When discussing development issues, the word gender is commonly used as a term that encompasses the social roles assigned to men and women in a culture.
Gender is not a synonym for sex. Sex refers to maleness or femaleness, while gender refers to the widely held expectations for the characteristics, behavior, and roles of each of the sexes within a particular context. Gender is a social and cultural construct that differentiates men from women and regulates the ways in which the two sexes interact.
Gender issues are, therefore, not necessarily the same as ‘women’s issues’; instead gender issues are those issues that arise out of the social interaction of men and women. The conception of gender is culture-specific; that is to say that there are significant differences between ideas of what women or men should or should not do in different cultural contexts.
The concept of sexuality are closely linked to, but distinctive from, the concept of gender. Sexuality is the social construction of the biological drive to engage in sexual activity. An individual’s sexuality is usually defined not only by who a person does or does not have sex with, but also the motivations, circumstances, and outcomes of the sexual encounter. Cultures and societies define explicit and implicit rules for circumstances in which engaging in sexual activity are considered acceptable and unacceptable. These rules generally vary depending on gender, age, economic status, ethnicity, faith or social group, and other factors. The sexuality of individuals is often heavily influenced by the sexual norms of their culture.
However, the single most important determinant of how an individual’s sexuality is expressed is power. The power dynamic that underlies sexual and gender interactions determines the outcome of interaction between the sexes. Power determines who makes decisions and whose ultimate desires will be carried out. To understand individual sexual behavior, the concepts of gender and sexuality must be evaluated in light of the interplay of social, cultural, and economic forces that contribute to the distribution of power.
