Sex and Gender

Sex definition

observable physical characteristics that distinguish two kinds of humans, females and males, needed for biological reproduction

Sexual dimorphism definition

marked differences in male and female biology, beyond primary reproductive
organs

Cans exual differences determine the way men and women behave?

The biological nature of men and women should be seen not as a narrow enclosure limiting humans, but rather as a broad base upon which a variety of behavior patterns can be formed

Gender definition

The social categories/traits associated with masculinity and femininity

• Compare: sex is used to describe biological
  males and females

Gender is culturally formed

Differences in behavior between the sexes emerge from culture rather than biology

Gender roles: tasks and activities that a culture assigns to the sexes

• Gender roles vary greatly among different societies, but certain gender roles are more sex- linked than others— cultural generalities

Gender stereotypes

• oversimplified, strongly held ideas of characteristics of men and women

• In any given society, people tend to have some strong ideas about how women and men should behave

Gender identity

• refers to whether a person feels, or is regarded by others as, male, female, or something else

  • Ancient societies may recognize more than two genders

  • Certain types of male servants as “the third gender”

Modern societies may also recognize more than two genders

• Intersex: conditions involving discrepancy between external and internal reproductive organs

• Transgender: a social category that includes individuals whose self-gender identity contradicts their biological sex at birth