GE ELECT 4:

GENDER AND
SOCIETY
=

CREATED BY:
C.O.I. - 2021
 A.

1. What percentage of the global workforce is female?

According to the data published in 2015, 49.6 percent included in Working-Age Population in
the Workforce are women while 76.1 percent are male. The percentage of women working has
risen from around 20 percent in 1900 to more than 57 percent today. And this percentage holds
for women who have children-even women who have children younger than six years old. (63.9
percent).

2. What is the gender balance in the world?

Gender Balance refers to a situation where both males and females have equal
opportunities and access to matters in all social institutions, namely, religions, economy,
education, culture, and polity. Gender balance is measured by gender parity which is the
statistical measure that provides a numerical value of the female-to-male or girl-to-boy ratio for
indicators such as income or education. Gender balance can aid in achieving gender equality,
but it is not the goal in and of itself. This concept recognizes that women and men have
different needs and power and that these differences should be identified and addressed to
rectify the imbalance between the sexes.

3. What is gender and how does it work?

Gender comes from the Latin word ‘genus,’ meaning kind or race, but gender is never just
about sex. Still, it varies by race, ethnicity, nation, class, and various other dimensions of social
life. Gender is used to describe the characteristic s of women and men that are socially
constructed, while sex refers to those biologically determined. People are born female or male,
but learn to be girls and boys who grow into women and men. This learned behavior makes up
gender identity and determines gender roles. It also includes norms, behaviors, and functions
associated with being a woman, man, girl, boy, and relationships. As a social construct, gender
varies from society to society and can change over time.
Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and
economic disparities; Gender shapes and divides power. Inequalities between men and women
are among the most persistent patterns in the distribution of power; Gender influences people’s
experience of and access to healthcare. Gender inequality and discrimination faced by women
and girls puts their health and wellbeing at risk. Women and girls often faced more significant
barriers than men and boys to accessing health information and services.
 4. Which country has the highest rate of employment?
According to OECD (2021), the highest employment rate country is Switzerland with a rate of 80 percent.

5. Which country has the lowest employment rate?

According to OECD (2021), the lowest employment rate country is South Africa with a rate of
30.8 percent.
 1. How does gender play a role in leadership?
Gender plays a significant role in defining leadership roles and

B.
determining the quality of services in organizations. In an essay written
by Yaquoub (2018), he stated that, leadership differences between men
and women play a significant role in running the affairs of an
organization. Society perceives men as better leaders than women in
various aspects despite the notable similarities in the execution of
assigned duties. Essentially, both men and women can implement
change and lead the subordinates in the organization to achieve the
established goals and objectives. The existing gender disparities have
an insignificant contribution to leadership and cannot be used to weigh
the ability of an individual to deliver the desired outcomes in an
enterprise. The underrepresentation of the women population in
leadership is not due to low confidence or the inability of women to
lead. Still, it is due to the stereotypical attachments that women cannot
produce influential leaders. Notably, to achieve a balanced gender
leadership, people should change the overall perception of women in
leadership and treat both genders equally.

2. How does gender inequality affect earning power?

According to Koester (2015), "gender shapes institutions and how they affect the distribution of power. Most political
and economic institutions, historically dominated by men, are tailored to (elite) men’s experience. They idealize
‘masculine’ forms of behavior and rely on men’s power over women. Therefore, these institutions tend to ‘lock in’ two
types of power - men’s power over women, and the power of the most ‘masculine’ men over everyone. Take political
parties. They are key gatekeepers for women’s political participation, but their male-dominated cultures often make
them inaccessible to women. In Burundi and Kosovo, for example, female politicians have complained that important
party decisions were taken in bars spaces women can’t access.”

3. What are main challenges for female leaders?

Today’s women now seek and obtain the highest leadership roles in education, professions, politics, and business.
Female leaders face challenges that many of their male counterparts don’t have an understanding of. In 2018, Forbes
listed 15 biggest challenges that women leaders face and how to overcome them. These 15 challenges are listed below:
Being treated equally in the workplace
Building a Sisterhood and garnering support from other women
Generating revenue
Being confident
Speaking Up
Building Alliances with decision- makers
Becoming a member of the C-Suite
Asking for Money
Standing in their success
Tackling Imposter Syndrome
Overcoming Perfectionism
Trusting their own voice
Shifting their word choice
Dealing with negative thoughts
Re-entering the paid workforce

4. What is the theory of gender and power?

The theory of gender and power was developed by Robert Connell. This structural theory is based on existing
philosophical writings of sexual inequality and gender and power balance. According to the theory of gender and power,
there are three social structures that characterize the gendered relationships between men and women: the sexual
division of labor, the sexual division of power, and the structure of cathexis.

5. What makes good leader?

Leadership refers to influencing the behavior of people in a manner that they strive willingly and enthusiastically
towards the achievement of group objectives. A good leader initiates action, provides motivation, provides guidance,
boosts confidence, builds a good working environment, coordinates with the organization, creates his/her successors,
and most importantly, induces change.
 C.
1. How does culture contribute to gender-based violence?
Cultural identities contain the histories of a people that include traditions, struggles,
achievements, and triumphs. Cultures nourish pride, resilience, belonging, intersectional identities,
and connection to the community. But culture is used to justify gender violence and inequality by
evoking traditional beliefs and practices about how women and girls should be treated. If culture
defines the spaces within which power is expressed and gender roles are enshrined, our
movement is here to push back. After all, some traditions and explanations do have an expiration
date and cultural DNA, just like individual DNA, changes with every generation.
The culture of gender-based violence and misogyny devalues women, girls, and LGBTQ
individuals; normalizes or minimizes abuse; claims GBV is accidental; ignores sexism; promotes
aggressive or even toxic masculinity; and uses men’s achievements to exonerate, excuse, and/or
deny the impact of their behavior. The cultures of ethnic and identity-specific communities
prescribe and maintain traditional, patriarchal gender norms and roles; define ‘transgressions’
from these norms; patrol the boundaries of what they deem is and is not culturally acceptable –
enforcing compliance by violence, coercion, pressure, rejection, or, as one gay survivor put it,
“death by a thousand paper cuts.” The cultures of systems can erect barriers to services and
resources, where race and gender bias compromise access to justice. Culture influences how
gender violence is viewed: minimized by society as an accidental problem, used as a convenient
explanation by communities, or linked to stereotyping by systems.

