Concepts of Gender – Key Terms

1. Gender Roles

• Definition: Social and cultural expectations of behaviors, tasks, and responsibilities assigned to men and women.
• Example: Women as caregivers, men as breadwinners.
• Key Point: Gender roles are socially constructed, not biologically fixed.

2. Gender Equality

• Definition: Equal status, rights, and opportunities for both men and women in all spheres of life.
• Goal: Ensure women and men enjoy the same freedoms and can achieve their full potential.
• Associated with: SDG-5 (Gender Equality), MDG-3 (Women Empowerment).

3. Gender Equity

• Definition: Fairness in treatment of women and men based on their respective needs.
• Important: Equity is the process that leads to the outcome of equality.
• Example: Providing scholarships for girls in rural areas to ensure equal access to education.

4. Gender Relations

• Definition: Power dynamics and social relationships between men and women.
• Key Focus: Who controls resources, makes decisions, and has influence in households and society.
• Result: Often lead to gender inequality.

5. Gender Balance

• Definition: Equal participation and representation of both genders in different sectors like politics, employment, leadership.
• Example: 33% reservation for women in local governance (Panchayati Raj).

6. Gender Bias

• Definition: Prejudice or favoritism toward one gender over another.
• Result: Discrimination in access to education, jobs, healthcare.
• Example: Assuming men are better at leadership than women.

7. Gender Blindness

• Definition: Ignoring gender differences and failing to recognize the impact of gender norms.
• Problem: Leads to ineffective policies that do not address the specific needs of women or men.

8. Gender Needs

Gender needs are of two types:

• i) Practical Gender Needs (PGN)
• Definition: Immediate needs related to women’s current roles and conditions.
• Examples: Water supply, cooking fuel, childcare, healthcare.
• Nature: Short-term, do not challenge existing gender roles.

• ii) Strategic Gender Needs (SGN)
• Definition: Long-term needs that challenge and change existing roles to achieve gender equality.
• Examples: Legal rights, access to education, political participation.
• Nature: Empowering and transformative.

🔍 Bonus Terms 

📝 Key Takeaways for Competitive Exams

• Gender ≠ Sex → Gender is social, sex is biological.
• Equity leads to Equality.
• Strategic needs = Long-term change, Practical needs = Daily survival.
• Gender mainstreaming is a strategy, gender equality is the goal.
• Empowering women is central to sustainable development.