Gender and Development Concepts

Gender and Development Concepts

Module 3 builds on the importance of gender to World Vision’s work in sustainable development and on the importance of understanding a community’s theological perceptions of gender dynamics (Modules 1 and 2).

In this module, activities encourage increased awareness of historical dimensions of gender dynamics and the urgency and scope of current work in GAD. Participants learn essential concepts of Gender and Development, including the difference between “sex” and “gender”, the importance of understanding gender roles, the shift from “Women in Development” to “Gender and Development” (WID to GAD), empowerment  and women’s triple workload (three types of work: reproductive, productive and community), as well as practical versus strategic gender needs.

Most importantly, these concepts are linked to participants’ engagement in Area Development Programmes (ADPs) and communities.

 

Session Descriptions

1. Sex and Gender Roles

This session explores gender roles in light of participants’ own experience and cultural conditioning, as well as the importance of gender roles in GAD work. Distinguishing between “sex” and “gender” further clarifies the difference between aspects of our lives that are socially conditioned and those that are gender-related biological imperatives.

2. The Road from WID to GAD: Key Definitions for Gender and Development

Following the road from WID to GAD illumines reasons that gender dynamics have such a profound effect on the well-being of women and men, boys and girls. Presentations focus on differences in the WID and GAD approaches as development practitioners work with a community in problem analysis, as well as definitions of goals, solutions and strategies.

3. Practical Gender Needs and Strategic Gender Needs

This essential concept in GAD training is presented and discussed with the entire group participating. Using a worksheet to identify Practical Gender Needs (PGNs) and Strategic Gender Needs (SGNs), participants then work individually with a list of needs to determine which would be categorised as strategic and which categorised as practical. Because this concept is expressed in technical language, the session closes with participants’ construction of natural language (community language) expressions of these needs.

4. Women’s Triple Role: Productive, Reproductive and Community Work

After distinguishing between these three categories of work, participants work in small groups to develop a matrix analysing types of work present in their communities. Both gender needs (strategic or practical) and types of work are considered.

The session closes with discussion of the value of consistent technical definitions for GAD, as well as emphasis on recognising these concepts when expressed differently by ADP and community members.

1. Sex and Gender Roles

Objectives

(Estimated Session Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes)

 

Session Flow and Description

 
Introduction - 10 minutes

 

Plenary Group Presentation - 15 minutes

Handout 3.1a, Sex and Gender Roles

Include

 

Small Groups: Differentiating Between Gender and Sex Roles - 15 minutes

Small Group Discussion Questions

 
Plenary Group - 15 minutes

Ask the small groups to share insights from their discussions.

 

Plenary Group: Seeing the Difference Between Gender and Sex Roles - 20 minutes

Handout 3.1b and Activity 3.1a

Discussion Questions

Small Group Discussion – Handout 3.1c

Divide the group into three or four small groups. Have them take turns reading the stories presented in Handout 3.1c and discuss implications. Why did a specific focus on gender roles affect the outcome? How did it impact the outcome?

Post-Session Assignment: Becoming a Gender Equity Witness - 5 minutes
 
Materials

Handouts and Activities

 
Facilitator Preparation

 

Sex and Gender Roles

Sex and Gender

GAD theory proposes to transform gender relations so that women and men benefit equally from development projects. The concept that gender roles are socially determined and can, therefore, be changed is central to this goal.

To avoid confusion, the term “sex” is defined to mean the biological differences between men and women. “Gender” refers to the social relationships between men and women that vary from one society to another and at different points in history. Gender roles, therefore, are learned from the time of birth and are reinforced by parents, teachers, peers and society. These gender roles are based on the way a society is organised and also vary by age, class, and ethnic group.

Gender Roles

Division of labour in societies illustrates both biological and gender differences. Men are often responsible for activities that require their physical strength, such as house building. Because only women can bear children, many societies use this biological role as the basis on which to allocate other roles. Such related roles often include caring for children and domestic chores.

