse
discrimination. Gender affirmative action is meant to redress the effects of
past discriminations rather than discriminate. An example of gender affirmative
action is the practice done by most universities when these institutions lower
their entry points for female students only. For detail you go to Unit 7.
Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are socially constructed ideas
or beliefs about men and women which are not necessarily true but taken as
truth by society. They are maintained, perpetuated and transmitted from
generation to generation by social institutions like the family, the school,
the media, religion, the culture among others. Most common gender stereotypes
are based on:
• Sex,
for example, males are aggressive while females are affectionate
• Personality,
for example men are cheerful while women are nervous
• Age,
for example, young men are rebellious while older women are conservative
• Ethnicity,
for example, Ndebele women are good home managers while Shona women are good
fieldworkers
• Class
for example upper class men are playful while lower class men are ambitious
• Occupations,
for example male nurses are kind and loving while female nurses are rude and
short hearted with women in labour.
Stereotypes
can be positive or negative.
Gender Identity
‘….it is how an individual adapts the prescribed
sex role to his or her individual identity.’
Gender Relations
These are “the range of gendered practices, such
as the division of labour and resources and the gendered ideologies such as
ideas of acceptable behaviour for men and women” (Bridge Report No.
55:18.).They are simply the social relationships between men as a sex group and
women as a sex group. They determine what is socially accepted and what is socially
inappropriate. They work in most cases to subordinate and discriminate against
women.
Gender practical needs
These are the concrete, immediate and often
essential needs/wants for human survival. The men and women survive better in
their socially accepted roles, within their gendered power structures.
Practical gender needs include food and shelter among other things.
Gender strategic needs
These are human requirements which when met
challenge and change power relations between men and women. They are often less
visible than the practical ones and are long term, one example being access to
decision making positions.
