UNIT 8: Key Ideas Related to Sex, Gender and Gender Roles
UNIT 8: Gender
Now that you have been able to think about the ways that girls and boys can be influenced by the expectations of other people, let us summarise some key ideas about sex, gender and gender roles in society.
What do we mean when we refer to a learner’s ‘sex’?:
- ‘Sex’ refers to the physical/biological differences between males and females
- It is determined by biology and birth
- It does not change naturally throughout your lifetime
- It is closely linked to hormones in the body
What do we mean by ‘gender’?
- Gender is built up and constructed by society
- It is made by society’s expectations about the roles and the behaviours that boys/men and girls/women are expected to have; these are ‘gender norms’
- It is learned – it is not biological
- it can change continuously depending on society’s expectations
- It can differ through time and in different contexts
What do we mean by ‘gender roles’?
Gender roles are related to what girls/women and boys/men are expected to do, and are based on the rules in a community or a society which most people never challenge and which are adopted as a result of:
- family upbringing
- levels of education
- the influence of the media
- the culture of the community/society/country
- the norms and what believed to be appropriate and acceptable
So, cultural context, customs, traditions and behaviours all work to keep gender norms from changing. As a teacher you must make sure that all of your learners are included and supported to make the best progress possible; this will include you thinking about any biases or challenges that might arise from the cultural context, customs, traditions and behaviours that your learners experience and finding ways to avoid these from impacting on your learners.