According to current development theory, most communities recognise three distinct types of work: reproduction, production and community management. A survey of this widely used theory and the part gender roles play in each type of work is included in Session 3.4. In brief, this theory identifies reproductive roles as all tasks related to the household. Production includes tasks or work done for pay, in cash or in kind. Community management roles include activities such as organising a religious festival or participating in community groups and politics.

In differentiating between “sex” and “gender”, it is useful to explore different cultural perspectives on gender roles to see how these are socially conditioned. “Socially conditioned” need not imply that no natural differences exist between men and women. There are differences, and these are open for discussion. Nevertheless in many societies, roles considered innate and natural to one gender or the other often are actually culturally determined.

An interesting example of the difference between particular European and African concepts of gender roles: colonial British culture considered women weaker than men, both physically and intellectually. Women were thought to be fragile and, therefore, were not permitted strenuous activity, such as working in fields. When the British colonised the Port of Natal in South Africa, they were in need of men to work on their sugar cane farms. But Natal was made up of mostly Zulus, who had developed different gender roles. In Zulu culture, as in many African cultures, women do the agricultural work. The British colonialists could not persuade the Zulu men to work on their farms, and their cultural ideas about women engaging in strenuous physical activity would not permit them to have women work in the fields. So the British brought over men from India to work in the sugar cane fields, and now the population of the city of Durban in Natal is more than a quarter Indian. The British considered women too weak for agricultural work, and Zulu men considered themselves too “manly” to work in the fields. Different assumptions about women’s “natural qualities” led to different gender roles.

In the mid-1800s, early in what is now called the “women’s movement”, American culture considered women to be “morally superior” to men. Just as men were thought to have greater physical capacity, women were thought to possess greater moral capacity. Because women were assumed to be morally upright (unless considered “corrupted”), the presence of women among men was thought to “civilise” otherwise unruly men. Arguments for granting women’s rights were sometimes based on this moral superiority, to bring moderation and peace to politics and public discourse. These ideas no longer hold sway over most Americans, which illustrates how gender roles change over time even within the same culture.

Contrasting Sex and Gender Roles

SEX GENDER
Biological Socially constructed set of roles and responsibilities
Born with Not born with
Natural Learned
Universal  Cultural
Cannot be changed Can be changed
No variation from culture to culture or time to time Variation from culture to culture and time to time
No variation from culture to culture or time to time Variation from culture to culture and time to time

Example:

Only women can give birth

Example:

Women prove able to do traditionally male jobs as well as men

Women Construction Site Workers:

The Power of Photographs in Empowerment

Karoline Davis

Historically, women have been employed as unskilled workers in construction sites in India. In New Delhi, during 1997, the following story illumined both the reality the women face and the potential for change.

At a resettlement colony, female migrant labourers and construction site workers were hired and paid as unskilled workers. Men hired as “skilled labourers” got free time during their working hours for smoking breaks, and the “unskilled” women were expected to take over the men’s responsibilities while they were on break. Photos of women performing these skilled jobs were taken by a development worker in a local NGO and became the seed for a positive spiral of change.

This is how it happened. The female workers of a women’s association approached an NGO for funds to build drainage for their community. As women’s wages are always less than wages men receive, women frequently don’t realise their full potential. In this case, the proposal they submitted included wages for men’s skilled labour. The development worker who took the photos of the women doing skilled jobs was reviewing the proposal, recognised what was happening and asked them to revise the proposal and include a “women only” team to do the drainage job. The women lacked confidence and felt it would be impossible for them to construct the drainage without the skilled labour of men. This is where the photos came back into the story! The development worker showed the pictures of women doing the skilled labour and insisted again on a “women only” proposal.

She gave the women 15 days to decide what they were going to do. To her surprise, she heard nothing for 13 days. It took them a full 14 days to gain the confidence to submit a new proposal. Were they successful? Yes! Thirteen years later, the Indira Nagar resettlement colony still has the benefit of a drainage system built by this “women only” construction crew.

