Gender Issues in Human Development and Family Relations

GenderGender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are

created in our families, our societies and our cultures.

Gender roles and expectations are learned. They can change over time and they vary within and between cultures.

The concept of gender is vital because, applied to social analysis, it reveals how women’s subordination (or men’s domination) is socially constructed

Gender- conceptsGender Mainstreaming is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender

equality. Mainstreaming is not an end in itself but a strategy, an approach, a means to achieve the goal of gender equality.

Gender equity means fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs.

Gender Division of Labour is the result of how each society divides work among men and among women according to what is considered suitable or appropriate to each gender.

Gender Analysis is the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated information. Men and women both perform different roles.

Women in Development (WID) The WID approach aims to integrate

women into the existing development process by targeting them, often in

women-specific activities.

Gender and Development (GAD ) GAD seeks to have both womenand men participate, make decisions and share benefits.

Literacy Gender Parity Index (GPI) is the ratio of the female to maleadult literacy rates which measures progress towards gender equity inliteracy and the level of learning opportunities available for women inrelation to those available to men.

Importance of gender differences in Human Development

The delivery of public services is essential for helping women and men to reach their full potential and realise their human rights.

Gender-specific biases in the way services are designed and delivered are failing women in many countries.

For example, a lack of separate toilets (or any toilet facilities) in schools can deter adolescent girls from attending school.

Corruption in the provision of basic services such as health and education has disproportionate negative consequences for women and girls.

Economic autonomy

Limited access to agricultural inputs.

discrimination against women in employment

gender vulnerability within the home

Men are more likely to be the victims of occupational diseases

Women's health risks, which are mainly linked to reproduction.

Wider gap in literacy between two sexes.

Socio-cultural prejudices and stereotyping

Theories

Structural Functionalist AnalysisTalcott Parsons and Robert Bales adhere to this view.

view society in terms of a complex system.

This division of society into many integrated parts is good for society functioning.

Gender differentiation and division of labour leads to stability

G.P. Murdock suggests division of labour stems from the traditional hunting

women would stay nearer the home due to child-bearing and men would go hunting as they had more muscle power.

According to Parsons The roles assigned to the woman are linked to the home.

man, on the other hand, is to work outside the home and act as a link between the family unit and the larger world

argues that men and women are socialised in different ways in order to prepare them to assume their gender roles as adults

Women as expressive functionMen as instrumental function

The social-conflict paradigm perceives society as being grossly unequal

different inequalities present give rise to conflicts and change

they point out that gender relations are characterised by a struggle for power

Marxist's perspective technological advances, the emergence of private property and capitalism resulted in men gaining more power than women

when men became owners of private property, the status of women changed,

Interactionist Approach perceive society in terms of the everyday interaction of its individual members in specific settings

It has been observed that even at the micro-level, men are usually in a dominant position. In conversation, for example, they are the ones who are more likely to choose the topic or change it. They also tend to give more value to their own contributions and ignore the ideas put forward by women.

Feminist Perspectives

Liberal Feminism promote gender equality by asking for equal opportunities and rights for men and women

Marxist/Socialist feminist focused on the patriarchal nature of the society and the way in which patriarchy is reinforced by capitalism.

propose is a complete change in the structure of the family so as to free women from having to take the main responsibility for housework and child care.

Radical Feminism They believe that the whole concept ofgender itself should be eliminated togetherwith patriarchy. As women have often beenassociated to tasks around the home due tothe fact that they are the child-bearers, theradical feminists suggest that women's bodyshould be dissociated from child-bearing bythe use of new reproductive technologies.

Gender identity Gender identity is how we feel about and express our gender and gender roles – clothing, behavior, and personal appearance.

Gender roles

Gender roles are the way people act, what they do and say, to express being a girl or a boy, a woman or a man. These characteristics are shaped by society

Gender schema theory It states that children learn definitions of male and women and incorporate them into cognitive structures called gender schema, through which they interpret the world and select a set of attributes

Gender stratification theory Economic power is the most important source of power affecting women

Gender stereotype

A stereotype is a widely accepted judgement or bias regarding a person or group. Stereotypes about gender can cause unequal and unfair treatment because of a person’s gender.

Four kinds of gender stereotypes

Personality traits.

Domestic behaviours

Occupations

Physical appearance

Personality traits Women expected to be passive and submissive

Men expected to be self confident and aggressive

Domestive behaviours Caring for children often considered best done by women

Household repairs by men

Occupations Secretaries and nurses are womenEngineers and doctors are men

Physical appearence Women to be graceful. Men as tall and broadd shouldered

INFLUENCE OF THE FAMILY ON GENDER TYPING

Parents' Influence on Children's Gender-Typed Choices.

