`sex` and `gender`

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16 June 2008

Sex and Gender

Introduction

Sociological research requires differentiating between the notions of gender and sex . These differences help investigate the influence of social institutions on our gender perceptions , and the close interaction between gender , sex , and family roles . Very frequently , we find ourselves under the pressure of gender stereotypes that are regularly imposed by various social institutions . As a result , the notions of gender and sex risk being distorted , making gender constructs inflexible in the constantly changing

social conditions

Gender is one of the universal dimensions on which status differences are based . Unlike sex , which is a biological concept , gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow (Gender and Society . As a result of this close sociological interaction between gender and sex , we tend to place wrong emphases on what gender and sex are . Certainly , one will not argue that the social concept of gender is directly linked to the biological notion of sex : the norms of gender conduct are determined by the anatomical features which distinguish men from women . Simultaneously the notions of masculinity and femininity that have grown out of the concept of gender are filled with numerous patriarchal biases . Women traditionally took social position submissive to men the anatomical features of female sex invariably determined the inferior social role of female gender . However , the times have changed . Our anatomical sex features remain the same , but gender perceptions have been somewhat altered under the impact of globalization , social development , and progress

Gender is a social construct . That means that society exercises a stable set of beliefs about sex . The social construction of gender is represented through the three social beliefs : first , the two sexes are universal (they are present in all cultures and societies without any exception the two sexes are exhaustive (there is no third sex and the two sexes are mutually exclusive (a person cannot be a male and a female in one body (Staggenborg 29 . In her article , Martin writes that institutions entail distinct social practices that recur , or are repeated by group members . [ .] Institutions both constrain and facilitate behavior / actions by societal group members (1256 . Thus institutions tend to constrain non-traditional gender roles , and to facilitate the gender choices and actions that they consider preferable European and American culture is deeply devoted to the idea that there are only two sexes (Fausto-Sterling . As a result , everything that goes beyond traditional laws of biology also goes beyond the limits of gender construct . This is why we tend to reject those who for some (biological or social ) reasons have appeared somewhere in between the two different sexes

Family is another social institution , which excellently well illustrates the distribution of gender roles in modern society Sometimes , family is referred to as the most important environmental influence , under which gender roles (outward expression of maleness or femaleness ) are formed (Staggenborg 46 . In this context , family...