Changing roles in post-disaster scenarios

More recently, gender-focused programming significantly affected Muslim women’s roles in Indonesia. Patricio Cuevas-Parra, World Vision’s Humanitarian Protection, Peacebuilding and Advocacy Manager, reported, “In the months after the tsunami, you would find few women in training or community meetings. Most people, including community leaders and local NGO workers, said integrating women in these activities was a waste of time and money because they could not influence their own communities. They added that NGOs could not change the local culture of the male- dominated society. Some months later there has been noticeable change. Women are participating actively in different stages of the humanitarian response. In workshops there are equal numbers of men and women. In communities, women are taking active roles, and in many cases they are the first to express their opinions and discuss the problems that they face.

Sex or Gender?

Mark each of the following statements as true of SEX (S) or GENDER (G).


 Women can become pregnant; men can impregnate.

Childcare is the responsibility of women; men should be concerned with other work.

Women do the majority of agricultural work in African countries.

Women usually are paid less than men for the same work.

Women can breast-feed babies; men can bottle-feed babies.

2. The Road from WID to GAD: Key Differences for Gender and Development

Objectives

(Estimated Session Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes)

Session Flow and Description - 15 minutes

Introduction

Plenary Group Presentation - 25 minutes

Handout 3.2a, The Road from WID to GAD

Include:

Discussion Question

Small Group Discussion - 20 minutes

Activity 3.2a, Basic Differences Between WID and GAD

Discussion Questions

Plenary Group Presentation - 15 minutes

Handout 3.2b, Essential Gender and Development Definitions

Include definitions of:

Pairs or small groups - 10 minutes

Ask pairs or small groups to list three examples of gender equity and three examples of gender equality to share with the group.

Plenary Group Presentation - 10 minutes

  • Close this session with examples from the small groups. In each case, determine whether the example has the appropriate focus and make any modifications if necessary.

  • Use each of the GAD definitions in a sentence. Ask participants for an additional sentence using each definition.

Post-Session Assignment: Becoming a Gender Equity Witness - 5 minutes

Materials

Handouts and Activities

Facilitator Preparation

The Road from WID to GAD

Women in Development Theory and Approach

One result of the world’s attention to women’s issues in the 1970s was emergence of an approach to social change called “Women in Development” (WID). The theory was based on new evidence that development affected women differently than men, and often harmed women instead of benefiting them. Development workers proposed that women were an untapped resource, able to contribute to economic development if allowed into the process. This new theory attempted to take women into account when planning programmes, and generated many projects focused specifically on women.

As WID became a part of mainstream development theory and practise, several criticisms arose. One pointed out that when women were integrated into pre-existing development projects, social structures that reinforced their inequalities were never challenged. The approach also focused more on women’s productive work, without considering their additional social and reproductive responsibilities.

So a project might offer women a chance to start a small business enterprise, but with their burden of household chores, they did not have free time available to become involved.

Proponents of WID argued for legal reforms abolishing all discriminatory laws and policies. Women must be accorded legal equality with men, according to WID, and it was believed that once this even and level playing field was created or established, women would be able to assume positions of equality. Levelling the playing field meant that women must be accorded equal access with men to education, employment, credit and other resources. The WID approach facilitated identification of inequalities in the content of laws and is, thereby, one of the drivers of legal reform in recent decades.

The main weakness of the WID approach proved to be its assumption that if legal equality exists, factual equality will follow. In fact, formal or legal equality did not of itself yield social or factual equality. Another difficulty in the WID approach was that it took little or no account of women’s special needs – focusing on frameworks rather than on mechanisms of implementation and practicalities of daily life. Employing the WID approach left women’s lived realities in social, legal and cultural contexts unexplored. Bereft of women’s actual needs, expectations and experiences, exclusive employment of the WID approach left the great diversities of societies, women and customs unexplored.21

Gender and Development Theory and Approach

The “Gender and Development” approach (GAD) emerged as a response to WID deficiencies.

