Mainstreaming Gender: A Social and Moral Responsibility for Equality and Justice
A critical assessment of previous development initiatives, which usually ignored women’s circumstances and frequently made them worse, served as a catalyst for the creation of contemporary gender analysis frameworks. Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) developed alternative solutions centered on giving women access and opportunity instead of depending on subsidies as a result of this insight.
This shift solidified two main ideological perspectives in development: the family-centered approach, which frames motherhood as a woman’s primary role and uses the family as the basic unit of analysis, and the woman-centered (feminist) approach, which acknowledges both women’s productive and reproductive roles, using the individual woman and her economic contributions as the unit of analysis.
Three main frameworks for gender-aware planning are based on these changing attitudes. By methodically mapping women’s triple role (reproductive, productive, and community work) and differentiating between transformative strategic gender needs, which seek to radically alter current power disparities, and practical gender needs, which address pressing needs, the Moser framework is useful for gender planning. By comparing a project’s focus across five hierarchical levels of equality, from simple welfare to ultimate control, the women’s empowerment (Longwe) framework offers a diagnostic tool to evaluate its potential for achieving equality.
Lastly, by concentrating on cross-cutting disparities (gender, class, and race) and analyzing how power dynamics are perpetuated through institutional structures like the state, market, community, and family/kinship, the social relations approach provides a comprehensive, structural perspective. In addition, the Philippine Commission on Women advocates for gender mainstreaming as the primary government approach to incorporate gender equality into all programs and policies.
With all these historical perspectives and approaches to gender equality and development, we are able to appreciate the role of NGOs and other civic and social organizations in the promotion and realization of a fair and just society that acknowledges the individual uniqueness and universal human rights of all genders. The campaign for gender equality, whether for women or LGBTQIA+ communities, is not only their fight; it is a moral and social collective responsibility that everyone must share. Moreover, the Family-Centered Approach and Woman-Centered (Feminist) Approach are equally significant in laying out a concrete plan of action for working toward social equality and justice.
There is no greater or lesser approach between the two because the latter recognizes the role of women in building a family. Moreover, Moser’s framework values the role of women, which is incomparable. It must be pointed out that gender needs are social needs; therefore, attending to these gender needs enables every citizen to live in a fair and just society. To put all these into action requires mainstreaming gender in all aspects of society, at home, in school, in the economy, in the government, and in religion.
Eric DS. Ebro,
[email protected]
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