Centre for Studies in Food Security

Gender & Food Security

Differences Lens
Gender refers not to men and women in themselves but to the relations between the sexes, in both perceptual and material senses. While biological factors affect sex differences in the minds and bodies of people, these are further acted upon by the social environment, and the concept of gender emphasizes the social relations between the sexes rather than a static identity. It calls for attention to cultural, social, political and moral processes which attribute values to these relations, often placing women in subordinate social positions. Gender is one of the central organizing concepts of contemporary societies and consequently it governs food and nutrition security.

On one side, gender does not form a group of people without internal differentiation - nor is it the only difference structuring inequality. A gender lens recognizes and incorporates diverse and multiple structuring differences which shape societies throughout the world. In processes to secure nutrition and food safety and quality at the household and community levels, various differences of social class, race, ethnicity, geography, generation and ability, among others, are reproduced and further ingrained in society. Promoting equity vis à vis food systems and nutrition, hence, necessarily implies seeking to improve the disadvantageous situations generated by these socially structuring differences.

On another side, there seem to be common roles attributed to women socially. In their diversity, they are most frequently the ones who produce, purchase, handle, prepare and serve food for the family and in community institutions. Focussing on gender, then, invites the examination of the interactions of differences and commonalities, and of biological factors and elements of the socio-cultural context, that in interaction lead to structural disadvantages. Inequitable relations place various groups of both women and men in a disadvantaged and subordinate position in relation to others with respect to availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptability and agency regarding food and nutrition security. The pursuit of equity in food security aims at correcting these imbalances and their structuring effects around food and nutrition processes.

The gender focus of the Centre uses a Differences Lens, focusing on the overall structural factors in society - the rules and practices of the household, community, market and the state - which sustain the unequal position of different groups of women and men. While most often it is women who are in a marginalised position, in issues of food and nutrition security there are instances in which men may be at a disadvantage in relation to women. An example is the continuing lack of knowledge among men about food preparation, which results from the socialization processes in many cultures. A gender /difference lens in the Centre is applied to both men and women, aiming at fairness of treatment according to their respective needs. This may mean different treatment but, in all accounts, it is a treatment which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities.

• Women's identities and food: Practices of settlement and resistance in immigrant Toronto.
• Working Papers & Presentations
• Selected Bibliography

For information on the Centre's work relating to Gender, please contact         Iara Lessa: ilessa@ryerson.ca.

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