GAD looks at development dynamically – at the relationship between men and women – rather than maintaining a narrower focus on women. GAD examines how relationships and structures at both household and community levels affect women and men differently.

For example, a project might be intended to increase girls’ educational levels in a particular area.

If regional culture places a low value on girls, in holistic terms, and expects them to marry at an early age, these educational efforts may fail until or unless the community comes to consider education for girls to be essential. Informed by the GAD approach, a project’s strategy may adapt to include a focus on changing cultural attitudes through educating parents about the benefits of sending their daughters to school. Rather than focusing solely on girls involved in the project, as WID would, GAD takes into account family members’ attitudes and the broader community’s cultural practises.

GAD views women as change agents, not merely recipients of development

GAD attempts to address inequality as a by- product of the gender construct. Based on the definition of gender as socially constructed, and, therefore, able to be socially de-constructed,

GAD proposes to influence society to change its attitudes towards women through massive structural changes that benefit both men and women. GAD links the relations of production to the relations of reproduction, taking particular challenges and responsibilities of women’s lives into account.22

21 Kebokile Dengu-Zvobgo, et al., Inheritance in Zimbabwe: Law, Customs and Practice (Harare, Zimbabwe: Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Trust, 1994), pp.17-18.

22 Dengu-Zvobgo, et al., Inheritance in Zimbabwe, pp. 20-21.

Projects based on a GAD approach involve encouraging women to bring about positive change for the entire community through women’s organisations and activism. GAD puts less emphasis on legislating for gender equality and more emphasis on empowering women themselves to work to change and transform structures that contributed to their subordination.23

“Development is viewed as a complex process involving the social, economic, political and cultural betterment of individuals and of society itself. Betterment in this sense means the ability of the society and its members to meet the physical, emotional and creative needs of the population at a historically acceptable level. In examining the impact of economic development (planned or unplanned) on any particular society or group within a society, proponents of the Gender and Development approach ask the question: who benefits, who loses, what trade-offs have been made, and what is the resultant balance of rights and obligations, power and privilege between men and women, and between given social groups.”

Basic Differences Between WID and GAD


Women in Development

(WID)


Gender and Development

(GAD)


Focus
  • Women
  • Relations between women and men


Problem
  • The exclusion of women (half of productive resources) from the development process
  • Unequal relations of power (rich and poor, women and men) that prevent equitable development and women’s full participation


Goal
  • More efficient, effective development
  • Equitable, sustainable development with women and men as decision makers


Solution
  • Integrate women into the existing development process
  • Empower the disadvantaged and women
  • Transform unequal relations


Strategies
  • Women’s projects
  • Women’s components
  • Integrated projects
  • Increasing productivity among women
  • Increasing income for women
  • Increasing ability of women to look after the household
  • Identifying/addressing practical needs determined by women and men to improve their condition
  • At the same time, addressing women’s strategic interests
  • Addressing strategic interests of the poor through people-centered development

Essential Gender and Development Definitions

Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men in distribution of resources and benefits. This involves recognition of inequality and requires measures to work towards equality of women and men. Gender Analysis is necessary for gender equity.

Gender equality is a Transformational Development goal. It is understood to mean that women and men enjoy the same status on political, social, economic and cultural levels. It exists when women and men have equal rights, opportunities and status.

Gender equity is the process that leads to gender equality.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

GENDER
Socially learned roles and responsibilities assigned to women and men in a given culture and the societal structures that support these roles.

GENDER EQUALITY
A Transformational Development goal. It is understood to mean that women and men enjoy the same status on political, social, economic and cultural levels. It exists when women and men have equal rights, opportunities and status.

GENDER EQUITY
The condition of fairness in relations between women and men, leading to a situation in which each has equal status, rights, levels of responsibility and access to power and resources.

