Gender and Gender Equality Concepts

Gender equality is one of the primary goals of many governments and international organizations, including being one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (specifically, SDG 5). During the past decades, the society has become more aware of gender inequality and as women have been given more voice, their concerns have come to the forefront of many public discussions and debates. In many of these discussions, often concepts are used by experts and academics, which are not clearly understood by the lay-people. However, if we want to move forward as a society and achieve gender equality, it’s critical to have common understanding of the gender concepts, as a necessary first step for changing mindsets and norms. Hence, this post is my attempt at describing some of the fundamental concepts regarding gender and gender equality in simple terms. The usual disclaimer also applies here: I am not an expert and this post is not comprehensive. If you think there are mistakes in the way I describe the concepts, please reach out to me and I will correct them.

Sex vs Gender vs Gender identity

Each person has three separate identities:

Sex- sum of biological and physical characteristics that determine whether someone is male, female or intersex.

Gender- roles, behaviors, attributes and activities that are ascribed by society at a given time, as appropriate for men and women (or different sexes). Hence, “gender” is socially constructed; it changes over time and across societies. Categories are normally ‘masculine’, ‘feminine’.

Gender identity- a person’s psychological identification as man, woman, or other gender identity (e.g. someone can be ‘gender fluid’, which means not having a fixed gender identity). This may or may not correspond to the person’s physiology or designated sex at birth.

These identities are different, but related. This is crucial to recognize because in our discussions, we often conflate them and use them inter-changeably.

Gender equality vs Gender equity

Gender equity- this is the process of being fair. To ensure fairness, special temporary measures may need to be taken to compensate for historical or systemic bias or discrimination (e.g. preferential recruitment of women for a role, given high gender imbalance in the past recruitment). Gender equity is a means to achieving gender equality.

Gender equality- this doesn’t mean men and women are the same, rather it means that they have equal opportunities and equal rights. Yeah, it’s that simple! Often “equality” is criticized for aiming for equal outcomes in all activities, or that in Western societies, women have all the same legal rights and opportunities as men. But gender equality is not achieved yet because many research still shows that women still face higher barriers due to conscious or unconscious bias in different fields.

For instance, an experiment was conducted in which participants watched an entrepreneurial pitch video of images relating to a new venture, narrated by the voice of the entrepreneur. Participants were randomly assigned to a group in which either a male or female voice narrated the pitch, which was otherwise identical. When a male voice pitched the venture, 68% of participants thought it was worthy of funding, compared to only 32% when pitched by a female voice.

So, how will we know when we have achieved gender equality? Of course, men and women are not identical and may have different preferences and abilities. Hence, gender equality doesn’t mean we must have a 50:50 balance of men and women in every profession purely for the sake of equal representation. But it is difficult to clearly know that gender equality has been achieved. The way I see it, gender equality will be achieved when no person will be discriminated against because of their gender and we will judge a person based on their merit. Sometimes, increasing representation of women also matters because girls can see other women as role models and pursue a traditionally male dominated field.

Women empowerment- it is an all-encompassing term, used to describe the process of giving women more power and control over their own lives. Women empowerment is also seen as a means to achieving gender equality.

Sexuality vs Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation refers to one’s profound emotional and sexual attraction to, and intimate/sexual relations with, individuals of different, same or both sexes.

Sexuality involves more than just sexual relations. It encompasses all of how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings.

Building blocks of gender

The three building blocks of gender are: Gender norms; Gender roles; Gender relations.

What is expected, allowed, and valued in a man’s or woman’s context? Why are they different?

Gender norms change across societies and times. So it is not something unchangeable, rather it is socially constructed.

Patriarchy- traditional way of organizing society where decision making of most areas of life are accepted to be the domain of men.

Heteronormativity- the standard of heterosexual behavior; that the only normal way to be sexual is to be heterosexual (sexual relation between opposite sexes).

Unequal power relations limit women’s:

• Choices and autonomy
• Access and control over resources and earnings
• Decision-making and participation
• Control over their sexuality

Social systems have perpetuated gender inequalities between men and women through gender stereotypes, gender discrimination and gender based violence.

Gender based violence (GBV) vs Violence against women and girls

Gender based violence refers to violence against people due to them not performing according to their gender norms (men and boys can also be victims of GBV).

While violence against women and girls refer to the nature of the violence (only girls and women can suffer).

New masculinity- it is breaking the connection between masculinity and violence. Traditional masculinity saw men as violent, dominant, bad in communication and absent in performing household responsibilities. But new masculinity emphasizes that men should be more cooperative than dominant, be better in communication, and share responsibilities in the household.

Gender socialization- it is the process of learning about gender roles and norms, since or even before birth. E.g. where boys and girls are allowed to play, gender specific toys, how they are held to different standards of behavior (“boys are boys, of course they are gonna fight”), how they may express their emotions (“girls are okay to cry, but boys don’t cry”).

Gender division of labour- gender norms determine how each society divides work among men and women, considered suitable for each sex. E.g. men are better equipped to be scientists and just 28% of the world’s researchers are women. However, we know that this is a gender stereotype. In South-eastern Europe, about 50% of scientists are women.

Often women have to perform several roles simultaneously and balance different demands of their time. But men can perform their roles separately. E.g. a working women have to simultaneously take care of the kids, think about work, do the household chores.

Gender inequality occurs not because of different things/ professions that different genders do, or because men are smarter than women. But because, the work performed by women are valued less and less monetarily compensated. We know this, because research has shown that when women in large numbers started to enter a previously male dominated field, they pay went down. This is one the main causes of the gender pay gap.

Gender Equality from Human Rights perspective

Gender equality is an essential component of universal human rights.

Human rights are rights/things to which you are entitled to, simply because you are a human being regardless of perceived sex or gender.

The Human-rights based approach on gender issues means recognizing that while both men and women have the same rights, human rights violations affect men, women, boys and girls differently. E.g. most of the victims of sex-trafficking are women and girls.

Gender mainstreaming

Gender mainstreaming is a globally accepted strategy for building gender equality and women’s empowerment into our work. It is a strategy to promote gender equality and not an end goal.

Key pieces of gender mainstreaming include:

• Using gender sensitive language
• Using gender and age disaggregated data for analysis (quantitative)
• Gender analysis (qualitative)
• Understanding the political/country context
• Consideration of women’s and men’s needs, rights, and priorities
• Ensuring women’s and men’s participation in decision-making

International Frameworks of Gender Equality

CSW- Commission on the status of women. It is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

CEDAW- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It is the international bill of rights for women.

The International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th every year!

If we understand the different concepts, we can participate in the societal conversations in an informed way. :)