Cosmetics and personal care products are advertised as enhancing beauty and health. But did you know that some of these products contain mercury or even asbestos? Or that parabens used as preservatives have been linked to cancer and endocrine diseases? This course will teach you the issues related to these and other common additives in personal care products, and present both information that will help you avoid harmful chemicals and help you switch to healthy alternatives.
Gender norms are ideas about how men and women should be and act. We internalize and learn these “rules” early in life. This sets up a life cycle of gender socialization and stereotyping. Put another way, gender norms are the standards and expectations to which gender identity generally conforms within a range that defines a particular society, culture, and community at that point in time.
Source: UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women (2016): Gender Equality, UN Coherence and You.
Gender roles refer to social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. These often determine the traditional responsibilities and tasks assigned to men, women, boys, and girls (see gender division of labor). Gender-specific roles are often conditioned by household structure, access to resources, specific impacts of the global economy, occurrence of conflict or disaster, and other locally relevant factors such as ecological conditions. Like gender itself, gender roles can evolve over time, in particular through the empowerment of women and transformation of masculinities.
Source: UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women (2016): Gender Equality, UN Coherence and You.