array_search
// array demo
public $gender = array(
1 => 'Male',
2 => 'Female',
3 => 'Other',
);
$gen = 1;
if ($gen == array_search('Male', $this->gender)) {
$gender = __d('member', 'male');
} elseif ($gen == array_search('Female', $this->gender)) {
$gender = __d('member', 'female');
}