A close examination of gender relations will reveal the existence of a
strong power component structuring each
relation. Power is distributed along gender lines in a wide range of social practices, and most of the times at women's disadvantage.
Power relations are evident, for example, in the way resources (natural, economic,
political, etc.) are divided between women and men. Women are usually more likely
to have limited access to economic, natural and social resources, which greatly
affects their power to negotiate their position within the household, the community,
the labour market or the political life.
Besides gender, social relations can be influenced by a nearly infinite range of
factors, and diversity can be defined according to just as many criteria, amongst
which we can mention age, class, ethnicity, religion,
sexual orientation, physical and mental impairment. Individuals
can carry multiple identities, according to their religious or political
affiliation, their ethnicity, their social status and so forth.
Understanding the cross-cutting nature of gender
issues is very important because it helps us have a more comprehensive view of the
various dimensions in which gender may act as a variable in the generation of
inequalities.
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