Ex : receive different toys to play

Parental Behavior toward Girls and Boys

Ex : girls are protected more and less autonomy

Modeling Parents' Characteristics

Parental Absence or Unavailability related to disruptions in gender typing.

EXTRA FAMILIAL INFLUENCES ON GENDER ROLES

Books and Television

Peers, Gender Roles, and Self-Esteem

Schools and Teachers

Main Highlights of the Global Gender Gap Report 2014

No country in the world has fully closed the gender gap, Eight countries—Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, France, Guyana, Latvia, Namibia, and the Philippines have fully closed the gap on both the health and education

The gap between women and men on economic participation and political empowerment remains wide: only 60 percent of the economic outcomes gap and only 21 percent of the political outcomes gap has been closed.

Top ten gender-equal societies in the world

(1), Finland (2), Norway (3) and Sweden (4) Denmark (5), Nicaragua 6, Rwanda (7), Ireland, Philippines (9) and Belgium (10).

Gender discrimination in India

Sexism or gender discrimination is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender (predominantly against women).

Top 10 – Gender equal countries Finland, Norway,Sweden Denmark,Nicaragua, Ireland,

Phillipines and Belgium.

Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion

female literacy rate lags behind the male literacy rate.

Discrimination against women has contributed to gender wage differentials.

Women do not own property under their own names and usually do not have any inheritance rights to obtain a share of parental property

The dowry practice makes the prospect of having a girl even more distasteful to poor families.

Young girls receive less food, healthcare and fewer vaccinations overall than boys.(neglect)

Young girls receive less food, healthcare and fewer vaccinations overall than boys.

The frequency of rape and violent attacks against women in the developing world is alarming

Demographic challenges to family ecology Human Life expectancy is increasing and more

population is aging

Socio economic in equitalities in health are growing

Divorce rates are increased.

Declining fertility rates resulting in fewer potential adult caregivers for aging caregivers

Gender role socialization Gender socialization is the process of learning the

social expectations and attitudes associated with one's sex.

Gender socialization occurs through such diverse means as parental attitudes, schools, how peers interact with each other, and mass media

Influence of Family parents are the primary influence on gender role development in early years

of life . Parents encourage children to participate in sex-typed activities,

such as playing with dolls for girls and playing with trucks for boys.

Influence in Education

Teachers would focus on boys, calling on them more and challengingthem. Because boys were believed to be more analytical, teachersassumed they would excel in math and science. Teachers encouragedthem to go into careers that require a lot of math and science, such ascomputer science or engineering.

Infancy and early childhood

Parents encourage their sons and daughters to participate in sex typed activities. Girls are encouraged to play with dolls and tea sets and boys are encouraged to play with cars and footballs.

Early in development

parents provide experiences that encourage assertiveness, exploration and emotional control in boys.

Middle childhood

During this age parents expect more independence from boys and help from girls. Parents hold gendered differentiated expectations for children’s competencies in school subjects English for girls , maths for boys

Mother versus father : Father engage in more physicallystimulated play with boys. Parents seem committed to ensuringthe gender typing of children of their own sex. Mothers aremore likely to go on shopping and bake biscuits with theirdaughters and fathers are more likely to play cricket with theirsons.

Siblings

Their impact depends on birth order and family size. Theactivities of same sex siblings were highly genderappropriate. However among mixed sex siblings choicesof play were determined by the sex of the older child

Gender Issues in family Divisions of labour for family work are particularly problematic in dual

worker families.

Employed mothers adjust their jobs and personal lives to accommodate

family commitments more than employed fathers do. Mothers are less likely

to work overtime and are more likely to take time off work to attend to

children's needs.

Most of the family members consider women’s career as conflict source.

Major decision makers are men

Gender equality & equity gender equality refers to equal access to social goods, services and

resources and equal opportunities in all spheres of life for both menand women.

Women and men should not only be given equal access to resourcesand equal opportunities, but they should also be given the means ofbenefiting from this equality.

The lower status of women in society often constitutes a handicap andprovisions should be made to redress this inequality before they cantake advantage of the opportunities provided. Gender equity thusserves to level the playing field and empower women. Therefore, wecan say that equity is essential to achieve true equality.

Social cohesion It is interactions among the members if society.

It includes trust, sense of belongingness, willingness to participate

It is relational and multidimentional construct

Family cohesion Degree of togetherness and emotional bonding that

family members have towards each other.

Empowerment strategies Creating positive economic and social policies for full

development of women

Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic.

Strengthening the legal system aimed at elimination of all descrimination against women.

Changing societal and community attitudes

Building and strenthenning civil societies and women organisations.

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