KEY CONCEPTS

1
KEY CONCEPTS DEFINITIONS

• Sex
• Biological distinction between males and
  females. Usually taken to be chromosome
  makeup, reproductive organs, internal and
  external genitals, hormonal states etc.
• Gender
• Refers to a range of perceptions, opinions,
  attitudes, values, behaviours, roles positions
  which are socially, culturally economically
  attributed to men women, and which determine,
  to a large extent, the contexts ways of life
  work of individuals.
• We become masculine or feminine based on the
  interpretation of our biology by our culture.
• Determines our life experiences access to
  vital resources, eg. Education, health,
  employment.

2
KEY CONCEPTS DEFINITIONS Contd

• Gender Roles
• Refers to learning and performing the socially
  accepted characteristics for a given gender.
• Like language are passed from generation to
  generation.
• They are dynamic so they will change over time,
  differ across cultures will be influenced by
  various factors, such as, age, class, ethnicity
  increasingly, globalization.

3
KEY CONCEPTS DEFINITIONS Contd

• Gender Identity
• A personal recognition general
  acknowledgement of oneself as part of a socially
  defined group male or female, which may or may
  not be derived from the basic sex difference from
  which the group originated (Leo-Rhynie 1995).
• Sexuality Sexual Identity
• Linked to the erotic and involves the language
  of desire of heterosexuality, homosexuality.
• It is more concerned with types of sexual
  partners and sexual activities.

4
KEY CONCEPTS DEFINITIONS Contd

• Development?
• Significantly increasing the productive
  capacities of societies, establishing new
  better (more productive) ways of doing things
  making things so as to make more wealth
  available(Crow, Thorpe et al 1988).
• - Does not address issues of poverty,
  inequality, unemployment
  etc.
• - Speaks mainly to productive capacity of state.
• Ability of a society its members to meet the
  physical, emotional creative needs of people at
  an acceptable level.
• It involves the idea of cultural, social,
  economic political betterment of individuals.

5
Theories of Development

• Growth Modernisation Theories (1960s)
• Development goes through stages
  Traditional ? Modern.
• Development should pattern that of the West.
• Developed states should assist developing states
  in their drive to become developed.

6
Theories of Development Contd

• Theories of Underdevelopment
  
• Capitalism (Karl Marx)
• Imperialism (Lenin)
• Dependency (Gunder Frank)
• World Systems Theory (I. Wallerstein)

7
Theories of Development Contd

• Boserups research showed that womens
• position/status in some sectors had actually
• declined. Why?
• Was assumed that women were supplementary wage
  earners.
• Had very little education.
• Introduction of new technology was directed at
  men not women.
• Male experience was generalizable to females.

8
Theoretical Approaches to Women Development

• Women in Development (WID)
• Arose out of the Liberal Feminist School of
  thought. Came to the fore in 1970s through the
  work of Ester Boserup.
• Based on the assumption that women were
  outside the development process could be
  brought into the existing paradigm without a
  fundamental restructuring of the paradigm.

9
Features/Tenets of WID

• Focused exclusively on the productive aspects of
  womens work minimizing the reproductive.
• Focused exclusively on women.
• Grounded in traditional modernization theory,
  therefore inflexible.
• Unconfrontational. Accepted existing social
  structures concerned itself more with
  advocating for equal participation in education
  employment.
• Like modernization is A-historic, therefore does
  not take into consideration the impact of class,
  race culture.

10
Policy Evolution of WID

• Welfare Approach Assumption that population
  growth is primary cause of poverty. Focuses on
  reproductive roles.
• Equity Approach Women seen as active
  participants in development, therefore should be
  given greater equality with men.
• Anti-poverty Approach Concentrated on enhancing
  womens productive role.

11
Policy Evolution of WID Contd.

• Efficiency Approach Assumption that increased
  economic participation for Third World women was
  automatically linked with equity.
• Empowerment Approach Addresses womens strategic
  need to transform structures that oppress them
  through bottom-up process.

12
Women and Development (WAD)

• Emerged in the mid 1970s.
• Marxist Feminist School of Thought.
• Rooted in the Dependency Theory.
• Concerned that international structures were
  unfair unequal.
• That developing countries experience unequal
  exploitative relship with developed countries.

13
Women and Development (WAD) Contd.

• Both men women are in disadvantaged position
  are victims of intl structures.
• Focused on the relship between women
  development processes rather than purely on
  strategies for womens integration into
  development.
• Removal of the inequitable structures relships
  will allow women to advance.

14
Women and Development (WAD) Contd.

• Critiques
• Does not address issue of class difference.
• Women seen as homogenous group
• Does not address patriarchy as greatest source of
  inequality
• Does not recognize or address unique problems of
  women or of those problems they have in common
  with men.
• Pre-occupies itself with production at expense of
  womens reproductive lives.
• Assumption of womens automatic emancipation when
  intl structures become more equitable can be
  highly discredited.

15
Gender Development (GAD)

• A 1980s approach. Has its theoretical roots in
  Socialist Feminism, thus it uses the social
  construction of gender as the basis of womens
  oppression.
• Does not view women as a separate group of
  social agents but that men women are
  inter-related in specific contexts
• Emphasizes the need to understand the roles
  responsibilities of men women in a given
  environment looks at the unequal power
  relations b/n men women.

16
Gender Development (GAD) Contd

• All social, political economic structures
  development
• policies are re-examined from the perspective of
  gender
• differentials.
• Believes that relationships b/n men women can
  be
• changed, thereby achieving gender equality
  achievable
• through transformative change.
• Main issues of each
• WID exclusion of women from development as the
  problem.
• WAD inequitable international structures as
  the problem.
• GAD unequal power relations as being the
  problem.

17
Why Gender Not Women?

• Category women does not represent a homogenous
  group. There is no universal position that women
  occupy in all societies.
• Term gender covers social roles of both men
  women, e.g. gender interests rather than womens
  or mens interest.
• Implementation of any development policy/project
  will affect or alter the lives of both men
  women.

18
Gender Mainstreaming

• Formulated in1995 at the 4th World Conference on
• Women in Beijing, China.
• Process of assessing the implications for men
  women of any planned action, including
  legislation, policies programmes, in all areas
  at all levels. It is a strategy for making
  womens as well as mens concerns experiences
  an integral dimension of the design,
  implementation, monitoring evaluation of
  policies programmes in all political, economic
  social spheres, so that women men benefit
  equally inequality is not perpetuated. The
  ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality
  (ECOSOC, Agreed Conclusions 1997).

19
Creating Gender Awareness

• Gender Analysis Focuses on understanding the
  differences in gender roles, activities, needs
  opportunities in a given context. It highlights
  the different roles learned behaviour of men
  women based on gender attributes
• Gender Awareness Recognising that women are
  development actors as well as men that the
  nature of womens involvement is determined by
  gender relations which make their involvement
  different often unequal and that consequently
  women may have different needs, interests
  priorities which may conflict with those of men
  (March, Smyth Mukhopadhyay 1999).

20
Gender Awareness Contd

• Women have different needs from men
• Women have special needs
• Women are disadvantaged as a group
• Ultimately, womens development requires equality
  (opportunities) with men.

21
Gender Awareness Contd

• Practical Gender Needs Those needs drawn
• from the concrete conditions that people
• experience. They are usually a response to an
• immediate perceived necessity. They can usually
• be identified by people themselves. e.g food,
• water, clothing etc.
• Strategic Gender Needs Concerned with
• changing the position of people, women esp., in
• societies. These are more long term refer to
• equality of opportunity, greater access to
• resources the freedom to participate in
• decision-making.