Space: Gender Identity

Patterns in space vary according to gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. Geographers study these cultural traits because they are important in explaining why people sort themselves out in space and move across the landscape in distinctive ways.

Gender & Sex

People often use “sex” and “gender” interchangeably, but the two terms are actually different. A newborn baby’s sex is typically either male or female, depending on biological features. In a small number of cases, a baby is born with biological features of both male and female. The United Nations defines gender as the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female as well as relationships between women and men. The U.N. points out that women and men are typically assigned different and unequal responsibilities and different decision-making opportunities in society. They undertake different activities and have access to and control over different resources.

As society creates masculine and feminine identities, based on certain cultural features such as norms, roles, and relationships, it also leads to stereotypes of beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions about males and females. Geographer Marcia England points out that the media plays a subtle yet pervasive role in establishing and reinforcing gender stereotypes in popular TV programs. When individuals do not “fit” established gender stereotypical norms, they can face stigma or exclusion. These groups seek out safe spaces where they are free from discriminatory practices and violence.

Gender is an example of a social construct, a product of our social construction, which is an idea that has been created and widely accepted by the people in a society. Constructs are seen as natural by the society, but may or may not represent a reality shared by all individuals in that group. These attitudes vary from society to society and across time, and can be changed.

Gender Roles

Girls and boys learn through a socialization process the gender roles that they are expected to follow in the home, community, and workplace of a given society. These gender norms are beliefs about males and females that are passed from generation to generation through processes of socialization. Gender relations refer to social relations between and among women and men that are based on gender norms and roles. Expectations about gender relations often create hierarchies between and among groups of men and women that can lead to unequal power relations, advantaging one group over another.

Distinctive spatial patterns by gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation are constructed by the attitudes and actions of cultural groups as well as the larger society. For example, consider the implications for gender roles of the spatial patterns associated with some American households:

• Husband: He gets in his car in the morning and drives from home to work, where he parks the car and spends the day. In the late afternoon, he collects the car and drives home. The location of the home may have been selected to ease his daily commute to work.

• Wife: Most American women are now employed at work outside the home, resulting in a complex pattern of moving across urban space. Where is her job located? If the family house was selected for access to her husband’s place of employment, she may need to travel across town. Yet the wife is often the one who drives the children to school in the morning, walks the dog, and drives to the supermarket. In the afternoon, she may drive the children from school to Little League or ballet lessons. Who leaves work early to drive a child to a doctor’s office? Who takes a day off work when a child is home sick yet may not be entitled to a day off from work to give birth and nurse the newborn child?

The U.K. Department of Transport conducts an annual survey of why people travel in that country. According to the survey, women ages 30 to 59 on average take 17 percent more trips in a year than do men of the same age. Women on average are more likely than men to take trips for shopping, visiting friends, and taking children to school. Men ages 30 to 59 on average take more trips to commute to and from work than do women

Trips By Purpose and Gender, Ages 30-59, United Kingdom, 2017

Distribution by Gender

With gender, geographers focus on the distribution of inequality. Gender equality refers to equal chances or opportunities for females to access and control social, economic, and political resources. Gender equity refers to the different needs, preferences, and interests of women and men. This may mean that different treatment is needed to ensure equality of opportunity. Any distinction, exclusion, or restriction (such as unfair or unequal treatment) made based on gender norms, roles, and relations prevents women and men from enjoying their human rights. Gender inequality is often perpetuated by legitimizing and institutionalizing stereotypes or norms associated with different ages or groups of men and women.

Gender Gap

The World Economic Forum Gender Gap combines four measures of gender parity: economic participation & opportunity, educational attainment, health & survival, and political empowerment. A lower number means less of a gap between women and men.

As discussed in detail in Chapter 10, gender inequality is reflected in numerous factors. The United Nations has not found a single country in the world where the average income earned by women exceeds that earned by men. Worldwide, the average income of women is around 55 percent that of men. The average income of women is 58 percent that of men in developed countries and 49 percent in developing countries. At best, women in some countries have achieved near-equality with men. This small group of countries includes Canada, several developed countries in Europe, and a few developing countries with relatively low incomes. The gender equality gap is especially large in Southwest Asia & North Africa, where women's participation in the economy and society are subject to restrictions.

Distribution By Gender: Female Income As A Percentage of Male Income By Country

According to the United Nations, the average income earned by women is less than that of men in every country of the world.