The International Development Program At The University Of Ottawa Under The Supervision Of Dr. Rebecca Tiessen

Over the course of history, gender inequalities have been a prevalent issue amongst countries around the world. The notion, women are inferior to men has shaped their treatment in all aspects of life. Women were subjected to a patriarchal role in society, the men worked and women took care of domestics to some degree greater or lesser depending the country they resided in. In the late 19th and early 20th century women started rising up against male dominated societies in feminist movements. These movements were campaigns and reform plans to combat issues of equal pay, sexual violence, and denial of suffrage, reproductive rights, equal job opportunities and property rights. Thus observing women in Great Britain and Saudi Arabia today one can see how the role women play in society has dramatically changed from 1800s till now.

In both 1984 and in today’s world, women are negatively impacted by the standards society sets, known as gender roles. “Gender roles and gender equality--over the past 23 years these two terms have been accepted and utilised in government and non-governmental platforms, formal and informal policies, plans of action, programmes, and social discussions” (Edu-Twelimona

Gender is an often a contentious term, feminist scholars have introduced this vital term to the language of international relations. Since its inception, gender is most prominent in distinguishing the differences between male and female, however it has articulated different interpretations by both parties in different realms of thought. The duration of this paper will help to explore the different definitions of gender and its associations with the practices of war. This paper will look into how power is used as a gendering tool to exert ones dominance over the other, with a close look at how rape is used as a tactical tool for warfare. As society portrays women as vulnerable, helpless victims, this paper seeks to look into how power can influence women as the perpetrator but also an option for resolution in conflict.

Men’s participation at home seems to be an important underlying factor in order to achieve more gender equality. Yet this factor is not included in the major gender equality indexes. “The level of men’s participation at home has an effect on society as a whole.” Also, the fact that both men and some women still consider gender equality a feminist cause, something primarily for the benefit of women, leave men wanting to stray away from the topic. Positive effects on men are more often attributed to men’s own accomplishments. One reason for this understanding may be that both research and the public debate on gender equality primarily revolve around women. It is sometimes referred to it as the “gender trap”. At international conferences, it often takes only two minutes until the discussion is all about

The Evidence Base is There: New initiatives and programs to engage men and boys in gender equality provides a growing body of evidence that confirms it is possible to change men’s gender-related attitudes and practices. Effective programs and processes have led men and boys to stand up against violence and for gender equality in both their personal lives and their communities. These initiatives not only help deconstruct harmful masculinities, but reconstruct more gender equitable ones. Global research makes it increasingly clear that working with men and boys can reduce violence, improve relationships, strengthen the work of the women’s movement, improve health outcomes of women and men, girls and boys, and that it is possible to accelerate this change through deliberate interventions.

For many years, society’s view of gender was a simple matter of assigning the appropriate roles for both men and women. In this way, they are defined in an important way based on their gender. However, many studies over the last decade have altered society’s view by showing how gender is a cultural invention. These studies have also demonstrated how men and women are shaped by the culture and environment they’re born into and that what is expected of them may differ from what we deem to be appropriate in our culture. In today’s world, we still are dealing with the same problems that we were hundreds of years ago. These problems being equal rights between men and women, along with breaking away from societal norms revolving around what is expected

In recorded history both men and women have been assigned different roles in society, called gender roles, and while the contribution of both genders is important women were not, and still are not, perceived as equal when compared to men. In recent history, beginning in the early 19th century, there have been monumental strides toward gender equality and while the movement for equality and women's rights is heading in a positive direction there is still a lot that needs to be accomplished before full and complete equality between the sexes is reached.

