Gender and Women Studies

Gender Studies Question: How do you differentiate the principle of Gender Studies from that of Women Studies? Historically trace the need for the establishment of Gender Studies as a distinct discipline and its scope and significance with reference to Pakistan.

Introduction

Gender Studies is a field which includes inter-disciplinary studies dedicated to gender identity and representation as chief categories of analysis. This field includes women’s studies (regarding feminism, gender and politics) and men’s studies.

The principles of Gender Studies examine gender in the fields of language, literature, geography, politics, sociology, media studies, human development, law, public health and medicine. It also analyzes how race, ethnicity, location, class, nationality and disability intersect with the categories of gender and sexuality.

How Gender Studies is different from Women Studies?

Gender Studies question the way society’s frame gender, how cultural categories affect the way people are treated within society. Gender Studies tag feminism as advocacy for equality and human rights, social, economic and political. Gender studies can include information from all the disciplines listed above, but it chiefly focuses on gender – both male and female. The term gender is not only specific to male and female. There are other concepts among them trans-gender and gender fluid that would be included in Gender Studies.

Women’s studies, since its inception in the mid-20th century, concerned itself with issues about women, the problems and struggles women faced. Women Studies interrogate the history of women and their contributions to society and how society treats women. Some facilities feel the need to study them separately; others include women as a sub-major of Gender in general.

Establishment of Gender Studies as a Distinct Principle

Gender studies advanced alongside and made an appearance out of Women’s Studies. This inspects the ways in which historical, cultural and social events frame the role of gender in several societies. After the world suffrage revolution of the 20th century, the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s upgraded a revision from the feminists to “actively interrogate” the current and accepted versions of history. The programs were feminist, designed to concede contributions made by women as well as men. Soon, men began to look at masculinity the way that women were looking at femininity and developed a field of study called “men’s studies”. Until the late 1980s and 1990s, scholars recognized a need for study in the field of sexuality, because scholars found that most people will associate sexuality and gender together, rather than as separate units.

Scope and Significance of Gender Studies in Pakistan

Gender Studies is a new topic in Pakistan. The majority of people are not aware of its scope and significance. Many public and private universities commenced courses on women and gender studies in late 1989. All these attempts designate the efforts made in Pakistan to develop the capacity of individuals and promote knowledge, scholarships and research around gender issues.

Gender Studies in Pakistan are a multi-disciplinary academic field dedicated to various features of identity and representation across societies and cultures. The significance of Gender Studies is to prepare for the changing national and global realities. As such, academic disciplines also undergo several changes to meet new challenges; so is the case of Gender Studies.

Conclusion

Beyond Gender Studies, are far more rational and objective perusal of society and culture. For a balanced education that examines complexity and variation, with legal research and without an anti-male biased social-political agenda anything external to Gender Studies and Feminism offers a greater opportunity.

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