Gender Sensitization and Role of women

Muhammad YaqoobRN, BScN, MSNLecturer Institute of NursingDow University of Health SciencesSeptember 04, 2014

Objectives

At the end of today’s session students will able to:

1) Describe gender as a sociological construct2) Analyze personal and cultural perceptions towards

gender3) Discuss social perceptions and status regarding men

and women4) Discuss the role and status of women in Pakistani

society5) Evaluate societal attitudes towards factors enhancing

women’s status

What do we mean by "sex" and "gender"?

"Sex"

Refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women.

"Gender"

Refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.

Putting it another way:

Sex= “male" and "female“

Gender = "masculine" and "feminine”

Gender or Sex?

1. Women give birth to babies, men do not.

2. Girls are gentle; boys are rough.

3. Women breastfeed babies; men can bottle-feed babies

4. Doctors are men; nurses are women.

5. Boys don’t cry.

Gender or Sex?

6. Boys are good at math and science and girls are good at language and history.

7. When one thinks of an engineer, one hardly ever thinks of a woman.

8. Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, produce half of the world’s food and yet earn only 10% of the world’s income and own less than 1% of the world’s property.

Gender or Sex?

9. Boys’ voices break at puberty, girls’ do not.

10. Kindergarten teachers should be women; men are not good at taking care of young children.

Aspects of sex will not vary substantially between different human societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly.

Some examples of sex characteristics : Women menstruate while men do not Men have testicles while women do not Women have developed breasts that are usually capable of

lactating, while men have not Men generally have more massive bones than women

Some examples of gender characteristics :In the United States (and most other countries), women earn significantly less money than men for similar work

In Viet Nam, many more men than women smoke, as female smoking has not traditionally been considered appropriate

In some countries men are allowed to drive cars while women are not

In most of the world, women do more housework than men

Gender role

The term gender role is used to signify all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself/herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman, respectively.

Emotions

Culture impacts gender differences in the expression of emotions. This may be partly explained by the different social roles men and women have in different cultures, and by the status and power men and women hold in different societies, as well as the different cultural values various societies hold.

Happinness

Overall, women claim to be far happier than men with their lives, and reported more often that they had made personal progress .

Women show greater concern about family and home life issues, while men express more concern about political issues. Men are happier with their family life and more optimistic about their personal future and that of their children.

Working preferences

women are more likely than men to consider factors other than pay when looking for work, are less willing to travel or relocate, and work fewer hours per week.

This difference is due to women not taking jobs due to marriage or pregnancy.

Women are more likely than men to be social workers, legal assistants, teachers, nurses, speech pathologists, dental hygienists, maids and housekeeping cleaners, and childcare workers.

More men than women work in the following industries: construction, transportation and utilities, farming, computer and mathematical occupations, engineering, and architecture.

Men are more likely than women to be firefighters, police and patrol officers, electricians, dentists, and surgeons.

Many countries, including Mexico, India, Germany, Brazil, and Australia require companies to grant 12-week maternity leave for working women at full pay.

In Sweden there is equal rights to take maternity/paternity leave. The duration is 18 months per child with 80% of full pay. Each parent must be at home minimum 60 days to qualify for the maximum pay.

Education

Worldwide, men are more likely to be literate, with 100 men considered literate for every 88 women. In some countries the difference is even greater; for example, in Bangladesh only 62 women are literate for every 100 men

Suicide

Males are much more likely to die by suicide than females (usually by a factor of 3–4:1); 69 out of 74 non-western countries found an excess male mortality from suicide.While there are more completed male suicides than female, females are more likely to attempt suicide. One possible explanation is that males tend to use more immediately lethal methods than females, who use less violent methods while attempting suicide. Another theory is that females are more likely to use self-harm as a cry for help or attention while males are more likely to genuinely want to end their lives.

Crime

Males are more likely than females to commit murder. Men are also far more likely than women to be the victims of violent crime

Internet use

Men log on more often, spend more time online, and for recreation such as downloading music and videos

Marriage and sexuality

Marriage customs are dependent on culture and differ greatly across countries and even in subcultures within the same country.

For example, many marriages in India/Pakistan are arranged, whereas in the Western World most people choose their own partners

Clothing

In most cultures, different sorts of clothing are considered

In Western societies, skirts and dresses and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women's clothing, while neckties are generally worn by men. Trousers were once seen as exclusively male clothing, but are nowadays worn by both sexes. Male clothes are often more practical (that is, they can function well under a wide variety of situations), but a wider range of clothing styles is available for females appropriate for men and women.

Islam requires both sexes to wear modest clothing. What qualifies as "modest" varies in different Muslim societies; however, women are usually required to cover more of their bodies than men are. Articles of clothing worn by Muslim women for purposes of modesty range from the headscarf to the burqa.

Role and status of women in Pakistani society

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person.  Men and women of full age without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry or to have a family.  They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage and its dissolution.  Marriage shall be entered in to only with the free and full consent of the attending spouses.  The family is the natural and fundamental group, unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and state."

(Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 & 16)

All these beautifully constructed sentences take a180 degrees turn while considering the status of specifically 'women' in Pakistan.  Our women still seem to be living in the dark ages.  It is a matter of deep sorrow that being Muslims we have completely forgotten the status of women given by Islam

In Pakistan the story of a woman's deprivations start even before her birth, because the girl-child is not a particularly 'wanted' child.  Her life is a journey of subordination.  When she is young her father decides for her on matters ranging from whether she will get any education, to the all important matters of whom she would marry.  After marriage, her husband and her in-laws get hold of her reins and decide matters on her behalf; like shall she or shall she not have a child every year, or whether she would produce only boys, or whether she can seek independent employment and so on.

Women in Pakistan face all kinds of gross violence and abuse at the hands of the male perpetuators, family members and state agents.  Multiple forms of violence include rape; domestic abuse as spousal murder, mutilation, burning and   disfiguring faces by acid, beatings; ritual honour-killings and custodial abuse and torture. 

The role of media in Pakistan has also been lethargic in terms of improving the status of women.  Pakistan television (PTV) plays have a crosscutting viewership, especially among women.  However, plays mostly revolve around formula-based story lines, which cast women in either submissive roles or at the other extreme as westernized glamour girls.  A recently conducted survey by a United Nations Development Programme on 'Portrayal of women in media' indicates that the viewers' preferences are now tilting in favour of more gender-balanced portraying of women.  The respondents of the survey feel that the negative stereotypical images of highly emotional and suppressed women should be reduced and downplayed

The two ways through which this target can be achieved is firstly through proper commitment of our home media (TV, Radio Newspapers and Films) that has the power to mould public opinion and here the government's support has to be unconditional. 

The second way is the evolutionary process through which the mothers by being independent of religion, caste or creed can instill in their children from the very beginning that both the genders are important and 'honourable' and have a key role to play in the society.  But the problem is that this is only possible when women are educated and supported by the government as equal and feeling beings to benefit from the latest technology and contribute efficiently to the country's uplift

Reference

WHO (2012). Gender, women and health. Accessed from http://www.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en