As movements such as feminism have been advancing throughout the last century or so, people are led to question what exactly defines the sexes, and the result of that line of thinking is surprisingly detailed gender roles, and, all too often, oppression of both sexes in different ways. It is all too easy to see the impact of these defining roles on women (take into consideration the wage gap, endless marketing of products to increase the sex appeal of women, and sexist phrases such as “hits like a girl”), but it is not terribly difficult to see different expectations forced on men (less involvement in the home, the stereotypical male superhero physique, degrading remarks like “be a man”). Both men and women

And although Shahina Amin states that ‘[they] are neck and neck with other contingent and other units as far as professionalism and dedication’, a male counterpart states that he ‘could tell […] in ten minutes they were not ready to be deployed’ in the trailer of the documentary ‘A journey a 1000 miles’ (Gandbhir and Obaid-Chinoy, 2015). This corroborates the argument that women are primarily called to save the UN reputation rather than achieving gender equality in peacekeeping force (Simić, 2010). The female unit is enacted to be an active agent of gender mainstreaming, decreasing sexual offence committed by male colleagues (Simić, 2010).The idea in itself embodies essentialist depiction of women, seen as more pacifying than men, creating another self-defeating outcomes (Simić, 2010). The Bangladeshi troop actually undermined gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping forces, as they reinforced gender

In this week’s readings I noticed a mention about the notion of women as “natural” peacemakers, which I took an interest in. In a previous class, we talked about masculinities and how gender specific characteristics can affect the peacebuilding process in different ways. In the journal, Women and the Art of Peacemaking, I read that there were Israeli-Palestinian workshops held that focused on changes in the political activity between men and women. I found it interesting because it mentioned how the genders approached problem solving in different ways and were often based off a “social psychological understanding of the dynamics of international conflict.” This meant that individuals are able to see the potential for change but it is often

Eleanor Roosevelt and countless scholars have observed that international politics is a man’s world (Tickner, 1992). It is a world inhabited by diplomats, soldiers and international civil servants most of whom are men. An important function of Feminist theory is that it helps to explain women’s subordination that exists in varying degrees in society (Tickner, 1992). Gender is denied as an issue in international politics because it has addressed through as system of anarchy and patriarchy (Steans, 1998). Realists when analyzing global conflict assume that the global system via concepts of security should be understood as ungendered and universal (Batnic, 2001). International relations theory is grounded in realist assumptions that regards the position of women as neutral, however international

Gender roles are a common topic today. What are males and females expected to do? What is socially acceptable for each sex? Is it equal among sexes? One may consider that gender roles are influenced by biology, culture, social class, and environment.

According to the theory of social roles, gender stereotypes arise as a consequence of the existence of gender roles - social expectations, prescribing a person a certain behavior depending on his gender. In other words, watching how representatives of different genders deal with different things, people conclude that they are fundamentally different from each other. At the same time, gender stereotypes are the mechanism for maintaining gender roles: beliefs about the unique qualities and distinctive features of a particular gender are used to justify the need to behave in accordance with the appropriate gender role. The United Nations considers this problem global and encourages States to modify existing gender model, preserving a system of unequal values and double standards. In terms of gender mainstreaming, gender-based discrimination and gender inequality are the major problems in the labor market, which leave their mark on the development of individual regions and the country

Gender equality and gender roles go hand in hand in society. These two concepts complement each other to the extent in which one must know about both to fully understand the capacity of either. Gender roles are roles each sex is given. These are stereotypical things. Gender is how people are seen by society. This is imprinted in the brain at a young age and is formed and molded through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and late adulthood. Each stage comes with different ideas about gender and power. For example, things like women cook and men work. In today’s society men and women are not equal. Gender inequality and gender roles are one of our countries biggest issues.

The two themes that need to be discussed in order to explain gender differences are difference and inequality. Difference is how men and women are differentiated. It is the way social relationships, processes and institutions distinguish between men and women that sociologists are interested in. also how them processes “create meanings about femininity and masculinity” (Marsh and Keating, 2003 p.265). Inequality refers to the way gender distinctions and inequalities are linked together, as well as power relations and hierarchy. Sociologists are trying to determine whether inequalities between men and women are due to social distinctions (Marsh and Keating, 2003). Feminist sociologists argue that women experience a drawback