CHAPTER 1

UNDERSTANDING
THE CONCEPT OF
GENDER AND
SEXUALITY
GENDER AND SOCIETY
 Learning Objectives
Contemplate about
Diffrentiate sex, your own sexuality
1. gender, and
sexuality. 3. and on the
importance of
sexual diversity.

Discuss the

2.
implications of
these
diffferences;and
 Introduction
SEX - is the biological dimension of your gender and sexuality.
-is often assigned at birth.
- also a referred to as biological sex or physical sex .
-pertains to your identity depending on your sexual anatomy and
physiology.
SEX - refers to the biologogicall or philosophical differences between
men and women such as genitalia, chromosomes, hormones, and
other genetic differences.

HERMAPHRODITISM
- refers to the condition of having both male and female reproductive
organs. (from Hermes, a male Greek god, and Aphrodite, a female
Greek goddess).
GENITALIA - refers to the male or female reproductive organs.
- referred to as primary sex characterisics,
CHROMOSOMES - females possess two X chromosomes and
males inherit one X chromosome and one Y chromosome.
HORMONES - chemical changesthat act like messenger
molecules in the body.
Secondary sex characterisics, evolve during
puberty.
- Boys typically experience a deepening of their voices, increased
body hair, and muscle development due to elevated testosterone
levels.
-Girls undergo breast development, hip widening, and the initiaton
of menstruation, as nature prepares them for potential pregnanvy and
childbirth.
CISGENDER - those gender identity matches their assigned sex.
- more often referred to as ‘’cis’’ means ‘on the side.
- referring to everyone either as a MAN or a WOMAN.
- Is a MALE or a FEMALE that identifies with the sex that was
assigned at birth.
GENDERQUEER - used to describe gender identity when the binary
conceptualization of gender, male or female, does NOT accurately describe
an individuals gendered outlook or self-concept.
for example: People who feel their gender identity isn’t strictly
masculine or feminine may identify as non binary.

GENDER - refers to the collection of expectations, behaviors, roles

and attributes that are deemed suitable, for individuals based on their
percieved or self identified sex.
Gender - encompasses the social, psychological, cultural,
and behavioral dimensions related to being jidentified as male,
female, or any other gender identity in the society.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - defined gender as

socially constructed characteristics of a male and female in
references.
-Gender came from the latin ‘genus’ meaning kind, type or
sort.
-the legal status differentiated through social roles, behaviors,
capabilities, emotional, intellectual, and social characteristics of
men and women (Eviola, 1994)
GENDER IDENTITY
- refers to a personal identification with a particular gender
and genderrole in society.
- It is also ways in which individuals define themselves
as male, female, both or neither, which may or may not
be the same as their anatomical sex.
Femininity - social constructed and attributes to the set
of behaviors and ruoles typically associated with women or
girls in context.
MASCULINITY - attributes to men and boys which
trypically associated to various traits of men’s
characteristics such as strenghts, assertiveness,
courage, and competitiveness which is appropriate to
men.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF SEX
1. PRIMARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS
- These are biological features that are directly related to the
reproductive system nd are present from birth or develop during
puberty
• MALE PRIMARY SEX CHARACTERISRICS
- males includes the presence of testes, which produce sperm,
and the development of the peni and associated structures
FEMALE PRIMARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS
-the primary sex characteristics for females includes the presence of ovaries,
which produce eggs, and the development of uterus, fallopian tubes, and vagina.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF SEX
2. SECONDARY FEMALE SEX CHARACTERISTICS
-These caharacteristics develop during puberty and are not
directly involved in reproduction but help to distinguish males
from females.

MALE SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS

-for males include deepening of the voice, the growth of facial
and body hair, increased muscle mass, aand the enlargement of
the Adam’s apple.

