CHAPTER 8: GENDER
INTERESTS AND NEEDS
PREPARED BY: FER GRACE CATAYLO NIAGA
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• 1. IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GENDER INTERESTS AND NEEDS;
• 2. GIVE EXAMPLES OF GENDER NEEDS AND EXPLAIN HOW POLICY CAN BE MADE
RESPONSIVE TO THESE NEEDS; AND
• 3. DISCOVER HIS OR HER OWN STRATEGIC AND PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS.
PRE-WORK FOR THE CHAPTER
• THINK ABOUT YOUR NEEDS AS A PERSON. MAKE A LIST OF THESE BASIC NEEDS
AND FIND OUT HOW SOCIETY RESPONDS TO THEM.
• DO WOMEN HAVE PARTICULAR NEEDS IN WHICH THE PHILIPPINES SOCIETY MUST
BE SUPPORTIVE OF?
GENDER INTERESTS AND NEEDS IN
DEVELOPMENT:
• EMPOWERMENT OF WOMAN, ESPECIALLY THE POOR AND MARGINALIZED, IS
CRUCIAL TO SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. SIMILARLY, IMPORTANCE
MUST ALSO BE GIVEN TO CARE ORIENTED OR SOCIALIZED FEMININE VALUES.
THE CHALLENGE NOW LIES IN THE STRUCTURES OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.
HOWEVER, VARYING POLICIES AND PROGRAMS ARE OFTEN IMPOSED ON WOMEN
IN THE DISCOURSE OF FORMAL ECONOMIC SYSTEMS. WOMEN’S ROLES ARE
STILL SHAPED BY DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES THAT SOMEHOW DO NOT
UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT OR RATIONALE OF THE WOMEN FROM THE
GRASSROOTS.
GENDER INTERESTS:
• GENDER ISSUES ARE ASSUMED BY MANY TO BE THE SAME FOR ALL THOSE BELONGING TO THE SAME
SEX. THIS NOTION ALSO APPLIES TO THE GENDER INTERESTS OF WOMEN: THEIR GENDER INTERESTS
ARE PRESUMED TO BE ONE AND THE SAME BECAUSE THEY SHARE SIMILAR BIOLOGICAL
CHARACTERISTICS. HOWEVER, THIS VIEW DISCOUNTS WOMEN’S SOCIALIZED GENDER ROLES. MAXINE
MOLYNEUX, A FEMINIST OFTEN QUOTED FOR HER IDEAS ON GENDER INTERESTS IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS, DEFINES GENDER INTERESTS AS INTERESTS THAT ARE DEVELOPED BY MEN OR WOMEN
BY VIRTUE OF THEIR SOCIAL POSITIONING THROUGH GENDER ATTRIBUTES. PLANNERS TRANSLATE
GENDER INTERESTS INTO IDENTIFIABLE AND CONCRETE GENDER NEEDS. GENDER INTERESTS ARE
CONSIDERED PRIORITIZED GENDER CONCERNS WHILE GENDER NEEDS ARE MEANS BY WHICH THEIR
CONCERNS MAY BE SATISFIED. GENDER INTEREST ARE FURTHER DIFFERENTIATED INTO EITHER
PRACTICAL OR STRATEGIC DEPENDING ON HOW THESE GENDER INTERESTS ARE ADDRESSED.
GENDER NEEDS: PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS
• WHILE GENDER INTERESTS ARE IMPORTANT IN GENDER ANALYSIS, THESE INTERESTS SHOULD
BE TRANSLATED INTO NEEDS IN GENDER PLANNING. SIMILAR TO GENDER INTERESTS, GENDER
NEEDS ARE OF TWO TYPES: PRACTICAL AND STRATEGIC. PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS, IN TERMS
OF PLANNING, ARE NOT NECESSARILY FEMINIST IN CONTENT. PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS ARE
CONCERNED WITH WOMEN’S IMMEDIATE NEEDS FOR SURVIVAL NUTRITION, LIVING
CONDITIONS, HEALTH CARE, AND EMPLOYMENT. THESE NEEDS ARE FORMULATED FROM
WOMEN’S LIVED EXPERIENCES, ARE IMMEDIATELY PERCEIVED NECESSITIES, AND RE IDENTIFIED
BY WOMEN THEMSELVES IN THEIR SPECIFIC CONTEXT. THEY ARE BASED ON THE EXISTING
GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR: THE NEEDS OF WOMEN AS MOTHERS AND WIVES ACCORDING TO
THEIR SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED ROLES IN THEIR SOCIETY.
GENDER NEEDS: PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS
• WOMEN’S PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS OFTEN INVOLVE THEIR ROLES IN THE
HOUSEHOLDS AS PRIMARY AGENTS IN THE REPRODUCTIVE SPHERE. THESE
ROLES MAY INCLUDE CHILD CARE, FOOD PROVISION, HOUSEWORK, AND OFTEN
AUGMENTED INCOME FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. MUCH OF THE PRACTICAL GENDER
NEEDS THAT DEVELOPMENT PLANNERS TARGET INVOLVE THESE DOMESTIC
ROLES. POLICIES AND PROGRAMS CAN REINFORCE THESE SOCIALIZED GENDER
ROLES OR NUTRITION REINFORCES THE STATUS OF WOMEN AS CAREGIVERS AND
EARNERS. IT ALSO EXCLUDES MEN FROM THE CARE WORK FOR THEIR FAMILIES.
THE STATEMENT THAT PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS, SUCH AS ACCESS TO WATER,
CHILD CARE, AND NUTRITION, ARE WOMEN’S NEEDS OBSCURES THE TRUE
WOMEN-SPECIFIC NEEDS MANY WOMEN FACE.