GENDER-SENSITIVE
Being aware of differences between women’s and men’s needs, roles, responsibilities and constraints.

GENDER ANALYSIS
An organised approach for considering gender issues through the entire process of programme or organisational development. The purpose of GenderAnalysis is to ensure that development projects and programmes fully incorporate roles, needs and participation of women and men. Gender Analysis requires separating data and information by sex (known as disaggregated data) and understanding how labour, roles, needs and participation are divided and valued according to sex (whether one is a man or a woman). Gender Analysis is done at all stages of development projects.

GENDER INTEGRATION
Gender integration is an organic process, akin to a living tree. At the root of the process is political will. An organisation with strong political will, like a tree with strong roots, can support three vital branches: technical capacity, accountability, and a positive organisational culture. Integrating gender into an organisation’s activities and structures has both external and internal implications. Externally, gender integration fosters participation of and benefits to women and men in an organisation’s initiatives or services. Internally, gender integration promotes women’s leadership and equality in an organisation’s own policies and structures.

GENDER MAINSTREAMING
Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It refers to a strategy for making women’s and men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of design and implementation, monitoring and evaluating policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women can benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.

3. Practical Gender Needs and Strategic Gender Needs

Objectives

(Estimated Session Time: 1 hour)

Session Flow and Description 10 minutes

Introduction - 10 minutes

Plenary Group Presentation - 20 minutes

Handout 3.3a, Practical Gender Needs and Strategic Gender Needs

Include:

Discussion Questions

Individual Exercise - 10 minutes

Examine the list of gender needs generated at the beginning of the session on the flip chart. Identify needs as PGN or SGN. Be prepared to explain why. If no SGNs were identified, list some.

Plenary Group Discussion - 15 minutes

Go over the list and ask for volunteers to identify each as a PGN or an SGN based on their individual exercises.

Discussion Questions

Post-Session Assignment: Becoming a Gender Equity Witness - 5 minutes
Handouts

Facilitator Preparation

Practical Gender Needs and Strategic Gender Needs
Practical Gender Needs (PGNs Strategic Gender Needs (SGNs)
  • PGNs are needs women identify in their socially accepted roles in society. PGNs do not challenge gender divisions of labour or women’s subordinate position in society, although arising out of them. PGNs are a response to immediate perceived necessity, defined within a specific context. They are practical in nature and often are concerned with inadequacies in living conditions, such as water provision, health care and employment.
  • SGNs are needs women identify because of their subordinate position to men in their society. SGNs vary according to particular contexts. They relate to gender divisions of labour, power and control, and may include such issues as legal rights, domestic violence, equal wages, and health care. Meeting SGNs helps women achieve greater equality. It also alters existing roles and, therefore, challenges women’s subordinate positions.
  • Tend to be immediate, short term
  • Tend to be long term
  • Unique to particular women
  • Common to almost all women
  • Relate to daily needs: food, housing, income, healthy children, etc.
  • Relate to disadvantaged position: subordination, lack of resources and education, vulnerability to poverty and violence, etc.
  • Easily identifiable by women
  • Neither basis of disadvantage nor potential for change is necessarily easily identifiable by women
  • Can be addressed by provision of specific inputs: food, hand pumps, clinic, etc.
  • Can be addressed by consciousness raising, increasing self-confidence, education, strengthening women’s organisations, political mobilisation, etc.

Addressing PGNs Addressing SGNs
  • Tends to involve women as beneficiaries and perhaps as participants
  • Involves women as agents of change or enables women to become agents of change
  • Can improve the condition of women’s lives
  • Can improve the position of women in society
  • Generally does not alter traditional roles and relationships
  • Can empower women and transform relationships

4. Women's Triple Role: Productive, Reproductive and Community Work

Objectives

(Estimated Session Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes)

Session Flow and Description 

Introduction - 10 minutes

Plenary Group Presentation - 20 minutes

Handout 3.4a, The Three Types of Work Include characteristics and examples of:

Discussion Question

Present Activity 3.4a, Women’s Triple Role and Practical and Strategic Gender Needs

 
Small Group Work - 20 minutes

Activity 3.4b, Gender Roles and Needs in Your Community

Plenary Group Debriefing - 20 minutes

Importance of clear definitions in Gender Analysis and GAD

Discussion Questions


Individual Work - 5 minutes

Create a worksheet for yourself that allows you to analyse types of work you do during the next week.

