Although the discussion is not recent, in Brazil the debates on the gender ideology began to gain ground in 2014, during the preparation of the National Education Plan (PNE). It was at this time that opponents of the idea created a movement called “School without Party”.
The mobilization was such that politicians, researchers, civil society organizations and citizens common people engaged in defending a point of view, be it contrary or favorable to the proposal of the PNE.
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Well, but in practice, what is gender ideology all about? As it has divergent currents of thought, the theme can be read from different perspectives. To better understand this dynamic, below we clarify some of the main concepts that permeate the discussions.
In short, gender can be defined as what identifies and differentiates men and women. Therefore, according to traditional definitions there are only two genders: male and female.
Thus, in view of common sense, it is possible to use the word as a synonym for “sex” in reference to what is innate in male behavior, as well as female behavior.
However, assuming the definitions of psychology and social sciences, gender is what differentiates people socially. For this, the historical construction of the roles attributed to men and women is taken into account.
Because of this, gender can be understood as a social role and, therefore, can be constructed and deconstructed. That is, it is not something limited as proposed by the biological sciences, on the contrary, it can undergo several variations.
Therefore, the greatest challenge for theorists and researchers in the area is to define exactly which differences between men and women are biological and which ones go through the social constructions constituted throughout lifelong.
Based on the boundaries of psychology and social sciences, gender identity is nothing more than the way an individual identifies with her gender.
In practice, this means that a person can recognize himself as a man or a woman, in addition to being fit into both or neither gender, without necessarily being in accordance with the sex biological.
Gender identity is mainly related to how the individual perceives himself in relation to the world and also how he wants to be recognized.
The main types of gender identity can be divided into three: cisgender, transgender and non-binary. Let's look at the definition of each of them.
Commonly known by the abbreviation “cis”, these are individuals who identify with all aspects of their birth gender. We can cite as an example a woman who was born with a female sexual organ and manifests herself according to the socially dictated “rules” for the female gender and recognizes herself as such. Therefore, this is a cisgender woman.
In opposition to the previous term, being represented by the abbreviation “trans”, the term transgender says respect for people who do not recognize themselves according to the gender assigned to them in the birth. If the same woman in the previous example is born with all the biological characteristics of the female gender, however, she identifies with the male gender, then she will be able to define herself as a man.
It is worth remembering that for a long time transsexuality was considered a mental disorder. However, in June 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed it from the list of mental illnesses in a revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
Non-binary individuals, in turn, are those who are at an intersection between two genders (male or female) or who do not fit into either.
The confusion between the two terms is very common and happens with some frequency. However, gender identity is not related to sexual orientation.
While the first concept is related to how the subject identifies with a certain gender, the second is linked to the gender to which the person is attracted.
A transgender man, that is, one who was born with a female sex organ, but who identifies with the male gender, will not necessarily be sexually attracted to women.
Regarding orientation, he may be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even be asexual, which are people who are not sexually attracted to any of the genders.
Having said all that, let's go, then, to the definition of gender ideology. The expression was created by proponents of the ideas that determine that gender be considered from social constructions.
The first record of the expression was made in 1994, in the work “Who stole the feminism?”, translated into Portuguese, “Quem stole o feminismo?”, by the American author Christina Hoff Sommers.
As seen earlier, these thinkers claim that no one is born male or female, and subjects are free to build their identity – or their gender - throughout their lives. Thus, “man” and “woman” are flexible roles, which can be played regardless of what is biologically established.
The expression began to grow in 1995, in Beijing, when the Conference on Women was held.
Through the book “The gender agenda”, in Portuguese Discussão do Gênero, published in 1997, journalist Dale O’Leary explains that the event happened in guidelines for governments around the world to insert the gender perspective in programs and policies in public and private institutions.
However, over time, congressmen themselves began to criticize the way in which information was passed on. According to them, such relevant information was released to the population without prior information on the subject, resulting in a complete distortion of the concept.
It didn't take long for the more traditional sectors of society to raise opposition to gender ideology. According to them, there are only two genders, determined by the biological characteristics assigned at birth, male and female.
Despite being an old discussion, it was from 2014 that many Brazilians heard the expression for the first time. That year, the National Education Plan (PNE) was discussed in Congress, a document that establishes the guidelines and goals of education for a ten-year period.
The target that caused the most controversy dealt with “overcoming educational inequalities, with emphasis on promoting racial, regional, gender and sexual orientation equality”.
On the one hand, more conservative parliamentarians and members of the religious group took a stand. According to them, dealing with gender ideology in schools is distorting the concepts of man and woman, the basis of the traditional family.
On the other hand, pro-diversity activists and defenders of LGBTQ+ rights came out in defense of the goal, admitting that taking the issue for classrooms is fundamental in combating discrimination and physical and psychological violence related to gender issues.
In the end, the text of the PNE that was approved suppressed the two final items, leaving it up to the States and municipalities to include them or not in their teaching plans.
