The document discusses gender socialization and the various social institutions that influence it, including family, peer groups, schools, media, and workplaces. It then examines sociological theories of gender, including structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and social conflict theory. Finally, it covers gender and development, gender awareness/sensitivity, and gender interests and needs.

1. CHAPTER 2
GENDER AS
SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTION

2. GENDER
SOCIALIZATION
 Process by which children
and adults learn from other
people.
 Process of learning and
internalizing culturally
approved ways of
thinking, feeling and
behaving.
 Teaches an individual the
gender-appropriate
behavior.

3. Various institutions in a
society are potent agents
towards gender
socialization:
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1. Family
 Plays an important role and has special responsibility in the socialization of a
child.
 The most influential group in the child’s life.
 Everything starts in the home, including socialization and gender orientation.
 Parents pass on to their children their beliefs about gender.
2. Peer Group
 Informal grouping of two or more members, more or less of the same
age,neighborhood or school.
 As children associate with their playmates and classmates, their concept
ofgender roles become more evident.
 The way their playmates behave and carry roles influences their perception
ofgender roles or identities.

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3. Church
 Provides for the spiritual and moral needs of the child.
 Help foster loving and harmonious relations with other in the family,
neighborhood, school and the wider community.
 Socialization continues as the individual joins church-based organizations or
ministries.
4. School
 Help the child to get along with other kids.
 Responsible for inculcating knowledge and skills, which prepare them for
adulthood and become productive and effective citizens of the country.
 Formal agency of weaning a child from home and introducing them to the
society.

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5. Mass media
 Function to inform, entertain, and educate.
 Designed to reach a large audience
 Influences our opinion on almost every issue that is
sometimes good and sometimes bad.
6. Workplace
 How one will fare out or work.
 Learn to socialize to a company’s norms and values.
 Eventually, there is commitment wherein the work becomes a
part of the person’s self-identity.
7. Legal systems
Children are pressured both parents and peers to conform and obey
certain laws or norms of the group/community

7. SOCIOLOGICAL
THEORIES OF
GENDER
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8. Structural
Functionalism
Symbolic
Interaction
Theory
Social
Conflict
Theory
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 Structural Functionalism
 Gender is a means of organizing society into distinct roles that complement each
other.
 Viewing the family as the most integral component of society, assumptions about
genderroles within marriage assume a prominent place in this perspective.
 Suggests that gender roles exist to maximize social efficiency.
 Symbolic Interaction Theory
 George Herbert Mead (1863–1931)
 Gender is produced and reinforced through daily interactions and the use of
symbols.
 Micro-level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a
society.
More focused on how gender is part of day to day life.
People act toward each other on the basis of the meanings they have for one
another.

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 Social Conflict Theory
 Society is defined by a struggle for dominance
among social groups that compete for scarce
resources.
 Gender is best understood as men attempting to
maintain power and privilege to the detriment of
women.
 Asserts that social problems occur when dominant
groups mistreat subordinate ones and thus advocates
for a balance of power between genders.

11. GENDER AND
DEVELOPMENT
HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
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Year 80’s
to 90’s
and up to
present
Year 70’s
to 80’s
Year 40’s
to 60’s

13. GENDER AWARENESS AND SENSITIVITY
GENDER AWARENESS
 Recognizes that the life
experiences, expectations and
needs of women and men are
different. (IGI Global)
 Ability to view society from the
perspective roles and understand
how this has affected women’s
needs in comparison to the needs
of men. (European Institute for
Gender Equality)
GENDER SENSITIVITY
 Act of being sensitive to the ways
people think about their gender.
 Aim of understanding and taking
account of the societal and cultural
factors involved inexclusion and
discrimination in the most diverse
spheres of public and private life.
 Helps to generate respect for the
individual regardless of sex.
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14. GENDER INTEREST AND NEEDS
GENDER INTEREST
 Interests that are developed by
men or women by ―virtue of their
social positioningthrough gender
attributes.‖ (Molyneux, 2001)

Gender interests are assumed by
many to be the same for all those
belonging to the same sex.
GENDER NEEDS
 What women or men require in order to improve
their position or status in regard to each other by
placing them in greater control of themselves
instead of limiting them to the restrictions
imposed by socially defined roles.
 Practical Gender Needs – concerned with
immediate needs for survival – nutrition,
living conditions, health care, and
employment.
 Strategic Gender Needs – needs that are
rooted in gender inequality – lack of political
representation, the unfair gender division of
labor, violence against women, and the
non-observance of equal pay
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15. MODULE 3:
GENDER AND
SOCIAL

16. WHAT IS A
SOCIAL
STRUCTUR
E

17. A. NATURE AND NOTION OF FAMILY
Nature of Family (characteristics)
• Family should be composed of husband, wife, children and
other extended family members such asgrandparents, aunts
and uncles.
• Family is a group of persons united by ties of marriage, blood or
adoption.
Notion of Family (ideas or beliefs)
• Family should be united especially in hard times, and should
support each other through thick andthin.

18. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ON FAMILY
Functionalism Theory
 views society as a
system of parts
working together to
maintain a social
balance.
 Families serve to
socialize children and
shape individuals' social
identities.
Conflict Theory
• society is
characterized by
conflict between
social groups.
• Families reinforce
class and gender
inequalities.
Symbolic Interactionism
Theory
 View of social behavior
that emphasizes
subjective
understanding and the
interactions of the
individual and society.
 Family is a unit that
shares understandings
of their various
situations.
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19. Gender Role
Assignment in
the Family

20.  Mothers actually see much virtue in being able to raise a family,
while maintaining a career atthe same time.
 Mothers should have their say, whether they are contributing
from a financial aspect, or evenfrom a parenting aspect.

Mothers stay at home, take care of the kids and got to read books,
visit neighbors and just relax.
 Father can no longer expect to be the sole authority in their homes.
 Father is the one doing the backbreaking work.

21.  Neither the husband nor the wife should feel that they
have the right to trump the other one’s authority.
 Men are no good when it comes to helping in the
kitchen.
 After women start a family, they are usually perceived
of the main caregiver for the family and the household.
 Women are working to fulfill the needs of the family in
order to live a comfortable life.
 Children do the housework and family time suffers
when both parents are absent from the house all day.