GENDER NEEDS: PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS
• ACCESS TO WATER AND PROPER NUTRITION ARE UNIVERSAL NEEDS. HOWEVER, MASKING
THESE NEEDS UNDER THE GUISE OF “WOMEN NEEDS” MAY DISTRACT WOMEN FROM THEIR
TRUE NEED: GENDER EQUALITY. MEANWHILE, STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS ARE WOMEN
IDENTIFY NEEDS BECAUSE OF THEIR SUBORDINATE POSITION TO MEN IN THEIR SOCIETY.
THESE NEEDS ARE DIFFERENT FROM WOMEN’S PRACTICAL GENDER NEEDS BECAUSE THEY
GO BEYOND ACCEPTANCE OF THE EXISTING GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR, FOCUSING MORE
ON THE ATTAINMENT OF GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT. STRATEGIC
GENDER INTERESTS CONFRONT ISSUES THAT ARE AT THE HEART OF THE FEMINIST
MOVEMENT: GENDER INEQUALITY, GENDER JUSTICE, AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT.
ADDRESSING THESE INTERESTS MAY BRING ABOUT CHANGE AND EMPOWERMENT.
STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS
• STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS ARE THOSE THAT STEM FROM A WOMAN’S
STRATEGIC GENDER INTEREST DUE TO HER SOCIALIZED GENDER ROLE AS A
WOMAN: ONE WHO HAS SUBORDINATE POSITION IN THE SOCIETY. THESE ARE
NEEDS THAT ARE ROOTED IN GENDER INEQUALITY LACK OF POLITICAL
REPRESENTATION, THE UNFAIR GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR, VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN, AND THE NON-OBSERVANCE OF EQUAL PAY. IF A WOMAN’S
GENDER INTEREST IS THAT OF GENDER EQUALITY, AND THE ISSUE TACKLED
CONCERNS DOMESTICS VIOLENCE, THEN THE GENDER NEED INVOLVES THE
CREATION OF LAWS THAT COULD PROTECT WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
ACTIVITY: DETERMINING YOUR GENDER
NEEDS
• REFLECT ON YOUR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCE WHAT ARE YOUR • GO BACK TO THE NEEDS YOU LISTED FOR YOURSELF.
CURRENT NEEDS FOR SURVIVAL?
• DO THEY FALL UNDER STRATEGIC OR PRACTICAL
• LIST DOWN FIVE TO TEN OF THESE NEEDS
GENDER NEEDS?
• NOW THINK OF THE NEEDS YOU HAVE BASED ON THE GENDER
IDENTITY YOU HAVE CHOSEN, AND THE GENDER ROLES THAT
• HOW DIFFERENT ARE THE NEEDS OF THE PERSON YOU
SOCIETY HAS PLACED ON YOU. INTERVIEWED FROM YOUR OWN NEEDS?
• LIST DOWN FIVE TO TEN OF THESE NEEDS. • WHAT FACTORS MAY HAVE INFLUENCED THIS
• SPEAK TO A WOMAN FROM A MARGINALIZED SECTOR. DIFFERENCE?
• ASK HER NEEDS BASED ON GENDER. THEN ASK HER WHAT SHE • COMPARE THE STRATEGIC GENDER INTERESTS OF THE
THINKS SHE NEEDS TO SURVIVE DAILY. WOMAN ABOVE FROM YOURS.
• LIST DOWN HER NEEDS FOR SURVIVAL AND CATEGORIZE THEM • HOW DIFFERENT OR SIMILAR ARE THESE INTERESTS
INTO EITHER PRACTICAL OR STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS.
FROM ONE ANOTHER?
CHALLENGES FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF
GENDER NEEDS IN THE PHILIPPINES:
• THE PHILIPPINES ENACTS GENDER MAINSTREAMING OR THE STRATEGY FOR THE INCLUSION OF A
GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN ALL POLICIES AND PROGRAMS. HOWEVER, PHILIPPINE GENDER
LITERATURE ONLY ASSUMES TWO GENDERS (MALE AND FEMALE), AND THAT ONE’S SEX IS THE
SAME AS ONE’S GENDER ( BIOLOGICALLY MALE PERSONS ARE ALL MASCULINE; BIOLOGICALLY
FEMALE PERSONS ARE ALL FEMININE). THIS THINKING IGNORES THE EXISTENCE OF LGBT
PERSONS, OR PERSONS WHO DO NOT FALL CATEGORICALLY INTO MASCULINE OR FEMININE ROLES.
ANOTHER CONCERN IS THAT GENDER NEEDS ARE EQUATED TO WOMEN SPECIFIC, PRACTICAL, AND
STRATEGIC GENDER NEEDS. CONFUSION ALSO ARISES BECAUSE GENDER AND WOMEN ARE NOT
DEFINED IN PRIMARY GENDER MAINSTREAMING TEXT SUCH AS THE MAGNA CARTA OF WOMEN.
THIS ASSUMED HOMOGENEITY ALSO DISREGARDS LGBT PERSONS GENDER NEEDS.
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. DIFFERENTIATE GENDER INTERESTS FROM GENDER NEEDS. HOW ARE THEY RELATED TO
ONE ANOTHER? GIVE TWO EXAMPLES FOR EACH.
2. WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO DISTINGUISH “GENDER INTERESTS” FROM “WOMEN’S INTERESTS”?
3. IDENTIFY THE TWO CATEGORIES OF GENDER INTERESTS ACCORDING TO MOSER. WHAT ARE
THE FOCAL THEMES IN EACH CATEGORY OD GENDER INTEREST?
4. WHAT IS GENDER MAINSTREAMING? WHAT FACTORS HINDER TRUE GENDER INCLUSION IN
THE PHILIPPINES?
5. HOW CAN POLICYMAKERS CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF GENDER EQUALITY AND
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT?