male // female dichotomy, arguing instead that each human being - female, male, or otherwise - must have the right and the ability to self-determine their lifestyles, type of relationships in ways that go beyond stereotypical notions and any type of essentialism about men and women. Gender democracy investigates and questions structures and contents of democratic systems that were developed by men in order to transform them in ways that provide for gender equality. A key tool for implementing gender democracy are the so-called "gender traings" that aim to question traditional gender roles, analyze the social framework, and develop methods that provide for greater gender equality within organizations. Gender democracy within organizations The following are some examples for organizations that have made gender democracy part of their institutional structures: The statutes of the Heinrich Böll Foundation define gender democracy as a "joint task" The German trade union ver.di has defined the "realization of gender democracy" as one of its aims. The statutes of the German political party The Left contain a paragraph titled "gender democracy". Literature English Cynthia Cockburn: Strategies for Gender Democracy. Strengthening the Representation of Trade Union Women in the European Social Dialogue, PDF, The European Journal of Women’s Studies, vol.3, 1996 Yvonne Galligan (ed.): Deliberative Processes and Gender Democracy. Case Studies from Europe, PDF, February 2012, ARENA Report Series ISSN 1504-8152 / RECON Report Series ISSN 1504-7261 Yvonne Galligan and Sara Clavero: Assessing Gender Democracy in the European Union. A Methodological Framework. RECON Online Working Paper 2008/16, PDF, September 2008, ISSN 1504-6907 Utta Isop: Gender Grassroots Democracy. Five Demands for a Queer Politics, PDF German Johanna Dohnal (ed.): Test the West: Geschlechterdemokratie und Gewalt (vol. 1 of "Gewalt gegen Frauen, Frauen gegen Gewalt"), Bundesministerin für Frauenangelegenheiten, Vienna 1993, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (ed.): Geschlechterdemokratie wagen!, Königstein/Taunus, 2002. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung: Schriften zur Geschlechterdemokratie (14 volumes) Walter Hollstein: Geschlechterdemokratie. Männer und Frauen: Besser miteinander leben. Wiesbaden 2004, Annette Jünemann: Geschlechterdemokratie für die Arabische Welt. Die EU-Förderpolitik zwischen Staatsfeminismus und Islamismus, Wiesbaden 2014, Helga Lukoschat: Das Konzept der Geschlechterdemokratie und seine Umsetzung in Organisationen, in: Gleichstellungsstelle der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart (ed.): Chancen und Risiken der Verwaltungsreform für Frauen, Stuttgart 1998, p. 6–13. Ministerium für Arbeit, Frauen, Gesundheit und Soziales: Gender Mainstreaming in Sachsen-Anhalt, Magdeburg 2001 Birgit Sauer: Staat, Demokratie und Geschlecht – aktuelle Debatten. PDF, gender…politik…»online«, 2003. External links Gunda Werner Institute - Feminism and Gender Democracy IDEA - Democracy and gender Making Gender Democracy