CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Â Â BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In its most basic form, gender refers to socially manufactured sex, whether female or male. Gender is about the sensation of being masculine or feminine, not about being a man or woman (Darnell, 2001). Although the terms gender and importance are frequently used interchangeably, there are significant differences between the two concepts. Kirk (Kirk, 2000) Gender is a social construct that is based on a society’s assumptions about how a man or woman should look or behave. Sex is based on anatomical physiological characteristics of males and females, whereas gender is a social construct that is based on a society’s assumptions about how a man or woman should look or behave (Jacob, 1996). Gender describes the social distinctions between men and women that are taught, changeable, and vary widely within and between cultures (Wood, 1987). The words “gender ad” and “gender relation” were first used by American and English feminists in the 1970s. As a result, the focus shifted from gender disparities to gender relations, both in terms of social and conceptual relationships (Wigfield, 2002).
