Week 9 - Gender Transformative Health Promotion

  1. Becoming gender transformative is an iterative process that goes beyond the simple notion of "gender equality".
  1. In order to truly address gender in health promotion, structural and social paradigms surrounding gender must be tackled to ensure lasting, sustainable change.
  1. Most, if not all inequities (both social inequities and health inequities) can be viewed from a gender-centered lens, and act in tandem with gender-related determinants.
  1. Health promotion planning must center gender determinants at every step of the process- from their design to implementation.
  1. Systems that enable gender inequity are highly complex, and often need to be tackled from a number of different lenses.

Complex systems problems require complexity-informed design - solutions meant to tackle these issues need to be able to approach multiple levels of the system, from individual components to larger organizational elements.

Multi-sectoral partnerships are key to building networks of interventions that sustain each other, that build on different aspects of gender transformative frameworks

Expanding the area of "women's" studies to "gender" studies, holding space for both and bridging concepts of the two together

Many existing programs and policies strive for gender blindness- but ignoring the disproportionate inequities faced by women and gender-diverse individuals only further exacerbates these challenges.

Allows for the questioning of inequitable structures and norms as well as negative power dynamics that seek to uphold the patriarchy, and transforming these structures into more inclusive ones.

Dismantling of the social construction of differences between men and women

Gender roles

Imposed by the patriarchy

Breaking down perceived advantages and disadvantages of each gender

Alongside women-specific issues

Drawing from similar inequities

Acknowledging differences in experiences

Highlighting and prioritizing gender equity when discussing intersecting inequities

gender-related determinants of health are negatively impacted by existing social and health inequities- these impacts are also further exacerbated by said inequities

Intersectionality

Differential impacts

Inequitable systems perpetuate subjugation

Intersectionality

Wicked problems

Align with gender transformative frameworks- by designing programming that adheres to and expands on principles of gender equity

Directly address and attempt to dismantle gender norms, rather than indirect approaches

Replacing overarching worldviews with nuance

Interdisciplinarity

Collaboration

Gender unequal, to gender blind, to gender equitable, to gender transformative

Reformulating patriarchal perspectives

Inserting inclusivity

Gender blindness = unhelpful

Established principles

Design with gender determinants prioritized

Root cause