Illuminating the Brilliance

(1)

Redefining Gender –

A Generational Look

Illuminating

the Brilliance

and the Benefits of

Inclusion

SESSION

5

(2)

• Understand and communicate the Business Case for diversity

and inclusion

• Demonstrate they value and respect diversity in all aspects of their role

• Respond appropriately to diversity-related

situations with customers and employees

• Expand awareness of themselves and others

This online course will help supervisors, managers, and other leaders to …

Key Concepts

Diversity • Inclusion • Cultural Competence • Respect • Perception • Stereotypes and Generalizations •

Key Concepts

Diversity

• Inclusion

• Cultural Competence

• Respect

• Perception

• Stereotypes and Generalizations

• Five

modules

and more to

come!

Optional inst

ructor-led

guides to bri

ng online

learning cont

ent to

the classroom

for

reinforcement

and

discussion

Educating employees about diversity and inclusion

is a challenge for most organizations . . . but we can help!

Mix and match

the right module

combination to fit

your organization’s

needs

the-shelf” version

or one customized

to your employees,

policies and culture

(3)

the Brilliance

and the Benefits of

Inclusion

What is the 2018 Series about?

The 2018 Central Florida Diversity Learning Series will seek to answer

the question, “What Can We Do to Illuminate the Brilliance and

Benefits of Inclusion for Ourselves, our Organizations and those

We Serve – or Want to Serve?”

Participants will be engaged in considering how they can illuminate the

value and impact of inclusion.

Our Series, through six highly-interactive education sessions, will

address three specific questions:

1. How can we highlight the actions necessary to create a more

inclusive experience for everyone?

2. How can we monitor and measure the impact of inclusion on our

organization’s strategies and tactics to reach our inclusion goals?

3. How can we think ahead and engage others as we plan for and

(4)

■

Session 1: Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Unconscious Bias – 2.0

■

Session 2: Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Cultural Competence – Cultural Humility

■

Session 3: Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Metrics & Assessment / ROI / DROI / Analysis

■

Session 4: Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Recruitment/Talent Management

■

Session 5: Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Redefining Gender – A Generational Look

■

Session 6: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

(5)

September 18, 2018

Presenter: Riki Wilchins

• Session begins at 8:30 AM

• Welcome and Overview of Session

• Learning activities

• Break at 10:00 AM and drawing of giveaways resources

(at end of break)

• Learning activities

• Session ends at noon

PLEASE TURN IN YOUR EVALUATION FORMS

TODAY’S AGENDA

(6)

Redefining Gender – A Generational Look

While there have been efforts made and many accomplishments

achieved, the focus, more recently, shifted to include individuals

who identify as bi-sexual or who do not ascribe to a specific gender

identity / orientation. Society continues to drive our inclusion efforts

and now organizations are being asked to expand into the areas of:

Gender Neutrality, Gender Fluidity and the De-Binarization of the

concept of Gender.

We will highlight the current and future focus of these areas of

gender expression and their impact on individuals, organizations

and communities.

When Diversity and Inclusion became a topic of conversation,

attention and action (training) in organizations in the United States,

the focus was on sexual orientation – how to be more inclusive /

welcoming to employees and customers (or potential customers) who

were gay or lesbian. Over the past twenty years, that focus shifted to

a broader scope of including those who are bi-sexual or transgender.

(7)

Riki Wilchins is Executive Director of TrueChild,

a network of researchers and experts devoted to

helping improve life outcomes among at-risk youth

by reconnecting race, class, and gender.

The author of five books on gender theory, Riki

has trained agencies like the White House, CDC,

Office on Women’s Health, and Office of Adolescent

Health as well as funder networks like ABFE, Change

Philanthropy, HIP, WFN, and Women Moving Millions.

Her writing on gender norms and philanthropy has

been published by the Council on Foundations,

GrantCraft, GuideStar, and NCRP. Riki’s work has

been profiled in The New York Times.

TIME selected her one of its “100 Civic Innovators for

the 21st Century.”

