Ch. 18 Journal

Gender and Development

"The distinction between (biological) sex and gender (with social and cultural origin) was increasingly being put into operation to challenge the existing social norms and positioning of men and women. This led to the problematizing of gender relations and the ways in which they impact development policies themselves. This approach, known as GAD (gender and development) has been taken forward and applied to a range of development policies and practices" (p. 390).

I think the distinction is important because it does have a different emphasis. It has shifted from "Women in development" (WID) to "Gender and Development" (GAD). Feminists in the 1970s wanted to challenge whether the category of women created a barrier that excluded them from development processes and they wanted institutions to rethink gender in the bigger context of development. Feminists and gender advocates saw that it was wrong to integrate gender into development planning by contextual interpretation of women's needs" based on her biological sex. It was time to rethink things and see them in terms of social and cultural contexts.

It's important for women of the North and the South to team up together to "achieve quality and dignity in their domestic lives as well as safety and respect" (p. 387).

The book says that there is a link between women and nature, and the 'ecofeminist' idea values motherhood as a very spiritual and a very productive calling. This concept is called "Women, environment and development" (WED).

Basically, we need to restructure the way we perceive gender and women's issues. Instead of separating the roles of men and women, we need to see both roles in the context of development, to see their social, cultural and economic relations as working towards a better and equal world. This means that we cannot ignore the 'masculinity' of men and men's role in development as well. With this restructuring, policy interventions require a gender analysis. GAD is a broader approach to address inequality in which men AND women both are partners in development.

Summary:
WED- highlights relationship women have with environment as main users and managers of natural resources
WID- focuses on women
GAD- focuses on gender relations and resource activities
gender mainstreaming- analyzing gender in all aspects of development, not only in women or women's issues and the insistence that gender issues should be placed at the heart of all development policies and practices.