Gender - Introduction
Gender - Definition
Energia defines gender as "socially defined roles, privileges, attributes and relationships between men and women which are learned and not biologically determined”[1].
Sex roles i.e male, female and other are defined biologically while gender roles are defined by:
- socioeconomic factors (e.g. culture, traditions and poverty);
- natural and man-made disasters (e.g. war and famine);
- technical development (new machinery)
- religion and others[2].
Gender Roles
Gender roles can be defined as expectations based on one's sex[3]. For eg, male are expected to be masculine and display qualities such as strength and power whereas female are expected to be emotional and affectatione. Gender roles also extend towards the type of work i.e women are expected to do the houshold chores.
Gender roles are learned and they can as well as do vary with time. They can also vary within the same household[4]. For eg, a poor woman might have to do the household duties as well as work in the agricultural fields whereas a rich woman might have servants to do both the work. Also, a married woman might work in the house as well as look after the children while an unmarried woman might mostly help with the household duties.
Gender Mainstreaming
Gender gap refers to how men and women are affected differently by the socioeconomic,political and cultural factors. It does not exist in isolation in society but is a combination of the different factors[5]. Thus, gender mainstreaming is needed to address the gender gap and ensure that men and women benefit equally.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council has defined gender mainstreaming as “a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design,implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the policies and programmes in all
political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated” (UNDP, 2007a).