FEMALE SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS

-for females include the development of breast, the widening of
hips, the growth of pubic and axillary hair, and the onset of
SEXUAL ORIENTATION another aspet of our gener pertains to our
emotional andsexual attraction to a person. According to the
Psychological Association of the Philippines, typicall ages 6 or 8,
we experience or develop attraction to other people.
Few common terms or labels for us to use.
HETEROSEXUALS (straight) - people who are attracted to the
opposite sex.
HOMOSEXUAL ( gay or sexual) - people who are attracted to
people of the same sex.
BISEXUAL or Bi - people who are attracted both sexes, male or
female.
LGBTQ refers to the lesbian gay, bisexual, and transgender.
APPRECIATOING DIVERSITY - According to the American
Psychological Association (APA) nature and naturture plays
complex role in shaping our sexual orientation. Homosexuality and
Heterosexuality are part of the human sexuality and is a large part
of the human experience.
-for others, it comes early in adoloscence while for some, it may
take time to understand and discover themselves.
- We xan only tell that a person is gay, lesbian, or bisexual if the
person shares with us his or her experience and feelings of
attraction towards them.
GENDER IDENTITY - one important aspet of our gender is our
sense of who we are. It refers to our gender identity, typicall males
are comfortable identifying as a man and females are comfortable
identifying as a woman.
TRANSGENDER - are male or female that are not feel comfortable
idetifying theirselves as male or female.
- theymay undergo gender reassignment surgeries to align their
physical characteristics to their gender identity.
PATRIARCHY - it is the structure that upholds male suprrmacy in
the law, at home, in the work place, and in society.
-it is a system based on the control and oppression of women
wherein they are perceived to be the weaker sex.
EGALITARIAN SYSTEM - philosophoical persoective that
emphasizes equality and equal treatment acrossgender, religion,
economic status, and political.
FRIEDRICH ENGELS - german philosopher and sociologist,
argues that patrarchy came about when people started having
private property instaed of communal living.

HISTORICAL VIEWS ON GENDER

GREEK - Aristotle, Plato and other Greek philosophers viewd
women as the inferior sex and properties of men whose only job
was to obey their husbands. Bear children and, and take care of the
household.
EGYPT - Herodutos, a Greek historian, observed the Egyptian
civilization citing that Egyptian women enjoyed higher social status
than Greek women because they can inherit property and engage
in trade in politics.
CHINA - confucianism has stringent written rukes that dictate how
women should conduct themselves. The written documents “Three
obedience’s and four virtues” and “Precepts of women” zzstates
that women should obey their father, when married shes is to obey
her husband, and when widowed she is to obey her son.
Women have come a long way since the ancient times through the
feminist movement. However, patriarchy has taken on subtle forms
of oppresssion that often go unnoticed such as:
SEXISM - prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination based on sex.
GENDER PAY GAP - men earn more that women
-underreprrsentation in politics, military, executive positions, etc.
-Rape on women and rhe stigma making women ashamed to report
the crime.
-Very conservative expectations on women on how they behave.
-unrealistic depictions of women in friction, often very sexualized:
-women do more housework and children:
-boys were trained to be leaders while women were trained to do
house chores.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
-During the 19th and 20th century, first-wave feminism spread
across western countriesn as women demanded for their right to
vote or participate in elections and to be able to legally own
property.
LE MOUVEMENT de Liberation des FEMMES or the
womens ,liberation movement was formed in europe - where
women sought the right to education, right to work, and right to vote
in the 1940’s.
The United Nations reports that women do more work than men
because even they work at the office, they are still expected to do
household chores/tasks.
UN states that -women performe 66 percent of worlds work,
prodece 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 of the incme and own 1
percent of the property.
To put simply, feminism demands equality. Here are few salient
points that femenism demands.
1. WOMEN SUFFRAGE - women were not allowed to vote before
becaise they were viewed as irrational and temperamental and
therefore, not able to make rational decisions.
2. EQUALITY IN POLITICS AND SOCIETY - for hundred of years,
women’s voice were silinced, so society must take an effort to
rstore their rights.
3. REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS - means the women is in control of
her body, and she can decide for herself on what she sees best for
her. Contraception, abortion and other reproductive options should
be available to women because its their body.
4. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE- such as marital raape, and physical
abuse are often dismissed by society as part of “marriage’.
Although we have RA 9262 or anti-violence against women and
their chikdren, our culture still dismiss such incidence as “AWAY
MAG ASAWA”
5. SEXUAL HARASSMENT and SEXUAL VIOLENCE
- The Center for Women’sResources in the Philippines estimates
that one women or child is raped every hour mostly by someone
6. Other rights include the right to divorce their husbands, the right
to make decisions on her pregnancy, equitable wages, and equal
employent opportunity.
LESSON 3: GENDER AND SEXUALITY AS SUBJECT OF INQUIRY
GENDER STUDIES - as an area of knowledge is about looking into,
analyzing, and examining society.
-it is not just for women or all about women, it is about everyone. It
explores how our gender roles have changed throughout our history
and how it created inequalities.
GENDER ROLE OR SEX ROLE - are ‘sets of culturally defined
behaviors such as masculinity and femininity’.
-According to the ENCYCLOPEDIA of SEX and GENDER (2009).
these roles are not fixed such that the “culturally defined behaviors”
for men and women may be vary differnet 50 years ago or very
different for people from other countries or tribe.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION - gender roles are socially constructed
and are not something that we are “born with”. A young boy is always
encouraged to be brave, to play rought, to be loud, and to not show
signs of weakngess such as crying.
-A young girl is discouraged from playing rough and being loud,
instead they are told to be gentle and soft.
GENDER EXPRESSION - the manner by which people express
themselves and behave. There are some people whose gender
expression does not match their gender identity and who are more
comfortable dressing up and presenting themselves as opposite
sex.
ASEXUAL - refers to the absence of physical or sexual attraction to another
human being. An asexual man or woman can have romantic, intellectual, oe
emotional attractions to other people but they do not engage in physical
sexual acts.
GAY - can refer to either gay males pr lesbians, gay males are identified men
who are eotionally, physically, romantically and or sexually attracted to people
who identify as male.
LESBIAN - a self identified female who is emotionall, physically, romantically,
and/or sexually attracted to people who identify as female.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people often do not fit in tradition
binary gender roles they are often reprimanded, bullied, and discriminated.
They are often subjected to violence and hate just because they do not fit in
what society call “NORMAL”
GENDER ATUDIES AND RESEARCH
- as a subject of inquiry, Gender Studies utilizes a systematic approach
in identifying problems, making hypotheses and assumptions,
gathering data, and making conclusions. This systematic process in
referred to as the research process.
APPROACHES IN RESARCH - qualitative approach focuses more
on the meanings created and interpretations made by people about
their own personal or vicarious (observed) experiences.
PHENOMENOLOGY - conducting intensive interviews which individual
who have experiemced a particular event and understanding their
“lived experience”.
HERMENEUTICS - understanding the meaning of texts (literary works,
art works) and what they conveyt about human realities:and
ETHNOGRAPPHY AND ETHNOMETHODOLOGY
- immersing and a community and taking note of their experiences,
beliefs, attitudes, and practices.