RIKI WILCHINS

(8)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 2

RIKI

WILCHINS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

T

HINKING

R

ACE,

T

HINKING

Q

UEER,

(9)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 4 Sex

Primary & secondary bodily characteristics (chromosomes, hormones, etc.)

Gender Identity

Inner sense of being female or male

Gender Expression

Expressing feelings of being masc or fem through clothing, behavior, etc.

Sexual Orientation

Attraction to members of one or more sexes

6 D

EGREES OF

G

ENDER

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 3

Y

OUTH

OF

C

OLOR

Based on studies

Not for use in emergencies

Not unique to YOC

(10)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 6

Item _{Sex Gender} Sexual

Orientation Gender Identity 1. Is attracted to girls as well as boys

2. Has a beard and chest hair 3 Has always felt like a boy inside 4. Is attracted to members of both sexes 5. Has asked to called “Julia” instead of “Jules” 6. Expected to wear high heels and a gown to prom

7. Is getting a “curvier” figure going through puberty

8. Expected to be dominant, athletic and tough 9. Expected to be deferential, dependent, desirable

6 D

EGREES OF

G

ENDER

5

Sex

Primary & secondary bodily characteristics (chromosomes, hormones, etc.)

Gender Identity

Inner sense of being female or male

Gender Expression

Expressing feelings of being masc or fem through clothing, behavior, etc.

Sexual Orientation

Attraction to members of one or more sexes

(11)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 8

“B

OY

B

OX” / “

G

IRL

B

OX”

Girls

Wear dresses Long hair Maternal

Boys

Short hair ‘Big boys don’t cry’ Boisterous, physical _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 7 Gender

A system of meaning about bodies (“What culture makes of sex.”) Gender Equity

Equalizing resources, power, opportunity among women, men, others Norms

Beliefs/practices that are widely understood, accepted, followed (Allison Brown)

Gender Norms

Beliefs, attitudes, behaviors for how to “do” boy or girl

(12)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 10 Kimberle Crenshaw

I

NTERSECTIONAL

David Eng 9 Kimberle Crenshaw

I

NTERSECTIONAL

Race

Class

Gender

(13)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 12

G

ENDER

P

OLITICS

Feminism

1960-Gay

Rights

1969-Trans

Rights

1994-_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 11

“S

TRONG

G

ENDER

L

ENS” =

W

OMEN

Gender Equity but…

…No gender norms, men/boys, LGBTQ

…No gender norms, race or class …Nothing on gender norms

(14)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 14

H

OW

W

E

T

HINK

R

ACE &

Q

UEERNESS

Race

Racial justice Structural racism Diversity Equity

Queerness

Difference Marginalization Erasure Problem of identity 13

G

ENDER

P

OLITICS

Feminist

Theory

Gay

Theory

Queer

Theory

(15)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 16 2. Gender Norms

G

ENDER

N

ORMS

A

RE

L

EARNED

E

SP DURING “

G

ENDER

I

NTENSIFICATION”

P

ERIOD

Interest accelerates

Belief starts to solidify

Age of experimentation, stress, policing

Key rite of passage

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 15

G

ENDER

N

ORMS

(16)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 18

H

IGHLY

R

EGULATED

NON-CONFORMITY

IS PUNISHED

17 Courtesy of Boondocks

(17)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 20

G

ENDER

N

ORMS

H

AVE

E

FFECTS

Beliefs drive individual behavior!

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 19

E

NHANCED IN

L

OW-

I

NCOME

E

NVIRONMENTS

Codes may

be especially

narrow

Penalties for

transgression

can be harsh.

