Gender Equality Is a Myth
International NGO Journal Vol. 2 (1), pp. 001-005, January 2007 Available online at http:// www.academicjournals.org/INGOJ © 2007 Academic Journals
Article
Dispelling the misconceptions and myths about gender
Dumisani Nyalunga
Corresponding author’s E-mail: dumisanin@ddpdurban.org.za
Accepted 04 January 4, 2007
Prelude This paper seeks to clarify the meaning of the terms that are associated with gender, and equally so to unpack the concept of gender itself and elucidate the fact that gender is not tantamount to women and that it does not exclusively cater for women issues and concerns but that of men as well. It is therefore the principal objective of this essay to demystify the ill informed perceptions and misconceptions that seem to equate gender to sex, and to further illustrate that the differences that continue to exist between men and women are only socially, and culturally fabricated. "The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie --deliberate, contrived and dishonest --- but the myth --persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." (John F. Kennedy) The usage of gender The general usage of the term gender is relatively new. It increasingly became a buzz word in the late 1960s and 1970s, and became fashionable in professional disciplines such as the social sciences. The ‘term came to serve a useful purpose in distinguishing those aspects of life that were more easily attributed or understood to be 1 of social rather than biological origin’ . Robert .A. LeVine reiterates that studies of women and gender have proliferated in the Anthropological literature since 1970, providing new opportunities to consider old problems in the light of more adequate data and to find more sophisticated ways of conceptualizing gender differences as social, 2 cultural and psychological phenomena . To work effectively on gender issues it is imperative that we clarify and understand the related concepts of gender, sex and equality. Gender is a concept which is widely used but
Article
Dispelling the misconceptions and myths about gender
Dumisani Nyalunga
Corresponding author’s E-mail: dumisanin@ddpdurban.org.za
Accepted 04 January 4, 2007
Prelude This paper seeks to clarify the meaning of the terms that are associated with gender, and equally so to unpack the concept of gender itself and elucidate the fact that gender is not tantamount to women and that it does not exclusively cater for women issues and concerns but that of men as well. It is therefore the principal objective of this essay to demystify the ill informed perceptions and misconceptions that seem to equate gender to sex, and to further illustrate that the differences that continue to exist between men and women are only socially, and culturally fabricated. "The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie --deliberate, contrived and dishonest --- but the myth --persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." (John F. Kennedy) The usage of gender The general usage of the term gender is relatively new. It increasingly became a buzz word in the late 1960s and 1970s, and became fashionable in professional disciplines such as the social sciences. The ‘term came to serve a useful purpose in distinguishing those aspects of life that were more easily attributed or understood to be 1 of social rather than biological origin’ . Robert .A. LeVine reiterates that studies of women and gender have proliferated in the Anthropological literature since 1970, providing new opportunities to consider old problems in the light of more adequate data and to find more sophisticated ways of conceptualizing gender differences as social, 2 cultural and psychological phenomena . To work effectively on gender issues it is imperative that we clarify and understand the related concepts of gender, sex and equality. Gender is a concept which is widely used but