2.3 Defining Gender

Gender refers to the different roles, rights, and responsibilities of men and women and the relations between them. Gender does not simply refer to women or men, but to the way their qualities, behaviours, and identities are determined through the process of socialization. Gender is generally associated with unequal power and access to choices and resources. The different positions of women and men are influenced by historical, religious, economic and cultural realities. These relations and responsibilities can and do change over time.

In this Guide, the use of the term gender also recognises the intersection of women’s experience of discrimination and violation of human rights not only on the basis of their gender but also from other power relations that result from race, ethnicity, caste, class, age, ability/disability, religion, and a multiplicity of other factors including whether they are indigenous.

Women and men are defined in different ways in different societies; the relations they share constitute what is known as gender relations. Gender relations constitute and are constructed by a range of institutions such as the family, legal systems, or the market. Gender relations are hierarchical relations of power between women and men and tend to disadvantage women. These hierarchies are often accepted as ‘natural’ but are socially determined relations, culturally based, and subject to change over time. Gender relations are dynamic, characterised by both conflict and co-operation, and mediated by other axes of stratification, including caste, class, age and marital status or position in the family.

Sex differences such as the ability to give birth are biologically determined and are different from socially prescribed gender roles.

Recognising the above, a gender analysis refers to a systematic way of looking at the different impacts of development on women and men. Gender analysis requires separating data by sex and understanding how labour is divided and valued. Gender analysis must be done at all stages of the development process; one must always ask how a particular activity, decision, or plan will affect women differently from men (Parker, 1993).