Comprehensive Study Guide: Gender, Sex, and Gender Roles Across Global Contexts

Conceptual Foundations of Sex, Gender, and Gender Roles

• Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define and distinguish males from females. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) ($2014$), these characteristics are generally constant across different races, cultures, societies, and time periods.

• Gender refers to the social roles, behaviors, actions, and activities that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women. It is a social construct rather than a biological certainty.

• Gender Roles are the set of societal norms dictating the types of behaviors which are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on their actual or perceived sex. These are community-defined standards that determine how a person is expected to think, feel, and act as a man or a woman.

  • Traditional female roles often include preparing food, gathering water and fuel, and caring for children and partners.
  • Traditional male roles often involve working outside the home to support the family and parents in old age, as well as defending the family from danger.

Biological Characteristics and Physiological Determinations (Sex)

The biological nature of sex is determined at birth and includes specific physical attributes and genetic markers. These are categorized as follows:

• Male Biological Characteristics:

  • Presence of an Adam's apple.
  • Possession of testicles, a penis, and a scrotum.
  • Genetic makeup consisting of $XY$ chromosomes.
  • Presence of male hormones such as androgen and testosterone.

• Female Biological Characteristics:

  • Development of breasts.
  • Possession of a vagina and a uterus (bahay bata).
  • Genetic makeup consisting of $XX$ chromosomes.
  • Presence of female hormones such as estrogen and progesterone.
  • Biological capacity for menstruation and pregnancy.

Socio-Cultural Dimensions and Characteristics of Gender

Gender is viewed as a "social contract" based on social factors including intellectual, emotional, and social attributes assigned by culture. Key characteristics include:

• Learning Process: Gender roles are not innate; they are learned through social institutions such as the family, schools, mass media, religion, the state, and the workplace.
• Temporal Fluidity: Gender perceptions and roles can change over time as society evolves.
• Cultural Variation: Gender roles and expectations vary significantly between different cultures and societies.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE)

The distinctions between internal identity and external attraction are clarified through the SOGIE framework, as supported by organizations like GALANG and the Yogyakarta Principles ($2006$):

• Sexual Orientation: Refers to an individual's capacity for profound affectional, emotional, and sexual attraction to, and intimate relations with, individuals of a different gender, the same gender, or more than one gender.

  • Heterosexual: Attraction to individuals of the opposite sex.
  • Homosexual: Attraction to individuals of the same sex.
  • Bisexual: Attraction to both males and females (sometimes colloquially referred to as "AC-DC" or "silahis").
  • Asexual: Lack of sexual attraction to any gender.

• Gender Identity and Expression: Refers to each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned at birth. This includes the personal sense of the body and other expressions of gender, including dress, speech, and mannerisms.

  • Transgender: Individuals whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth (e.g., transwoman, transman).
  • Intersex: Individuals born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit typical binary definitions of female or male (formerly referred to as hermaphrodites).
  • Queer: Individuals whose sexual orientation or gender identity is not fixed, changes, or is not limited to two genders.

The LGBT Community: Terms and Symbols

The LGBT community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) utilizes specific icons and colors to represent identity and history:

• Historical Symbols:

  • Male: Represented by the spear and shield/arrow of Mars, reflecting the Greek association with warfare.
  • Female: Represented by the mirror of Venus, reflecting the Greek association with beauty.
  • LGBT: Represented by a combination of the male and female symbols.

• LGBT Pride Flag Color Meanings:

  • Red: Life and Sexuality
  • Orange: Healing and Friendship
  • Yellow: Vitality and Energy
  • Green: Serenity and Nature
  • Blue: Harmony and Artistry
  • Violet: Spirit and Gratitude

Historical Evolution of Gender Roles in the Philippines

• Pre-colonial Period:

  • Women could become government leaders but generally had lower recognized human rights in marriage.
  • Men were permitted to have multiple wives and could divorce them and reclaim property previously given to the woman.
  • The concept of the Babaylan existed, where male priests would often dress and act as women to please the gods.

• Spanish Period:

  • Women were expected to be proficient in household chores and maintain close ties to religion and the church.
  • Men were the primary breadwinners.
  • Women participated in revolutionary movements, with figures like Gabriela Silang emerging as heroes.

• American Period:

  • Significant shift toward equality in education for both sexes.
  • Women were granted the right to vote (suffrage).

• Japanese Period:

  • Both men and women participated actively in the resistance and combat during World War II.

• Contemporary Period:

  • Broad awareness of the equality of rights regardless of gender.

Gender Roles and Human Rights in Western Asia and Africa

Gender roles in these regions are often influenced by strict traditional laws, though changes have occurred recently:

• Saudi Arabia:

  • For a long time, women were prohibited from driving. Activists like Aziza Al Yousef and Eman Al-Nafjan were arrested and detained for defying this ban to advocate for women's rights.
  • In June $2018$, women were officially granted the right to drive under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
  • Despite this, strict guardianship laws still require women to get permission from male relatives for many basic decisions.
  • Women were granted the right to vote in Saudi Arabia in $2015$.

• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM):

  • WHO data indicates that $125$ million women and girls are victims of FGM across $29$ countries in Africa and Western Asia.
  • The process involves altering female genitalia without medical benefit, based on the belief it preserves a woman's purity until marriage.
  • Risks include infection, hemorrhaging, urinary problems, and death.

• Suffrage Timeline (Women's Right to Vote):

  • Syria: $1949$ and $1953$
  • Lebanon: $1952$
  • Egypt: $1956$
  • Tunisia: $1959$
  • Mauritania: $1961$
  • Algeria: $1962$
  • Morocco: $1963$
  • Libya: $1964$
  • Sudan: $1964$
  • Yemen: $1967$
  • Iraq: $1980$
  • Kuwait: $1985$ (withdrawn and restored in $2005$)
  • Oman: $1994$
  • Saudi Arabia: $2015$

• South Africa:

  • Reports of "corrective" gang-rape against lesbians based on the false belief that it could change their sexual orientation.

Cultural Anthropology of Gender in New Guinea

In $1931$, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Reo Fortune studied three distinct groups in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, discovering unique gender dynamics:

• Arapesh (meaning "people"):

  • Both men and women were nurturing, caring, peaceful, and cooperative.

• Mundugumor (also known as Biwat):

  • Both men and women were aggressive, brave, violent, and sought power/position.

• Tchambuli (also known as Chambri):

  • Roles were distinct and reversed compared to Western norms.
  • Women were dominant, provided food, and managed the family.
  • Men were preoccupied with self-decoration, grooming, and storytelling.

Questions & Discussion

1. What is the difference between Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGIE)? Sexual orientation refers to whom a person is attracted to (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual), while gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, or another gender, which may not match their sex at birth.

2. Does Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) have medical benefits? No, according to the WHO, FGM has no medical benefits and consistently leads to severe health complications and psychological trauma.

3. Why does FGM persist in some regions despite the risks? It persists due to deeply rooted cultural traditions and societal beliefs regarding female purity and marriageability.

4. Is there equality for the LGBT community in Africa and Western Asia? Evidence such as corrective rape in South Africa and strict laws in other nations suggest that the LGBT community still faces significant violence, discrimination, and lack of equal rights in these regions.

5. How are gender roles passed down in the Philippines? Gender roles are often passed from parents to children through differential treatment and by children observing and mimicking the behaviors, chores, and social interactions of their parents within the home and community.**