The in-depth understanding is a first key to culture change. The way a gender system works can also be applied to other variables such as race, class, age, ethnicity, etc.
Gender systems are established in socio-cultural and economic contexts that determine what is expected, what is allowed and valued in a woman / man / girl / boy in particular times and geographical and social contexts. Socialization processes teach gender roles, and the latter are institutionalized by education systems, political and economic systems, legislation, culture, norms, and values.
Studying gender focuses not only on the behavior of individual women and men, but on the system that determines responsibilities, choices, access to and control over resources, and decision-making. The choices that individuals make are less individual than is spontaneously assumed. The expectations and pressure of the environment play a major role, often unconsciously.
Studying gender focuses not only on the behavior of individual women and men, but on the system that determines responsibilities, choices, access to and control over resources, and decision-making. The choices that individuals make are less individual than is spontaneously assumed. The expectations and pressure of the environment play a major role, often unconsciously.
Fundamental gender literacy and the competence to acquire, process and engage with information concerning gender as part of the identity, is essential to understanding the implications of one’s own gender, building relationships with others, framing messaging around this, and gaining freedom in the decision-making process in the determination of your identity.
