Training Manual on Gender Sensitivity and CEDAW

Unit One: Gender Sensitivity <strong>Training</strong>
gender system across culture and geographic locations is the difference in gender roles
that leads to a sexual division of labor.
Topic 3: Gender Roles, Stereotypes and Gender Ideology
This section will explore the relationship between and among gender roles, gender
stereotypes and gender ideology and why they are problematic.
1. SEX ROLES versus GENDER ROLES-
SEX ROLES refer to an occupation or biological function for which a necessary
qualification is to belong to one particular sex category. For example, pregnancy is a
female sex role because only members of the female sex may bear children.
GENDER ROLES ARE LEARNED BEHAVIORS IN A GIVEN SOCIETY / COMMUNITY,
OR OTHER SPECIAL GROUP that condition us to perceive certain activities, tasks
and responsibilities as male or female. In most present day societies, this sexual
division of labor is rooted in what is technically known as a production-reproduction
distinction.
2. Sexual Division of Labor and the Production-Reproduction Distinction - This is first
manifested at home then replicated in the work that men and women engage in
outside the home.
Production refers to the production of goods and services for exchange rather than for
personal or immediate consumption. These goods or services usually have a
corresponding fee, salary or economic value. This is considered a male sphere, and
generally known as the public sphere (e.g., construction work, factory work, office
work, etc.)
Reproduction refers to both biological reproduction and tasks usually associated with it
such as child rearing, housekeeping, etc. that are necessary for survival but given no
economic value. This is usually the women’s world, and often known simply as the
private sphere. Even when women work outside the home, their jobs are frequently a
replication of their tasks in the private sphere, such as domestic work and care giving.
However the identical work in the private sphere is not given any economic value.
3. What is problematic about Gender Roles and Sexual Division of Labor
Gender roles are roles that are usually classified by sex, where this classification is
social, and not biological. For example, if child rearing is classified as a female role, it
is a female gender role, not a female sex role, since men or women can do child
rearing.
The problem arises when gender roles are defined in terms of biology or sex instead
of using cultural or social terms. When roles are defined in terms of sex, they are
unchangeable, whereas when defined in terms of gender as cultural or social
constructs, roles can be changed and improved. It becomes a problem particularly
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