Post-Session Assignment: Becoming a Gender Equity Witness - 5 minutes

 

Materials

Handouts and Activities

Facilitator Preparation

 

The Three Types of Work

Productive Work

Productive work involves producing goods and services for consumption and trade (farming, fishing, employment and self-employment). When people are asked what they do, their response most often relates to productive work, especially work that is paid or which generates income. Both women and men can be involved in productive activities, but for the most part, functions and responsibilities will differ according to the gender division of labour.

Women’s productive work is often less visible and less valued than men’s.

Reproductive Work

Reproductive work involves care and maintenance of the household and its memb rs – including bearing and caring for children, food preparation, water and fuel collection, shopping, housekeeping, and family health care. Reproductive work is crucial to human survival, yet is seldom considered “real work”. In poor communities, reproductive work is for the most part manual – labour-intensive and time- consuming. It is almost always the responsibility of women and girls.

Community Work

Community work involves the collective organisation of social events and services: ceremonies and celebrations, community improvement activities, participation in groups and organisations, local political activities, and so on. This type of work is seldom considered in economic analyses of communities. However, it involves considerable volunteer time and is important for the spiritual and cultural development of communities and as a vehicle for community organisation and self- determination. Both women and men engage in community activities, although a gender division of labour also prevails here.

Women, men, boys and girls are likely to be involved in all three areas of work. In many societies, however, women do almost all of the reproductive and much of the productive work. Any intervention in one area will affect the other areas. Women’s workload can prevent them from participating in development projects. When they do participate, extra time spent farming, producing, training or meeting means less time for other tasks, such as childcare or food preparation.

 

Women’s Triple Role and Practical and Strategic Gender Needs

Activity: Go through the following chart and analyse as a group the roles and needs each intervention addresses. Mark whether the intervention addresses any of women’s roles (reproductive, productive, community managing) or needs (practical gender needs or strategic gender needs). Each intervention may include one role or need, or all of them. Debate the answers and refer to the handout.

Intervention

P

R

CM

PG

SGN


  • Employment

a) Skills training for women:
Making cakes for the family Making dresses for sale Carpentry







  • Basic Services

a) A new creche/nursery:

In the community

In the mother’s workplace In the father’s workplace






b) Housing ownership:

In the man’s name

In the woman’s name







c) Health clinic in a community where women work during the day:

Open in the morning

Open in the afternoon/evening






P=productive CM=community managing PGN=practical gender need R=reproductive SGN=strategic gender need


Gender Roles and Needs in Your Community

This activity asks you to list specific roles and needs of women and girls in your community. This intentional focus is important as we are examining roles that have been invisible or unexamined for a long time. Understanding their roles will facilitate discussion and changed behaviours that can lead to transformed gender relations.

Consider these examples:

Women’s productive roles in your community may include raising vegetables to sell for profit. If project strategies to aid women include agricultural training or the building of market stalls, keep in mind ways to reduce the already heavy burden of the women’s workload.

Practical gender needs may include a need for a water source closer to the village. Project strategies to address this need might include a new well.

The last row asks you to think about strategies that address both practical and strategic needs. An example might include creation of a health clinic and training of women as nurses, which would meet both a practical need for health care and a strategic need for education and employment opportunities. The project column may include past, present or future ideas.

Gender roles and needs

Gender roles and needs in your community

Project strategies to address these roles and needs



Productive





Reproductive




Community Managing



Practical Gender Needs



Strategic Gender Needs



Practical and Strategic Gender Needs