CSS Gender Studies key facts
Every chapter of CSS Gender Studies on one page: the 84 key facts, definitions and facts to remember, in syllabus order. Use it for a last look before a test, then check yourself.
Concepts and theory
Sex, gender and gender roles
- Gender roles: the tasks and behaviour a society treats as proper for women and for men.
- Gender stereotype: a fixed, over-simple belief about all women or all men.
- Gender identity: a person's own inner sense of their gender.
- Patriarchy: men hold primary authority in the family, the economy and politics. Matriarchy: women hold that authority.
- Matrilineal means descent and inheritance run through the mother's line. Patrilineal means through the father's line.
- Sexual division of labour: different work is given to women and men because of their sex.
- Productive work earns income. Reproductive work is the unpaid care of home and family.
History of feminism and the women's movements
- 1791: Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen. 1792: Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
- 1848: Seneca Falls Convention, organised by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott; it adopted the Declaration of Sentiments.
- 1893: New Zealand gave women the vote in national elections.
- 1903: Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (the suffragettes).
- Britain: limited vote for women in 1918, equal terms with men in 1928. USA: Nineteenth Amendment, 1920.
- 1929: Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own. 1949: Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex.
- 1963: Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique. 1966: National Organization for Women (NOW) founded.
Feminist theories
- Liberal: equal rights through legal reform and education (Wollstonecraft, J. S. Mill, Friedan).
- Radical: patriarchy is the root cause (Kate Millett, Sexual Politics, 1970); slogan 'the personal is political'.
- Marxist/socialist: capitalism and class; Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884).
- Postmodern: gender is performative, not a fixed identity (Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, 1990).
- Intersectionality: term coined by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989.
- Eco-feminism: term coined by Francoise d'Eaubonne in 1974; links the domination of women and of nature.
- Islamic feminism: seeks gender justice by rereading the Quran within an Islamic framework (Amina Wadud, Qur'an and Woman, 1992).
Masculinity and gender in society
- Connell, Masculinities (1995): hegemonic, complicit, subordinated and marginalised masculinities.
- Complicit masculinity: men who do not fit the ideal but still benefit from men's advantage.
- Male gender role: provider and protector who hides weakness; the male breadwinner model has the husband earning and the wife keeping the home.
- The family is the first agent of gender socialisation.
- Hidden curriculum: unwritten messages in school life that teach gender roles.
- Symbolic annihilation (Gaye Tuchman): the media under-represent women and show them in narrow roles.
- Social learning theory (Albert Bandura): children learn roles by observing and imitating models, with reinforcement.
Gender, development and rights
Gender, work and the economy
- Gender pay gap = (men's average earnings − women's average earnings) ÷ men's average earnings × 100.
- GDI (Gender-related Development Index, 1995): the HDI dimensions of health, knowledge and living standards, adjusted for gender gaps. Since 2014 the Gender Development Index is the ratio of female HDI to male HDI.
- GEM (Gender Empowerment Measure, 1995): women's share of political and economic decision-making and of income.
- GII (Gender Inequality Index, 2010): reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market; 0 means equality and 1 means the greatest inequality.
- GII reproductive health indicators: maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rate.
- Female labour force participation rate: women of working age who are employed or seeking work ÷ all women of working age.
- ILO Convention No. 100 (1951): equal remuneration for work of equal value.
Gender and development approaches
- Ester Boserup, Woman's Role in Economic Development (1970): the starting point of WID.
- WAD draws on Marxist and dependency theory.
- Gender mainstreaming: assessing the effect of every policy and programme on women and men; adopted as the global strategy at Beijing in 1995.
- Practical gender needs ease daily life in existing roles (water, health care). Strategic gender needs change women's position (legal rights, a voice in decisions).
- Caroline Moser's triple role of women: reproductive, productive and community managing.
- Gender audit: a check on whether an organisation's policies, staffing and practice reflect gender equality.
- Gender budgeting: analysing a budget for its different effects on women and men. Australia issued the first Women's Budget Statement in 1984.
International conventions and conferences
- World Conferences on Women: Mexico City 1975, Copenhagen 1980, Nairobi 1985, Beijing 1995.
- CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; adopted 1979, in force 1981.
- States parties report to the CEDAW Committee at least every four years.
- Optional Protocol to CEDAW (1999): individuals or groups may complain to the Committee.
- Nairobi 1985 closed the Decade and adopted the Forward-looking Strategies.
- UN Women: created by the General Assembly in 2010 by merging four UN bodies, including UNIFEM.
- SDG 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, by 2030. International Women's Day: 8 March.
Women's rights in Islam
- Mahr (dower): a payment due from the husband to the wife; it is her own property.
- Marriage is a contract that needs the free consent of both bride and groom.
- Nafaqa: the husband's duty to maintain his wife. Khula: the wife's right to seek dissolution of the marriage by returning the mahr or other consideration.
- Inheritance of children: the son's share is twice the daughter's share (Surah An-Nisa).
- A woman's property and earnings remain her own after marriage.
- A hadith states that seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim; Hazrat Aisha (RA) was a leading narrator of hadith.
- Wa'd: the pre-Islamic burial of infant girls, condemned in the Quran. The number of wives was limited to four, on condition of just treatment.
Women in Pakistan
Constitutional and legal status of women in Pakistan
- Article 25: all citizens are equal before law; no discrimination on the basis of sex; 25(3) permits special provisions for women and children.
- Article 27: no discrimination in appointment to the service of Pakistan. Article 34: full participation of women in national life. Article 35: protection of marriage, family, mother and child.
- MFLO 1961: compulsory registration of marriages; written permission of the Arbitration Council for a second marriage.
- MFLO 1961: talaq takes effect 90 days after notice to the Chairman of the Union Council; section 4 gives the children of a deceased son or daughter a share in the estate.
- Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939: grounds on which a wife may obtain a court decree of dissolution.
- Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act 2006: amended the Hudood Ordinances of 1979 and returned rape to the Pakistan Penal Code.
- Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010: public and private organisations; inquiry committee of three with at least one woman.
Violence against women
- Economic abuse: controlling income or stopping a partner from earning. Psychological abuse: insults, threats and isolation without physical contact.
- Sexual harassment: unwelcome sexual conduct that harms a person's work or dignity.
- Karo kari (Sindh): the killing of a couple accused of an illicit relationship, in the name of honour.
- Swara (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and vani (Punjab): giving a girl in marriage to settle a feud.
- Trafficking involves exploitation through force, fraud or deception; smuggling is helping a person cross a border illegally.
- Dar-ul-Aman: a government shelter for women in danger or distress.
- West Pakistan Family Courts Act 1964: family courts for disputes on marriage, dower, maintenance and custody.
Women's political participation and the women's movement in Pakistan
- Fatima Jinnah: a dentist by profession, honoured as Madar-e-Millat (Mother of the Nation).
- APWA (All Pakistan Women's Association): founded in 1949 by Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan.
- Begum Shaista Ikramullah and Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz were the women members of the first Constituent Assembly; Ikramullah wrote From Purdah to Parliament.
- 1970: first national general election on universal adult franchise.
- WAF: a voluntary, non-governmental advocacy group of the early 1980s.
- Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister in 1988, the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority country.
- 2002 arrangements: 60 seats reserved for women in a National Assembly of 342.
Education, health and employment of women in Pakistan
- Maternal mortality ratio = maternal deaths ÷ live births × 100,000.
- Leading direct causes of maternal death: haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders and sepsis.
- Lady Health Worker Programme (mid-1990s): women community health workers visit homes to give basic maternal and child health care.
- Millennium Development Goal 5: improve maternal health.
- Rural women care for livestock, plant, weed, harvest and process crops, mostly as unpaid family helpers without land title.
- Informal sector: irregular pay, no contract, no legal or social protection.
- Formal-sector jobs for women are concentrated in teaching and health care.