Santos, Ma. Farina Kim L.

III AB ISD

Miss Pacita Fortin August 25, 2010

GENDER ANALYSIS IN DEVELOPMENT (ISG 101) SY 2010-2011 1st semester Take Home Exam Using as concrete examples the data the class gathered and generated from the community research in Marytown and insights drawn from the data, processes, and experiences in doing the research: A. Explain the following concepts: 1. GENDER Gender is a social construction. According to Andersen and Collins Gender is not a biological imperative. It is rooted in social institutions and results in patterns within society that structure the relationships between men and women. As an identity, gender is learned; people construct definition of themselves and others that are marked by gender. In short, people learn different behaviors and characteristics that they have to do in accordance with their labeling in the community male or female. Traditionally, gender is used simply as a distinction between the females and the males but now, as the world grew more and more concerned with the different implications underpinning this knowledge, the term gender was intensified and is now used as either a feminists propaganda, as a tool of development, or as an essential idea in the study of relations and power in the political sphere. Examples are male and female. Girls who act religiously, carefully and gently are considered as females while boys who are strong, aggressive and breadwinners are considered as males.

2. GENDER ROLES

These are the things that women and men are ought to do in a community. They are a set of assigned behaviors, standards and characteristics that male and female should adhere to. These behaviors are brought up and culminated in the communities of these people; they are limited, marginalized and distinguished for females and as for males; they are acknowledged, cultured, and then internalized. Men should do this, women should only do that gender roles have been tainted with inequality and from it arises stereotypes and discrimination. For example, women are expected to be humble, gentle and caring whereas for men, they are expected to be strong and they should not cry. In a marriage life, women are expected to just stay at the house, do the chores, look after the children and pamper the husband when he comes home while men, on the other hand are expected to work and earn a living for his family. In Marytown, gender roles can be observed in the daily duties of the females and males. Females are assigned in the house and should be motherly and males should work for the family and be a breadwinner. As what I have said, these gender roles often lead to discrimination When a woman choose to not marry and instead live a life of single blessedness with a career and strong personality, she is viewed as barren or lacking in maternal instinct (University of Alberta Health Center, 2001) and if men are household husbands or are more gentle and weaker than a standard of an actual man, tendencies would reveal that he can be labeled as gay.

3. GENDER RELATIONS Gender relations is the relations of power between men and women. It is a hierarchical redistribution of power and resources that tend to disadvantage women (Reeves and Baden, 2000). This is the network of interconnectedness of men and women that often leads to the subordination of women from men. Although seen as a natural part of the society, we should take in consideration that Gender Relations is not pre-determined, it is only shaped by the peoples perceptions, views and traditions it is changing and is not fixed.

We can observe gender relations in the field of labor or in some institutions. Example: in a variety show, the main host is usually a male and the female are either back-up dancers or just there for visual pleasure. But gender relations are not only confined to these areas, it can also be found in the representations of both genders. For example, females are often associated with a flower because they are supposed to be meek but blooming and males are often associated with a hammer, strong and tough.

4. GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR This is a great divide that sets the appropriate role to play, job to have or activities to engage in of men and women. This gender division of labor is a central feature of gender inequality, both in its economic aspects and in the social construction of gender identities (Huber 1991; Lorber 1994). This definition marks that gender division of labor is not only economy-based, but it can also be found in the privacy of homes. Gender division of labor puts a man in the field of paid work while women lagged behind the houses, doing unpaid work. An example can be seen in the community of Marytown based on our current data gathering, majority of the households in Marytown have the mothers looking after the children and doing household chores, although some of them have jobs, its either retailing inside the community or setting up a sari sari store. On the other hand, the men are the ones that mostly have jobs outside the community. They are either construction workers, office workers and security guards that have a fixed salary.

5. PATRIARCHY Patriarchy can also be deemed as father-rule or male-governed. This is a kind of social system wherein the supreme authority is vested upon the males the father of the family, the male leader of the community and others. This implies that kinship, descent and society titles are often traced in the father or male side. This kind of social organization often

leads to the exploitation and subordination of women since they are seen as second-degree persons when ranked alongside the men. Most often, families are the brewery for patriarchal practices by socializing the young to accept sexually differentiated roles (Kambarani, 2006). An example would be best cited by looking through the Shona tribe in Zimbabwe. According to Maureen Kambarani in her book Femininity, Sexuality and Culture: Patriarchy and Female Subordination in Zimbabwe in the Shona culture, from a tender age, thesocialization process differentiates the girl child from the boy child. Shona males are socialized to view themselves as breadwinners and heads of households whilst females are taught to be obedient and submissive housekeepers.

6. WOMENS SUBORDINATION Women form one-half of the worlds population, do three-fourths of the worlds work, receive one-tenth of the worlds salary, and own one-hundredth of the worlds land. Twothirds of illiterate adults are women. Over three-fourths of starving people are women and their dependent children (United Nations Statistical Department, 2000). Although this information was relatively 10 years ago, it nonetheless shows that women are subordinated, not just in the labor sphere but also in the education and household sphere. Womens subordination is said to be structural and can be traced back to Patriarchy. Because women are seen as dependent to these males, women tend to acquire and adapt qualities that would define them as really subordinate to men because these would gain the mens approval. These qualities are now seen as the stereotyped characteristics of women caring, gentle, religious, motherly and passive. Women subordination often results in violence and other forms of coercion. Example, men would sometimes forced their wives to give them sexual pleasure after work, if the wife does not conform, she would either be beaten or raped. In the families in China, the male child is most often preferred rather than the female child. This can be more stressed when looking at the inheritance pattern of businesses in China - even though the first born is a female, usually, if the second child is a male, he would

automatically be considered as the inheritor of the business, giving little importance to the first born female.

7. GENDER INEQUALITY Gender Inequality is the gap between the performances, activities, status and roles of men and women in the community. In other words, this can also be coined as Gender Bias (Indias Legal Service Website) because it denotes gender stratification or perceiving a difference between a boy and girl while preferring one over the other. There are different types of gender inequalities and it can be observed from homes to political services. The issue of Gender Equality has spanned generations focusing greatly on the subordination of women and her limited role in the society. Again, this issue can be seen as structuralized because the institutions surrounding men and women have dictated what roles would these individuals do resulting to the internalization of these roles. In Marytown, Gender Inequality can be seen in the undertaken roles of the husband and wife in the community. The wife takes care of the children and the chores while the husband is away working for the family this is a typical example of a family. But this shows that there is an unequal distribution of activities because the wife works all day long without any salary while the husband works within a fixed work-hour with a salary. Another thing, this can be seen as structuralized because when we have interviewed the wives that were part of the INSA-KUM, it seems that these type of family situation is generally accepted and that they have no complaints about it because as what they have said: It is what it is, andyan na yan e, iyan na yan e, hahanap ka pa ba ng iba. Masaya na kami sa ganito, at least hindi kami napapagod.

8. GENDER EQUALITY

Gender Equality is giving the same treatment, same opportunities, same chances and same participation for both men and women alike. This denotes a strong position that women are not just handmaids of men, but instead, they are both equal, having the same status and

sharing equal everything in the society. In summary, The difference in sex and physical form denotes no difference in status. Woman is the complement of man, and not inferior (Mahatma Gandhi). But this idea should be played within limitations; it doesnt imply that because there is equality, there is now no distinction between masculinity and femininity we should always recognize that womens reality and experience may be different from mens (Reeves and Baden, 2000). In the prevailing social constructions in the community of Marytown, I cannot say that there is a hundred percent Gender Equality embedded in their environment but some hints of Gender Equality can be seen. An example can be seen in the children of Marytown - young boys and girls go to school, kids (boys and girls alike) attend the day care and both boys and girls in the community have the opportunity to be given a scholarship support by some sponsors. Also, in some households, basing on the stories that our interviewees have told, they have the opportunity to nag their husbands when their husbands give them low salary. This just shows that women can also express what they feel. Another example is that women also get to work even though their husbands are also working.

9. GENDER EQUITY

Gender Equity means classifying the activities and opportunities per gender with regards to their individual needs and interests. In short, this is aggregating roles and jobs of women and men based on their self-interests and needs. This does not imply full equality between the two genders but equality in accordance to their own characteristics or personality. Equity recognizes the differences between male and female and seek to set standards of equality based on those differences. Gender Equity is not rare in Marytown. In fact, I think that this is the most fitting social construction of the community. Although wives inside the community practice their traditional role of being a mother and a house taker, some of them break this traditional notion - some of them now engage in works that would give their families additional incomes. But take note that their jobs are mostly inside the community like starting a sari-sari store and teaching inside the daycare. This can be analyzed that because their interests are

very much concerned in making their community livelier and productive, they tend to not venture out anymore, and because they need to take care of their children and the house, they chose works that are more accessible to their houses. On the other hand because the husbands are not necessarily confined inside the house, they can venture outside the community to find jobs that would support their family. These differences of interests and needs define what the adults in Marytown do, hence, Gender Equity.

10. GENDER ANALYSIS According to Reeves and Baden, Gender Analysis is the systematic gathering and examination of information on gender differences and social relations in order to identify, understand and redress inequities based on gender. Basically, Gender Analysis is addressing the differences, inequalities, and relationships between men and women while taking these (differences, inequalities, and relationships) into account and observing them to aim for a positive change within the sphere of gender relations. It is focusing on both men and women as actors in the community and not only focuses on the subordination of women and their issues. A great example of this is our current undertaking in our Service Learning Program. Here, we seek to explain the mechanisms and processes of gender underlying the community of Marytown. We hope to know the embedded gender traditions inside their community so that we can gather information and thoroughly analyze them so we can come up with great conclusions and explanations as to why the structure of Marytown is like that. When I mean structure, Im talking about the processes in the relationships of the people in the community why are wives like these? Why are husbands like those? Is there equality or inequality?
B.

Identify an existing and concrete (1) practical gender need and (1) strategic gender need

in Marytown and provide a corresponding potential policy/program/service intervention using the Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD) approaches as framework. Make sure to explain the key concepts in your discussion. Practical Gender Need: The access to a Safe-Child Bearing

Marytown is a community that is characterized by people not meeting their daily minimum basic needs - these needs are health care, food, education, sanitation or clothing but I would like to put great emphasis on the needs of the mother here. Marytown is an overpopulated community, these means that the mothers inside the community bear more children than the number of children that they are supposed to bear. With this, the mothers health is greatly put at risk if there is no guarantee that they can bear their child safely. My proposed Service Intervention is to have a clinic (baranggay clinic) that would give special attention to pregnant women - monitor the cumulative growth of the pregnancy of the mother and when the time comes that the mother would give birth, assist them in having safechild bearing process through either referral to a hospital or having a trained ObstetricianGynecologist residing inside the clinic. This satisfies the WID approach because it gives importance to motherhood, which is the essence of being a woman. By addressing this issue, women would feel that they are part of the community and because their needs are addressed, there is a development in their part. On the other hand, it satisfies the GAD approach because women are the partners of men, by giving emphasis on the health of mothers, the husband would be rest assured that their wives are doing well and would not be very much concerned about it, the result husbands would handle their jobs without any worries and by this, they can fulfill their role as a breadwinner to the family. Strategic Gender Need: Additional Job Opportunities for Women inside the Community The structured society of Marytown is in a little sense in the sphere of patriarchy, although they are not strictly adhering to patriarchy, they somehow adapt the traditional roles of women and men. This adaptation impinges on their lifestyle and livelihood, since the women are only inside the community, they are only confined in the private sphere and the men, working outside are venturing out in the public sphere. But this also have its effects on family lives, since families inside Marytown are usually big, and only the father is working, the income of the father is not enough to support the whole family tendencies: husbands and wives quarrel and wives look for jobs. The problem now comes in, since women are the ones taking care of the house, their husbands have the possibility to deny them grant to work outside the community.

I proposed here a project that would convene interested mothers in doing basketry or baking twice or thrice in every week. By doing this, the mothers in Marytown can display their skills and sell what they produced outside the community (the primary resources that would be used should come from a sponsor, government or private, and the income produced would be used to buy the next needed resources and the tubo from the sold items or foods can be divided amongst the mothers). This is a job that is sensitive to the status of the women in the community, since they also have to take care of their kids, they cannot be too far from them and since they only have limited time in their hands, meeting twice or thrice a week is not a burden for them. This satisfies the WID because this program focuses on the skills and talents of women and their contribution to the development of their own self, of their families and of their communities. This also satisfies the GAD approach because their husbands would not feel too pressured to single-handedly establish his family, knowing that his wife can also contribute to their income.

C.

Should gender matter in development theory and practice? Why or why not? Gender is an essential matter in development and theory. In order for us to have a grasp

of development, we should look deeper into the contexts of the society and by looking deeper into that context, we would find ourselves dwelling into the core of power relations and distribution of labor and resources. Then again, we cannot just marginalize the scope of this power relations to the political sphere and the distribution of resources and labor to rich-poor gap, we should also focus to the other sphere of power relations and distribution of resources and labor, and that other sphere is the gender context. By also including gender underpinnings into the world of development, we would not only tend to view development in the perspective of the obvious, hence we avoid being one-sided. Gender matters because we care. By examining and analyzing gender relations in the society, we tend to focus on the inequalities and discriminations in the society, hence, we tend to push empowerment for the subordinates and by pushing empowerment, we are implying development. Development comes after these realizations and by pursuing development that accommodates the needs of children and women and some marginalized men, we are creating a development structure that is not exclusive to the rich, but also to the marginalized sectors in the

community. Gender in the context of development also tends to look to the pressing needs and issues of women and men that hinder economic, social and political development and by addressing these issues; we are also giving way to development. We care for a proper and positive development of our community. If we want a development that would sustain through generations, we have to include gender in its theory and practice because by excluding gender in the development theory and practice, its like learning a song without the lyrics. We need to acknowledge that voice those voices that seek for a proper recognition.