Intensified

for LGBTQ

(18)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 22

LGBTQ= B

OUNDS OF

M

ASCULINITY

Caring

Gentle

Social

Sensitive

Queer/Feminine

MANLINESS

21

N

ORMS

A

FFECT

U

S

A

LL

2. Gender Norms

GENDER

NON-CONFORMING

&/OR LGBTQ

LGBTQ

AND

NON-LGBTQ

GENDER

CONFORMING

(19)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 24

M

ASCULINITY

E

FFECTS [INDIVIDUAL]

More risking-taking / More violence Drop out early / lower econ outcomes

Increased contact with police & JJ systems

Delay seeking care / trauma (shame)

Punished more severely (lens of predation)

Subjective attitudes offenses

Dr. Joseph Pleck _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 23

S

YSTEMS

A

RE

G

ENDERED &

G

ENDERING

(20)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 26 3. Gender Norms

More unplanned pregnancy

Drop out of school and/STEM

Economically dependent

Tolerate abusive partners

Depression/suicide (Latinas/AAPI)

Delay seeking care / sexualized trauma (guilt)

F

EMININITY

E

FFECTS [INDIVIDUAL]

25 Punished more severely and/or pushed out

Seen as 4.5 years older

Perceived as violent / lens of predation

Subjective attitudes offenses

Punished for weakness, vulnerability

(21)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 28 3. Gender Norms

Education

(QYOC: 48% bullied/15% assaulted)

Health

(Trans: 50% delay or avoid & 25% denied)

Suicide/Depression

(2-4 times as high)

Systems

(schools, child welfare, JJ, health)

L

GBTQ &

G

ENDER

N

ONCONFORMING

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 27 3. Gender Norms

Punished for being “unfeminine” “loud” “defiant”

Pushed out of school

3 years older

Nudged towards low-paying service jobs JJ: low level status offenses (truancy, curfew, etc.) Treated less seriously/ listened to fewer minutes

Under-medicated for pain / over-treated for psych.

(22)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 30 3. Gender Norms

Intersex/DSD

Genderqueer

Nonbinary

What’s next?

I

NTERSEX,

N

ONBINARY &

A

LL

T

HAT

J

AZZ

29 3. Gender Norms

Education

(QYOC: 48% bullied/15% assaulted)

Health

(Trans: 50% delay or avoid & 25% denied)

Suicide/Depression

(2-4 times as high)

Systems

(schools, child welfare, JJ, health)

(23)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 32

D

O

W

E

R

EALLY

N

EED

G

ENDER?

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 31

STRONG RESEARCH BASE

(24)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 34

“Gender roles and norms influence, if not define,

behavior in interpersonal relationships”

“Astounding as it may seem, the central role of gender

has been largely ignored.”

“We are studying in a gender vacuum.”

“Love, sex, and power. Considering women's realities in HIV prevention.”

H Amaro . Am Psychol. 1995 Jun;50(6):437-47, 1995 .

US: H

ISTORICAL

D

ISCONNECT

33 Gender norms are “central to improving both individual and societal R/H” “Deconstructing masculinity with young men 13-19” to eliminate violence against women and girls

Gender norms “key to effective HIV prevention for MSMs The powerful influence of gender norms is a foundation of gender inequality.

(25)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 36

S

O

I

T’S

A

LL

G

ENDER

N

ORMS?

No! These are complex intersectional problems.

Next big “drop on the meter” in effectiveness.

Because when systems, funding, and

programs are both race- and

gender-responsive, they are more effective.

Because beliefs drive behavior!

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

US Disconnect: Policy

35

(26)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 38

G

ROWING AN

E

COSYSTEM

37

A G

ROWING

R

ECONNECT

(27)

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 40 www.truechild.org

Thank you!

_________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

E

ASY

39

AND

E

FFECTIVE

(28)

41

2. Gender Norms

How do you see race AND gender intersect in your own experience?

Have you ever been teased for something that wasn’t 100%

feminine/masculine? How did it affect you?

Where might the impact of rigid gender norms affect your own work?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(29)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(30)

• Spend dedicated time, each week/month monitoring and looking for you can have a positive

impact on your organization’s Recruitment/Talent Management effort.

• Examine your assumptions about the effectiveness of your organization’s Recruitment/Talent

Management effort. Discuss with a trusted colleague and decide if/how to address issues

and opportunities.

• After the program, consider what you’ve learned and how you might approach others who

may not understand the D&I aspects of your organization’s Recruitment/Talent Management

effort.