2. What is the root cause of gender-based violence?

There are many different definitions of gender-based violence (GBV). GBV can broadly be
defined as ‘…the general term used to capture violence that occurs as a result of the normative
role expectations associated with each gender, along with the unequal power relationships
between genders, within the context of a specific society.’ GBV occurs as a result of normative role
expectations and unequal power relationships between genders in society. The expectations
associated with each gender vary from society to society, but the patriarchal power structure is a
common factor. Male leadership is seen as the norm and men hold the majority of power.
Patriarchy is a social and political system that treats men as superior to women. In a patriarchal
society, women can’t protect their bodies from violence, meet their basic needs and participate
fully in society. Gender-based violence is a global problem with the same root cause – inequitable
gender norms.
3. What are the forms of gender violence?
There are many forms of GBV. GBV can be physical, sexual,
emotional, financial or structural and can be perpetrated by intimate
partners, acquaintances, strangers and institutions. The forms of GBV
include violence against women and girls, violence against LGBTI
people, intimate partner violence, domestic violence, sexual violence
and indirect (structural) violence.
Structural violence is described as violence that is built into structures,
appearing as unequal power relations, and consequently, as unequal
opportunities affecting certain groups, classes, genders or
nationalities of people. Political and social norms change can address
structural violence.
Intimate partner violence is the most common form of GBV. It
includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling
behaviors by a current or former intimate partner or spouse. Intimate
partner violence can happen in heterosexual or same-sex couples.
We know that GBV levels are high, but we don’t always have accurate
statistics due to many factors, including the fact that most incidents
aren’t reported. GBV is very high in South Africa compared with global
levels. On average, one in five South African women older than 18 has
experienced physical violence. Thousands of women and children are
psychologically harmed by GBV and suffer long-term trauma and
harm to their lives. The main drivers as shown by the available
statistics are intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual
violence. Gender-based violence permeates all structures of society –
political, economic and social -and is driven by entrenched patriarchy
and complex and intersectional power inequalities found in race, VIOLENCE
gender, class and sexuality.

4. How can we stop structural violence?

Prevention have vital role to eradicate and remove the root-causes
of structural violence. This include providing accessible information
about what structural violence is; Scaling up prevention efforts that
address unequal gender power relations as a root cause of gender-
based violence; Bringing gender-based violence clinical services to
lower-level health facilities; Addressing the needs of child survivors,
including interventions to disrupt the gender-based violence cycle;
Developing guidance for building systems to eliminate gender-based
violence:

5. What is the impact of gender-based violence?

Violence harms reproductive and child health. Gender-based
violence severely restricts women’s ability to exercise their
reproductive rights, with grave consequences for sexual and
reproductive health. The health consequences of violence against
women include injuries, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted
infections including HIV, urinary tract infections, fistula, genital injuries,
pregnancy complications, and chronic conditions.
D.
1. What is the purpose of GAD?
Gender and Development (GAD) – refers to the development
perspective and process that is participatory and empowering, equitable,
sustainable, free from violence, respectful of human rights, supportive of
self-determination and actualization of human potentials. It seeks to
achieve gender equality as a fundamental value that should be reflected
in development choices and contends that women are active agents of
development, not just passive recipients of development;

2. How does gender affect development?

Early childhood is the most important phase of development of a person’s life. This is when
cognitive, social and emotional skills are learned, influencing lifelong educational achievement, health,
and wellbeing. Gender discrimination and women’s low status are the root of women’s limited
autonomy and of denial of the rights to health and bodily integrity: when women suffer poor mental
and physical health and limited decision-making power this, in turn, impacts negatively on their
children’s survival, healthy growth and development. Gender discrimination together with son
preference mean that young girls receive less nutrition, opportunities to play and access early
learning than young boys. When young boys and girls are denied access to the opportunities, care
and services they need to thrive and develop to their full potential, this affects the rest of their lives.

3. Why is gender awareness important in our society today?

Gender awareness plays an important role in educating men and women about gender equality,
the benefits of a more gender-equal society and the consequences of gender inequality. Gender
awareness raising intends to change attitudes, behaviors and benefits that reinforce inequalities
between women and men.

4. How can you be benefited with GAD as a student?

School is one of the places, which shows gender issues. Many studies show different
discrimination matters, both boys and girls, and many amounts of adjustment are still needed if
equality between or equal opportunities, especially the strategies to be used. It is a big challenge for
teachers to cater to the different needs of the students. Sometimes teachers forget to give
importance to the gender of their students.
Students must feel welcome in a safe and secure learning environment regardless of their gender
identity. Gender and Development emphasize the need for curriculum changes executed in school.
Governments, schools, teachers, parents, and students all have a part in ensuring that schools are
free of violence and discrimination and provide gender-sensitive and good quality education.

5. At what age does gender identity develop?

Gender identity typically develops in stages:
At age around 2 years old: Children become concious of the physical differences between
boys and girls.
Before they turn 3: Most children can easily label themselves as either a boy or a girl.
By age 4: Most children have a stable sense of their gender identity.
When they reach adolescence: their development task is to form a sense of identity.
Adolescents learn what person they will be including their gender identity.
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