Sex is defined in biological terms as the creation of a genetically unique individual as a result of the equal contribution of chromosomes from two parents: hence, two types of gamete (oocytes and spermatozoa) are produced from two types of gonads (ovary and testis) in two types of individuals (female and male).
Gender is a system of classification based on sex.
There is an assumption, broadly universal across cultures and history, that the identification of one of these features as male or female could reasonably be expected to predict that all the other features would also be concordantly male or female. Thus, the presence or absence of a penis at birth is taken generally as diagnostic of males or females, respectively.
Discordances can and do exist, and we now understand more of the nature and origin of many of them. Estimates of the incidence of ambiguous external genitalia are understandably problematic, but figures of 0.1–0.2% of babies with major ambiguity and 1–2% with less severe ambiguity have been suggested. Although small in percentage terms, this amounts to a large number of intersex individuals. The traditional approach to genital ambiguity in Americo-European cultures has been to intervene as early in childhood as possible to remove or reduce ambiguity and assign a clear anatomical and thus social sex to the baby. An intersex state was not considered acceptable. However, other cultures have taken a different approach, and accepted intersex state.
A gender stereotype is the set of beliefs about what it means to be a man or a woman in a particular society
Gender stereotypes provide a description which is broadly recognizable as defining what it means to be masculine or feminine in a society. The precise attributes appropriate to each gender will vary from one society to another, or in the same society over time. However, social, historical and anthropological studies reveal a remarkable consistency in the extent to which each of those attributes listed recurs with greater or lesser emphasis in the gender stereotypes of a range of different societies.
For example, the exclusion of women from public life or from particular social or work roles is more evident in strict Islamic societies or traditional Christian societies than in modern secular societies. However, in the latter societies such gender stereotyping still persists in that certain roles remain associated strongly with men (e.g. priests) or women (e.g. nurses, midwives) even if many of these associations are much weaker than they once were.
In framing a gender stereotype, no claim is being made that this stereotype is true for all or indeed for any female or male. It is rather a shared cultural belief about what men and women are like. This social consensus about what it means to be a man or a woman is important for individuals’ perceptions of themselves and of those around them. It provides a yardstick against which to measure their own masculinity or femininity and that of those whom they meet.
This measuring process is important because those who appear to stray too far from the stereotype are generally regarded negatively or as a focus for rebellion. In societies in which gender plays a strong social role, it is less acceptable for men to appear feminine than for women to appear masculine, although there are boundaries in both directions. This asymmetry may result from the fact that men tend to be more powerful than women, and so their attributes are more valued socially. So in societies in which gender stereotypes are being eroded, there tends to be more acceptance of the perceived masculinization of women’s stereotypes and more resistance to the feminization of men’s stereotypes. However, as economies shift increasingly towards a service function, in which traditionally feminine attributes are more valued, the employment opportunities for traditionally masculine men are reduced and these men become marginalized as their masculine attributes are less valued. A key message from this brief discussion is the strong cultural contingency of gender attributes.
Gender identity describes the personal concept of ‘me as a man or a woman’
We have a social view that there are two genders defined broadly by the gender stereotypes of our society. Each of us is part of that society. It therefore follows that each of us has a view of ourselves as being masculine or feminine and of conforming to a greater or lesser degree to the stereotype. The extent to which each individual feels confident of his or her position within this bipolar gender spectrum is a measure of the strength and security of their gender identity. Most individuals have gender identities that are fully congruent with their sex. Thus, most women and men who are physically female and male, respectively, have strong gender identities. Some individuals may feel less certain about their gender identities, although they nonetheless identify congruently with their physical sex: they may be said to have weak gender identities. A few individuals may feel that their gender identities are totally at variance with their otherwise congruent genetic, gonadal, hormonal and genital sex. Such people are described as being trans- sexual or transgendered.
It may occur in either direction, the male-to-female transgender consider themselves to be females with a female gender identity and brain but with otherwise male bodies, whereas the female- to-male transgender feel themselves to be men in an otherwise woman’s body. Traditionally, more male-to-female transgendered individuals have been identified than female-to-male, although this may represent differential reporting more than real prevalence. The transgendered may adopt the gender roles of the physically different sex, and some may undergo surgical and hormonal treatments so as to bring their bodies and their bodily functions (their sex) as closely congruent to their gender identity as is possible (females becoming transmen and males becoming transwomen). Transgendered men and women provide us with perhaps the strongest justification for making the distinction between sex and gender. A better understanding of the basis of trans-people may also help us to refine more clearly the boundary between sex and gender.
Hormones, the brain and behavioural dimorphism:
Non-human primates show sex differences in behaviour which appear to be influenced by hormonal exposure early in life. To what extent do androgens exert the same effects on the development of sexually dimorphic behaviour in non-human primates? Results from experiments on rhesus monkeys suggest some similarities. Young females, exposed to high levels of androgens during fetal life, display levels of sexually dimorphic behaviour in their patterns of childhood play that are intermediate between normal males and females. In humans there may be both sex and gender differences in brain structure and the expression of gender attributes, but the underlying causes are uncertain
Patterns of interaction between babies and those around them emphasize gender differences. Starting from birth, mothers attribute different characteristics to male infants than to female infants. Thus, when individual adults are handed the same baby, having been told variously that it is a girl or a boy, their play, handling of and communication with it differ according to their perception of its sex. This sort of study shows that babies of different sexes are likely to be treated differently simply because they are of different sexes.
A second example makes an additional point. When adults are shown the same video sequence of a child playing, and some are told that it is a boy and others a girl, their interpretations of its behaviours depend on the sex that they believe it to be. For example, when the child was startled and believed to be a boy, it was perceived more often as being angry, whereas the same startled behaviour, when believed to be that of a girl, was perceived as fearful distress. This sort of study tells us that expectations about how a male or female baby should behave can lead adults to interpret the same behaviour very differently. It raises the possibility that some behaviours may be reinforced or responded to in different gender-specific ways as a result of the expectations of others. Several studies have shown very clearly that the expectations that adults have of a boy differ from those expected of a girl; and men tend to be much more prone to gender stereotyping in this regard than women. Thus, girls are expected to be softer and more vulnerable and are played with more gently. They are also expected to be more vocal and socially interactive, and parents spend more time in these sorts of behaviours with girls. Boys in contrast are encouraged to do things, are less directly communicated with and are disciplined or roughly handled more often.
These sorts of observations emphasize how important and subtle gender stereotypes are and how they are applied to children from the moment of birth. Indeed, parents seem quite anxious to encourage differences between boys and girls by the types of toys they offer them, the clothes they provide for them, and the activities they encourage and discourage. Rewards and approval are offered when children conform to parental gender stereotypes. Children are, of course, cognitive beings. They do not simply absorb subconsciously impressions of the world around them, although that does occur.
The requirement to use post-mortem brains for neuroanatomical analysis restricts both the amount and quality of the material, and observations are complicated by variations in age, pathology, experience and structural artefacts. Although studies are limited and often conflicting, a few consistent sex differences in the structural organization of the brain have been reported, for example in a small region of the anterior hypothalamus called the 3rd interstitial nucleus. However, the significance of these sex differences for gender identity and attributes is less clear. A claim has been made that the size and organization of the central bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is associated specifically with gender identity as opposed to sex.
Thus it can be concluded that genetics, brain anatomy, androgens, and social learning have all been implicated in the formation of sexualities.