• _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Encouraging others’ development:

• Lead a discussion at a staff or team meeting about the impact of what you learned about

Recruitment/Talent Management successes and what you can do, as a team, to implement

some techniques and “Illuminate” their value and impact.

• During meetings, use/share tools and techniques that the team can integrate into day-to-day

activities to enhance your organization’s Recruitment/Talent Management effort.

• Seek out others, outside your team, who may not have knowledge of this topic. Engage with

them and share your perspectives and knowledge.

• _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To impact the organization’s culture:

• Solicit and use feedback on this topic from employees/Cast/students who represent the full

spectrum of perspectives and experiences with D&I. Fully capitalize on their experiences as

you build a more inclusive Recruitment/Talent Management into your organization.

• Focus on ways to effectively communicate with your boss/leader and other immediate

team members who may find value in addressing, implementing and managing inclusive

(31)

Gender Norms, Queerness, and

Movement for Racial Justice

(32)

identity, and the gender in which they live

their normal daily lives, such a cultural

battleground, a social hot-button issue,

whether it’s in the schools or in the military?

Although the Bathroom Battles are often

framed as issues of “privacy” or “safety,” it

is unlikely these are the sole reasons. Like

other people, trans-youth using bathrooms

are there to do their business and leave. No

one has accused them off ogling others, or

of surreptitiously trying to take pictures,

much less attacking anyone or doing other

unsafe or invasive behaviors.

It is likely that one of the mainsprings of

the animus around trans-youth is that they

challenge our most basic notions of sex,

gender, and sexual orientation. There is

something very unsettling to many people

about someone whose birth-sex is (for

example) female, who looks masculine and/

or male, who dates his girlfriend, and uses

the Men’s Room.

And this battle is about to get more

complicated. In April 2016 a 20-year-old

When a nonbinary person dates someone

else, is that a gay relationship? A straight

one? Something else entirely? What

bathroom facilities do we want nonbinary

students use: both, either, a new one?

And how do we refer to them? In 2017, a

young gender nonconforming character

appearing for the first time on Showtime’s

hit series Billions introduced themselves to

the lead character by explaining, “Hello Sir,

my name is Taylor. My pronouns are ‘they,

theirs, and them.’ ”

This kind of dialog is coming to a school,

a military unit, or a corporation near

you. So, what do we need to know about

“queerness?”. Because as Damon Hewitt,

CEO of the Executives Alliance for Boys &

Men of Color explains, “Gender is going to

be core competency in the 21st century.”

About Gender Norms

He’s likely to be right. But perhaps not only,

or not even mainly, because of nonbinary,

(33)

We have chosen to use the terms

Black and African American

interchangeably to refer to the

diverse individuals who identify as

having African ancestry (African

American, Afro-Caribbean, African

immigrant). We have used Latina

and Latinx to refer to individuals

in the U.S. who identify as having

Mexican, Central, or South American

(e.g., Latin American) or Caribbean

ancestry. We acknowledge that

these are broad ethnic and not just

racial terms, recognizing that Latinx

include many races. We also use it

in lieu of "Chicana/os" (for

Mexican-Americans) or "Hispanics" (which also

includes those of European descent—

primarily Spanish or Portuguese).

We have used

Asian American

Pacific Islander (or AAPIP) to refer

to both Asian Americans and Pacific

Islands Americans. Finally, we have

used

American Indian, although we

recognize that term

Native American

is preferred by some. Where is

and expectations shared by members of a

community. For instance, as Just Schools

Fund’s Allison Brown explains, youth of

color who avoid direct eye contact or

raising their voices when interacting with

law enforcement are using norms that

communicate being non-threatening.

“Gender norms” refers to those customs,

beliefs, and practices about what is

masculine or feminine, about the differential

expectations for men and women.

For example, transgender women who

are advised when transitioning to end

statements on an upward note, cross their

legs at the knee rather than the ankle when

sitting, and break their wrist when pointing

are being taught normative stereotypic

behaviors for communicating femininity.