QUANTITATIVE APPROACH - on the other hand, focuses more on

characterizing a population total number of individual in a group or a
sample and in some cases, making generalizations about the population
based on the behavior of a sample.
SURVEY - collecting information from a sample: and
EXPERIMENT - creating actual set-ups to observe behavior of people in
an experimental group (a group receiving treatment such as training or a
new experience) and comparing it to the behavior of people in a control
group (a group without any treatment).
ETHICS IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY RESEARCH
-These principles are referred to as ethical principles because they make
sure that people involved in the research are protected from harm. Ethics
is a prerequisite to a properly conducted study.
The following are the principles to remember;
INFORMED CONSENT - researchers should make sure that the
participants in the study are aware of the purpose and processes of the
study they are participating in. They should also ensure that only those
participants who agree (in writing) will be included, and that they shall not
force any participant to join.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND ANONYMITY - researchers should not reveal
any information provided by the participants, much so, their identity to
anyone who are concerned with the study.
NON-MALIFECENCE AND BENEFICENCE - a study should do no harm
to anyone. Especially in researches involving humans, a study should be
beneficial for it to be worth implementing.
DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE - Any study should not be disadvantage a
particular group, especially the marginalized and the oppressed (e.g,.
poor people, women, LGBTQ, the elderly). The benefits of a study
should be for all.
GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND HUMAN ECOLOGY
Human ecology, as a field, recognizes the interplay among internal and
external environments-physical, socio-economic, cultural. Hence, to look
at realities from an ecological perspective is to appreciate that human
development across lifespan in influenced by these environment.
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS