Gender sensitivity is the act of being sensitive to the ways people think about gender, so that people rely

less on assumptions about traditional and outdated views on the roles of men and women. In language and the humanities, gender sensitivity often gets expressed through peoples language choice. People can choose more inclusive language that doesnt define gender, and many new words that are gender neutral have entered languages like English to substitute for more gender specific terms. Gender sensitizing "is about changing behavior and instilling empathy into the views that we hold about our own and the other sex."[1] It helps people in "examining their personal attitudes and beliefs and questioning the 'realities' they thought they know." Gender sensitivity is not about pitting women against men. On the contrary, education that is gender sensitive benefits members of both sexes. It helps them determine which assumptions in matters of gender are valid and which are stereotyped generalizations. Gender awareness requires not only intellectual understanding and effort but also sensitivity and open-mindedness to change ones views and limited perspectives and values. It opens up the widest possible range of life options for both women and men and builds their capacities to be more wholesome and humane. Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance. Women as a group have particular needs which differ from those of men as a group, not only because of womens triple work role, but also because of their subordinate position to men in most societies. Gender sensitization is the process of changing the stereotype mindset of men and women- a mindset that strongly believes that men and women are 'unequal entities' and hence have to function in different socio economic space. It tends to create a mindset in men that no longer sees women as 'weak and unequal entities' Rather they are seen as responsible and equal parterners. Women's talents and capabilitities that went unnoticed and unexplored became subject of attention. The message that gender sentisation conveys is loud and clear. Women do posses wisdom and therefore they should be terated with dignity and given equal chance. For centuries, many words referring to all people were specifically masculine. Terms like man, and mankind, exclude females. While some people argue that such terms encompass women, its been argued that true gender sensitivity moves past these terms to include all and exclude none. Many of the early feminists built this case, and it continues to be asserted that gender-exclusive terms have a belittling effect on women. It is further contended by experts in gender sensitivity that use of such terms are by no means innocent, and have a negative cultural effect felt beyond the words. By making women either absent or non-apparent in terms like mankind, they become worth less and society will see them as possessing less value. This societal view in extreme forms is of detriment and corresponds to discrimination and even, arguably, things like greater violence against women.In language and the humanities, this argument is accepted and a number of substitute words like humankind, express the gender sensitivity of the present. In the late 1980s, when Star Trek: The Next Generation began to air, a noted and more gender sensitive substitution differed from the original series. The opening narration changed so that where no man has gone before, become where no one has gone before, with a great deal of emphasis on the word one. Some feminists suggest changing basic words with a masculine element to those with a specifically feminine element. Terms like herstory have been proposed for history. This substitution lacks gender sensitivity and merely transfers the power from masculine to feminine, disregarding the male gender. A common compromise is to use gender-neutral terms so that males and females are both included. Such terms can be obvious, like fire fighter and police officer, in place of fireman or policeman. Writers may oscillate back and forth between male and female pronouns, use plural pronouns which lack gender bias, or they use terms like one. Being gender sensitive with pronoun choice takes work. At the core of gender sensitivity in language is the goal of stripping away assumptions about limits of gender, and this benefits men and women. A stay at home parent isnt automatically a mom, but can be a dad too. Such sensitivity from a language basis offers more choice and gives people the opportunity to view each other as individuals with different capacities, shedding assumptions about the traditional roles men and women may fill.

English is a naturally sexist language. Words like Chairman, manhole, waiter etc. The Chairman is now known as Chairperson so not to offend a lady who might actually be in charge. So, to use a word like Chairperson instead of Chairman is to be sensitive to the other sex: ie Gender Sensitive. It goes further, though; Gender Sensitive could also mean you refrain from telling jokes at the expense of the the opposite gender. If you had to say: "Women need men like goldfish need electric guitars," that would be offensive to a man and thus you would not be gender sensitive. There may be some men that might have a problem with it because they want to be the A Night in shining armor for the women. They want to feel like they are providing for their family and that the women needs him. I think that the dynamic of a women earning more money might challenge the status quo and cause friction in a relationship. The once mystical women have fallen from being worshipped as goddesses and possessors of the mystery of child birth to mere child bearers. If females are the oppressed among humans, perhaps they can take heart from the fact that failing to escape after mating, the male gets eaten by the bigger and stronger female black widow spider. The strong oppress the weak which is in concordance with the laws of nature, and the same goes for humans. But humans are supposed to be at least a cut above the other animals. They are supposed to care for the weak and protect them from harm. Women, generally weaker physically than the men, are supposed to be taken care of by their men. This attitude, while embracing the highest ideal of humanity is fundamentally wrong in that women are assumed weaker and this assumption extends to not just being weak physically but in all other areas, and sows the seeds of discrimination. It has been a challenge to the humans to figure out a way for two vastly unequal groups to live as equals. We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters. How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! Society tells the woman: You are a Peacemaker. The World is your home, build and keep it Safe. Yet rejects her when she takes Action in War time to Protect, Preserve and Provide for her Home. Society tells a man: You are a Warrior, the world is yours to Conquer. But never prepares him for 'fall-back' action when that fails. I love to be individual, to step beyond gender. When you talk about gender awareness You talk about absolute fairness Its all about peace and equality Divine justice in reality Exploring your self and expanding your vision Listening to your conscience and making decision You learn to conquer as well as to surrender To celebrate success as well as to accept failure Its all about humanity Living together in tranquillity Where no one is powerless and powerful Its land of beautiesBeautiful ! Through female glasses, male behavior looks a certain way, [and visa versa] and sometimes what seems wrong may be simply different. Men [and women] often need far more understanding CREDIT:Often credit is available formally only to men because they hold assets which are recognised as collateral, such as title to land. Women, who do not control land, cannot gain direct access to formal credit. Such patterns arise, again, from institutional and legal determinants. EDUCATION:In many societies, education is more available to boys than to girls. Sometimes this is because there are traditional factors determining girls mobility or their ability to interact with boys or men in public places. Sometimes, economic factors determine that girls are more often required to carry out household productive tasks than boys are.

There is insufficient awareness (of gender and other aspects of diversity)amongst affin andgender issues are still widely understood as womens issues only. The biological differences between men and women do not normally change; people are either male or female. However, the characteristics they are perceived to have, and the roles and responsibilities assigned to them, differ among societies, cultures, and historical periods. Gender roles are the activities ascribed to men and women on the basis of perceived differences. "Division of labor" is a term used in gender literature to mean the roles and tasks assigned to women and men on the basis of perceived gender characteristics and attributes, instead of ability and skills. Men's Roles Today, in the world's more industrialized countries there are few lines of demarcation between men's and women's occupations. However, in many less industrialized societies men have more visible and recognized roles than women, largely because men are paid for their productive work and women are not. In these societies, men's roles usually involve jobs which are assessed and counted in national censuses and accounting systems. Men do not usually perform domestic or household tasks. Women's Roles Women's roles in most societies fall into three categories: productive (relating to production of goods for consumption or income through work in or outside the home), reproductive (relating to domestic or household tasks associated with creating and sustaining children and family), and community management (relating to tasks and responsibilities carried out for the benefit of the community). Women must balance the demands of these three different roles and should be recognized for their contributions. The tasks women usually perform in carrying out their different roles do not generally earn them an income. But because these roles do not earn income, they are not recognized and valued as economically productive. Women's contributions to national economic development are, therefore, often not quantified and invisible. In many societies, women also carry out productive activities such as maintaining smallholder agricultural plots in farming systems. These tasks are often not considered work and are often unpaid. Women may also perform many roles which attract wages in both the formal and informal economic sectors. But women's economically productive roles,in contrast to men's, are often undervalued or given relatively little recognition. Gender roles and responsibilities vary among cultures and can change over time. For example, in India, unskilled labor is considered "women's work" while in Africa it is "men's work." In Europe and the United States, the contribution men make to domestic activities is becoming increasingly important and visible. Gender sensitization against Sexual harassment in campuses is a sine qua non of peaceful and respectful living. Sexual harassment can happen at work places, institutions, in the family or on the streets. Even in an enlightened institution like a university campus,sexual harassment cannot be very uncommon. Bad people are everywhere and often the wolves are in sheeps clothing. To sum up, the role of student community in gender sensitization against sexual harassment, its prevention and prohibition is immense. Without the active participation of the students no formal mechanism can succeed in any democracy or campus administration. Prevention, prohibition and sensitization can be fully achieved only through the regular unstinting cooperation and support of the student community. Gender is a social construction consisting of the socially acceptable and prescribed roles that men and women are supposed to follow. Gender stereotyping and gender roles should also be emphasised upon, how it is difficult for a parent to encourage their child to step out of the social mould. Gender roles and how these are incorporated in our lives from the very beginning were discussed. Examples of school textbooks which always show a mother in the kitchen while the father is with a briefcase. the prevalent inequality in our society was discussed as to how a woman faces oppression and inequality from Womb to Tomb. It was explained how issues like female foeticide, treatment at home and society, domestic violence and little opportunities provided treat the women differently. The cycle of oppression .

The move comes amid a growing national debate on the societal upbringing and education of the nations boys and what shapes mindsets that have led to increasing crimes against women.The truth is that in a country where little girls are killed before they are born, it is difficult to feel hope. The fact that we pray for the blessings of a hundred sons for young mothers while claiming to be a country that worships women says it all. We The People are part of the problem It is this honour our society seeks to protect, not individual women. It is time for us as a people to feel the searing shame our society has until now only imposed on its female victims. The men are always placed in a more advantageous position than women in South and South East Asian region especially in India. Gender, as a determinant of a social relation that legitimizes and sustains mens power over women, is inheritantly aboutrelations between women and men, as well as relations among groups of women andamong groups of men. Across differences of class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age andreligion, one of the few of women is the physical and psychological violence that stalks them cradle to grave. The devaluation of women begins even before life begins. Starting from the commonalities that men share, as a distinct group, is their gender privilege. Achieving gender equality is not possible without changes in menslives as well as in womens. The most painful devaluation stage of birth, women are discriminatedin areas like access to nutrition, childcare, education and work etc. Circumstances Related to Gender The preference for son over daughter, which is associated with many socio-cultural factors and economic reasons. This is the main perpetrator that induces the human being to kill the female child in mothers womb toensure that the child born must be a male one. Selective abortion of female foetuses with the help of several modern diagnostictools to test the baby in mothers womb is the main reason for imbalance in sex ratio.Such practices have become very easy with the increasing availability of ultrasoundtechnology especially in the mid 1980s. Discrimination in EducationGirls are discriminated not only in the womb and childhood, but while giving her access to education also. The education differences between females and males are among the most significant indicators of gender inequality, as it is one of the most important sources of opportunity in any society.But women are not given equal opportunities in education as to the men. Parents in manycountries including India are more willing to let a daughter than son drop out of school,because they see less value in daughters education. A sons education in contrast, maybe valued as an investment that will bring his parents higher income in the future and willensure them a more secure old age. But the experience of majority of old people isdifferent. Many well to do people in Old Age homes says they are always cheated bytheir sons but not by their daughter. In most societies, womens working lives are quite different from those of men.Sex segregation by occupation and gender inequality within the workplace are the corereasons why womens job often have lower pay and status. Womens working lives are also quite different from those from those of men. Women often put in more work thanmen, bur many of these hours are unpaid or are not counted in official labour statistics. Gender sensitization is the process of changing the stereotype mindset of men and women- a mindset that strongly believes that men and women are 'unequal entities' and hence have to function in different socio economic space. It tends to create a mindset in men that no longer sees women as 'weak and unequal entities' Rather they are seen as responsible and equal parterners. Women's talents and capabilitities that went unnoticed and unexplored became subject of attention. The message that gender sentisation conveys is loud and clear. Women do posses wisdom and therefore they should be terated with dignity and given equal chance. Stating that in the Kumbh Mela there was much talk against cow slaughter but no concern was being aired over attacks on women within and outside the four walls of their homes.One rural Bengali aphorism compares a womans virtue to a Pandoras box-like closed fist that cannot be forced by others but once opened by its owner loses its contents forever. It is to be remembered that in a patriarchal society like India, women are still considered to be primary caregiver. Her nurturing role has been given undue importance. In such a society equal distribution of household domestic chores between couples do not take place. It is true that while women have negotiated with men to

work in the public sphere, similar negotiations have not taken place by men to work in the domestic sphere. As a result women are 'over burdened' with their unpaid, unrecognized domestic chores. The energy of a woman gets sucked as she struggles to balance both the public and the private sphere. It is to be remembered that gender sensitization does not imply male versus female or anti-women. The aim of gender sensitization is to make people aware of the power relation between men and women in society and understand the social relationship between men and women in a given social context. It refers to an endeavor to create a balance in social relationships between both men and women in both the public and the private sphere and to understand the importance of affording women and men equal opportunities and treatment. It is necessary to recognize and sensitize the members of the society to the special needs of women and try to understand their perspective.