Gender norms can also have positive

aspects, as when traditional masculine

ideals encourage men to be courageous

and protective of others when danger

threatens. They can also have benefits—

for instance girls who have strong belief

(34)

Recent modern constructs of masculinity

in Western cultures is understood as a

mixture of strength, aggression, sexual

prowess, independence, and emotional

toughness. Western femininity in the past

century has been seen as a combination

of being deferential, desirable, dependent,

conflict-avoidant, nurturing, and maternal.

Decades of Studies

Decades of studies have found that when

young people internalize narrow feminine

and masculine ideals, they have markedly

(and in many cases measurably) lower

life outcomes in a cluster of areas that

include basic wellness and mental health,

education, and reproductive and sexual

health (RSH).

The acquisition of masculine and feminine

ideals is especially important during

what some researchers call the gender

intensification years of 9–15, when interest

While core aspects of gender norms tend

to be fairly universal (i.e., strength in men,

sexual attractiveness in women), they also

have unique aspects in various racial and

ethnic groups. For instance, the idea of the

Sojourner Syndrome as negative health

results caused by Black women’s constant

struggle to survive an oppressive and

discriminatory system, or young Latina’s

belief in machista codes of femininity

that are deeply intertwined with religious

ideals that venerate the Virgin Mary, have

commonalities but are also racially and

ethnically specific.

Gender norms also change over time.

For instance, at the beginning of the last

century, pink was considered an active color

associated with blood and reserved for

boys; light blue was for girls. And

middle-class kids of both sexes wore long hair and

what today we would consider dresses until

they were out of childhood.

(35)

women basically the same in almost all

their particulars?

That answer to this is a matter found in

science but culture. There is no biological

basis for most of the things we commonly

associate with (and often rigorously enforce

about) being male or female:

• Men smoke cigars and pipes but women

only cigarettes;

• Boys play baseball but girls play softball;

• Women shave their legs and armpits but

men only their faces;

• Women cross their legs at the knee and

men at the ankle.

• Women tilt their heads to one side,

indicating deference but men never do;

and,

This list is practically endless. All of these

“differences,” which help make up how we

understand Man and Woman and see them,

result from cultural beliefs and practices—

that is, from gender.

It’s not that they aren’t “real.” Of course,

“Gender” is used in multiple contexts

and connected to multiple concepts.

Here’s a quick guide.

Gender Equity – Ensuring equal

access to resources, power, and

opportunity for women, men,

children, families, etc.

Gender Expression – How we

express and communicate feeling

or being feminine and masculine

through behaviors such as dress,

hairstyle, adornment, etc.

Gender Identity – An inner sense of

being male, female, or any particular

gender; useful when discussing

transgender individuals some of

whom feel a sense of conflict between

their biological sex and inner gender

identification.

Gender Norms – Socially

constructed ideals, scripts, and

expectations for how to be a woman

(36)

mutable that it’s so important for us to

understand it. If it was entirely fixed, like the

orbit of the sun, there would be little point in

investigating it or thinking about it.

Queer Theory

And thinking about it we have been, a lot, for

the last half-century. Ever since feminism

burst on the scene in the 1960s and started

shaking the twin pillars of binary gender:

Man, and the Woman who depended

upon him.

It was Kate Millett, in one of the founding

books of feminist theory—Sexual Politics—

who lamented that patriarchy was

so universal it was difficult to think of an

alternative, or to imagine women except in

response to it.

Following close on feminism’s heels was the

gay rights revolution of the 1970s, and then

in the 1990s, the rise of transgender rights.

Both of these pushed people to rethink

terms like femininity or masculinity, and

Many of them were low-income and of color,

who experienced social marginalization

in other ways as well, not only because of

their gender.

It was for such people that so-called “queer

theory”—the offspring of the intellectual

marriage of feminism and gay rights—was

invented. It was queer theory that initiated a

full-throated critique and “deconstruction”

of gender roles and norms from academia

with which we are still dealing.

