GENDER AND SEXUALITY AS A SUBJECT OF INQUIRY

2. GENDER AND
SEXUALITY AS
SUBJECT OF
INQUIRY

3. DEFINITION OF TERMS
▪ Gender studies- a field of study concerned about how
reproductive roles are interpreted and negotiated in the society
through gender.
▪ Social Research- the process of investigating social realities.
▪ Research approach- the orientation in understanding social
realities.This can be qualitive (interpretive], quantitative
(deduction], or both.
▪ Ethics in research- these considerations in conducting research
to make sure that the well being of the participants are ensured,
and that the outcome or the study is sound without undue harm
to people involved.

4. INTRODUCTION
Gender seems so obvious and so simple, many would ask
why we have to study it.Well, gender studies as an area of
knowledge, is about looking into, analyzing, and examining
society so that we notice power relations in the seemingly
“simple things”. It helps us see the issues in our everyday
lives through a different lens.
Gender studies emerged from the need to analyze how
gender, sex, and sexuality impact our lives, especially how it
creates gender inequality. It came about in mid 1970’s after
the second wave of feminism as a way to challenge the male-
defined and male centered knowledge.

5. Gender role or sex role are “sets of culturally defined behaviors such
as masculinity and femininity” according to the Encyclopedia of Sex
and Gender (2019].These roles are not fixed such that the “culturally
defined behaviors” for men and women may be very different 50 years
ago or very different for people from other countries or tribe. In a
binary system of viewing of gender roles, we only see the male and
female where men are expected to be masculine while women are
expected to be feminine.
Gender studies is not just for women or all about men, it is about
everyone. Explores how our gender roles have changed throughout our
history and how it created inequalities. One hundred years ago, women
were not allowed to study at universities since their role was only
restricted to domestic or household.This repressed women’s potential
in the shaping the social and political landscape in the past, but it also
placed the burden on the men to provide for the whole family.

6. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Gender roles are socially constructed and are not something
that we are “born with”. Society, through a lifelong process of
normalization, encourages or reprimands behaviors to make
a child adapt to these social expectations.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people often do not
fit in the traditional binary gender roles so they are often
reprimanded, bullied, and discriminated.They are often
subjected to violence and hate just because they do not fit in
what society calls “normal”.

7. GENDER STUDIES AND
RESEARCH
Qualitative approach focuses more on the meanings created and interpretation
made by people about their own personal or observed experiences.
▪ phenomenology- conducting intensive interviews with individuals who have
experienced a particular event and understanding their “lived experience”;
▪ hermeneutics- understanding the meaning of texts (literary works, art works] and
what they convey about human realities; and
▪ ethnography or ethnomethodology- immersing in 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 (a sub- group within
the population], and in some cases, making generalization about the population based
on the behavior of a sample.
▪ survey- collecting information from a sample; and
▪ experiment- creating actual set- ups to observed behavior of people in an
experimental group and comparing it to the behavior of people in an control group.

8. ETHICS IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY
RESEARCH
▪ 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 also
should also ensure that only those participants who agree (in writing} will be included,
and that they shall not force any participants to join.
▪ Confidentiality and anonymity-Researchers should not reveal any information
provided by the participants, much so, their identity to anyone who are not concerned
with the study; all data gathered from the surveys or interviews should also be placed in
a secure location or filing system
▪ Non- maleficence 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 disadvantage a particular group, especially
the marginalized and the oppressed (e.g., poor people, women, LGBTQ+, and elderly}.
The benefits of the study should be for all.

9. GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND
HUMAN ECOLOGY
Human ecology; as a field, recognizes the interplay among
internal and externals environments- physical,
socio-economic, cultural. Hence to look at realities from an
ecological perspectives to appreciate that human
development across lifespan is influenced by this
environments. In the context of gender and sexuality, a
human ecological approach looks at human sexual lives
and experiences various levels and spheres of analysis.
first , it sees gender and sexuality as an organismic and
personal experience.

11. ASSESSMENT
1. According to the Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, what is Gender Role or Sex
Role?
2-4.Give at least 3 ethics in Gender and Sexuality Research.
5.What is the 2 approach of Gender studies and Research.
6-10.What is “normal” for society