Academics and researchers began

excavating the myriad ways that gendered

attitudes and beliefs shaped nearly every

aspect of our appearance, feelings, and

behavior. Moreover, they began look at the

margins of society, at which kinds of bodies

and identities were excluded, marginalized,

and despised.

This is where the gender model breaks

down. The model says that everyone is binary

man/woman, and that this is a natural

fact. And if you look around,

(37)

every-Intersex – Individuals born with any

of a variety of chromosomal, genital,

and/or phenotypic genital conditions

that do not fit typical expectations for

male/female—aka Disorders of Sexual

Development.

LGBTQ – Lesbian, gay, bisexual,

transgender, queer, and questioning.

Nonbinary / (aka Genderqueer) –

Individuals whose gender expressions

fall outside of normative feminine/

masculinte or who do not identify as

either female or male.

Sexual Orientation – Romantic,

sexual, physical and/or relational

attraction to members of one or more

sexes and/or genders.

Transgender – A broad umbrella

term for those who transcend or

transgress traditional man/woman

categories, including crossdress, drag

looking at these, you can see that a) the model

isn’t very inevitable, since it has lots and lots of

(previously despised and invisible) exceptions.

And the model is not Nature’s way, much less a

natural fact. If it was, it wouldn’t take so much

social energy to keep these people out, and to try

to force them to conform.

Applied Gender Theory?

But was there any practical, real-world value

to such knowledge? Fortunately, an innovative

social science researcher named Joseph Pleck

at the University of Illinois had been pondering

just these questions. Joe had developed and

refined an inventory of questions that mined

known aspects of masculinity—such as strength,

dominance, aggression, sexual prowess, and

emotional toughness—and then measured just

how strongly a person believed in these.

Pleck named this amalgam of beliefs and attitudes

Masculine Ideology, and his inventory the Male

Role Norms Scale (MRNS). This alone would have

been a huge advance. But it is what he did next

(38)

what we might want to think of as Applied

Gender Theory.

Stronger belief in traditional masculinity

was strongly linked to a host of unhealthy

life outcomes among young men. The list

included having…

• Less intimate sexual relationships;

• More sexual partners;

• More unsafe sex;

• Stronger belief in sex as adversarial;

• Stronger belief in pregnancy as

validating manhood; and

• Weaker belief in male responsibility to

help prevent pregnancy.

This was practically a check-list for lower

reproductive and sexual health outcomes

for young straight men (and for many of

their female partners as well).

Since then, other researchers building

on his work have mapped a surprisingly

elaborate landscape of areas where rigid

grow up to be economically and

psycho-logically dependent on an older, stronger

male partner.

Systemic Effects as Well

Nor are such effects limited to individuals.

Because the systems that serve them—

courts, the military, schools, child welfare,

and health care—are themselves highly

gendered and gendering, and have

internalized many of the same rigid

masculine and feminine norms.

Some of this is pretty obvious. For instance,

consider how the military anticipates and

imposes specific forms of binary Man

and Woman, in everything from uniforms

and haircuts, to job openings and career

tracks. It punishes, and rewards, specific

kinds of masculinity in men and femininity

in women, all without ever interrogating

its own assumptions—what is called

“essentializing” gender.

(39)

result of anxiety and emotion, because

women in general are seen as emotional,

irrational, or dramatic (i.e., hysteric). This

can and does have dire effects.

For instance, low-income women of color

are generally more likely to delay seeking

medical care for chest pain and heart attack.

This is one reason the American Heart

Association has a long-running program

to encourage them to get treatment at the

first symptom.

However, when they do seek care, they

are more likely to have their complaints

dismissed and/or under-treated. A woman

complaining of heart attack symptoms will

wait longer to receive cardiac testing, will

be listened to for fewer minutes than if they

were male, and will be less likely to survive a

heart attack if her physician is male.

Women reporting pain are systematically

undertreated—in fact, an astounding 90%

of women with chronic pain reported that

they felt that the health system discriminated

against them.

Men and boys have different but similar

systemic effects. For instance, young

Black and Latino boys are perceived as 4.5

years older than they actually are. So, the

school safety office who thinks he’s having

an altercation with a young man is really

arguing with a 13-year-old boy.

Young men of color, particularly if they

are from low-income communities, are

punished more often, and more severely,

for the same offences than their white

peers. They are more likely to be written up

for highly subjective status offences, like

“oppositional attitude,” and they are more

likely to be expelled under Zero Tolerance

and similar “school push-out” policies.

Intersectionality

What findings like this point to is that the

power of things that happen at the overlap

of gender, race, and class. In fact, there’s a

term for this: it’s called “intersectionality.” It

refers to seeing things through the overlap

(40)

create to contain them.

Most of us build our lives at the intersections,

not the straightaways, of identity, where

different kinds of oppression and challenges

meet and interact. Intersectionality also

pushes us to look for more complex

identities than we might not otherwise see:

for instance, someone who is Chicana and

lesbian and disabled.

Because it maps more closely to the

complexity of people’s lived experience,

and because it helps surface more complex

identity that had been invisible, funders,

policymakers, and practitioners are

increasingly adopting an intersectional

approach to longstanding social problem

because it offers more nuanced and

effective ways to conceptualize them.

Much of our current understanding of

intersectionality actually tracks back to a

famous legal case, which provides a good

real-world illustration of its advantages

(and the disadvantages of

intersectional-were only open to Whites. In effect, Black

women were shut out of employment.

Yet, a lawsuit brought by Black women

was easily defeated in court, which held

in effect that they couldn’t sue for racial

discrimination, because Black men worked

at GM. And they couldn’t sue for sex

discrimination, because White women did

as well. It was only by looking at the

inter-section of identity that the Black women’s

claims made clear and obvious sense.

On a Collision Course

These two great

discourses—inter-sectionality and at the overlaps in identity,

and queer theory and looking at the

margins of identities—are actually trying

to accomplish many of the same things.

Yet in how they are being articulated and

put into discourse, they are on a bit of a

collision course.

(41)

_______________________________

by Riki Wilchins

exuberant genders few of us have

con-templated, much less adopted ourselves.

Just as we are finally mastering complex

ideas like sexual orientation and gender

identity, they are overturning the applecart

of binary sexes on which such concepts

depend and for the foreseeable future

many DEI folks may struggle to catch up.

And the goal posts are moving quickly. Just

look at the media. For example, Jared Leto

won a best supporting actor Oscar for his

work in 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club, while

Jeffrey Tambor has won Jared Leto won a

best supporting actor Oscar for his work in

2013’s Dallas Buyers Club. But then earlier

this year, a media firestorm erupted over

news that actress Scarlett Johansson was

cast in the lead role as a transgender male

in the upcoming film Rug & Tug, forcing her

to withdraw.

At the same time, a powerful discourse on

intersectionality is emerging, and is often

articulated the need to re-center racial and

social equity. This dialog is usually framed

are much more likely to think into terms

of racial justice and equity, but often say

much less about LGBTQ. And some of

the queer theory leaders have often been

accused (accurately) of having their ideas

insufficiently informed by matters of race.

The dialog around queerness is still seeking

inclusion and at the HR level often comes

up as the need to be inclusive of gay and

transgender employees and ensuring

them a seat at the table. The dialog around

intersectionality is often already at the table

in HR, but those involved are painfully

aware that structural racism still tilts the

table dramatically against people of color,

and thus tends to focus on the need for

greater equity.

And gender remains central to both of

their visions for social progress. As Damon

Hewitt said, “gender is going to be core

competency in the 21st century.”

(42)

(43)

For a

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, please contact International Training and Development at

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Presented by Leslie Aguilar, author of the best-selling Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts

video-based training (2007) and Dr. Steve Yacovelli, author of the e-book series,

Overcoming “Poopy” eLearning: How to Create Engaging On-Line Learning That People

Will Actually Want to Take (2013).

“With your help,

we saved over $5.5 million

by moving to a blended-learning strategy – e-learning, instructor-led training,

and one-on-one coaching – for our managers’ diversity and inclusion experience.”