Diamond Sex And Gender Analysis

Gender coding is not a natural or biological characteristic. People are born with different physical and biological characteristics, but make sense of their gender roles through cultural influences. “Stereotypes are amazingly powerful, and we may not realize the degree to which our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are shaped by them” (Silverman, Rader, 2010). Boys and girls are labeled as masculine or feminine, which is considered the “norm” for society. Children are not born masculine or feminine, they learn these roles from parents, peers, media, and even religion. Concepts of gender identity are sometimes placed on children even before their birth, such as with the selection of paint colors for the nursery.” Children begin to form concepts of gender beginning around the age of 2, and most children know if they are a boy or girl by age of 3” (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From an early age, children are encouraged to identify with gender coding. Gender is formed at birth, but self-identification as being male or female is imbedded into their minds by parents and society. A child learns to understand their gender role and their identity by what is taught and expressed to them by others. Yet as a child grows, gender coding can cause cultural confusion, and insecurity issues throughout the course of their life.

Although men and women have significant biological differences, the question whether gender-specific labels stems from these biological differences or are gender constructed remains a polarised nature versus nurture debate. Whether it is through the process of socialisation or genetic make-up, “gender identity” is given from a person’s birth, determining how a person culturally interacts and the expectations society places on them. Along with a “gender identity” comes a whole set of “norms”, “values” and so-called “gender characteristics”, which are supposed to define the differences between a male and a female. According to the World Health Organisation (n.d.), the term “sex” is often used to define the biological and physiological

Gender has been described as masculine or feminine characteristics that encompass gender identity sex as well as social roles (Nobelius 2004). According to sexologist John Money, there is a difference between gender as a role and the biologically of differences in sex (Udry 1994). Within scholarly disciplines, cultures and contexts, gender frequently has its own mean, contextual frame of reference and the manner in which it is used to describe a variety of issues and characteristics. The sociocultural codes, conventions and the suggested and literal rules that accompany the notion of gender are vast and diverse. There has been and continues to be much scholarly debate regarding the idea of gender and how it has been viewed historically; as well as changes in the grammatical use of the

First of all I am going to begin with defining sex and gender. Sex in a sociological perspective is defined as the biological and physiological differences between men and women which are contrasted in terms of reproductive function(Abercrombie et al 2000 :313). On the other hand gender is sociologically conceived as the social roles allocated to men and women in society that is to say gender is learned not innate. However previously it was believed that sex determined gender thus the differences between men and

A person’s sex is determined on the basis of three fundamental human physiognomies, chromosomes (XX for a female and XY for a male), gonads (ovaries for females and testes for males) and the obvious being genitals (vagina for a females and a penis for males). However socially, gender identity is formulated on the grounds of stereotypical roles from both

They explain how from birth society labels infants as male or female and thus initiates them into a continuing learning process of what it means to be a boy or a girl. Naming and colour coding are used as examples of how infants are immediately plunged into a life of gender processing by adults, which they then later adopt themselves. Eckert and McConnell-Ginet’s work aims to demonstrate, through reliable sources and studies, that gender is not something we are born with, but something we learn to

Traditionally speaking, most people view sex and gender as interchangeable, synonymous, and biological. As more studies and research are done, more professionals are realizing the vital difference between the two terms. Sex, according to sociologist Doctor Zuleyka Zevallos, is the “biological traits that societies use to assign people into the category of either male or female, whether it be through a focus on chromosomes, genitalia, or some other physical ascription”. She goes on to say that the definition of gender is “the cultural meanings attached to men and women’s roles; and how individuals understand their identities including, but not limited to, being a man, woman, transgender, intersex, gender queer, and other gender identities” (Zeyallos, 2014). We see sex as something we are assigned at birth due to the body parts we are born with, and we see gender as the way one identifies with their assigned sex. In the majority of cases, assigned sex and gender identity line up, but less often it does not. In these cases, we see individuals who are transgender, gender queer, gender fluid, and more. More people are coming forward about these different ways they are experiencing gender, so many people assume these ways of experiencing gender are new.

The sex binary is a fundamental value in American society. Even before birth, people are to be either male or female. The article Doing Gender by West and Zimmerman explains how from an early age, children are taught to identify a person’s sex with that

Throughout many studies, researchers have said that gender develops from families, which is part of the social construction in children. According to Coltrane and Adams, Gender is defined as “To what it means to be a man or a woman in a specific time and place” (Coltrane and Adams). People in this world think that gender is automatically part of biological sex, but according to Coltrane and Adams, it is not a direct result of biological sex. The term is defined as “to refer relatively distinct biological differences between male and females such as genitals, hormones, and chromosomes” (Coltrane and Adams). For gender it is also social and it refers to how a person thinks that someone should look, act and feel (Coltrane and Adams). On the daily life, people will usually assume that a person “is” the gender that corresponds to his or her sex: females are feminine and males are masculine (Coltrane and Adams). In addition, gender also describes how the typical man and woman are supposed to present themselves. A man presenting himself as masculine and a woman presenting herself as feminine in particular cultures (Coltrane and Adams). In other words how women should act and how men should act.

At a very young age we are introduced to a gender identity based upon the sex we were born with. Girls are associated with the color pink, dolls, nurturing tendencies, and inclined to be more emotional. While boys are associated with the color blue, the nature of masculinity, sports, and said to be more outspoken. However, gender and sex are two different things. Sex is the biological differences between female and male, while gender is social construct attached with social roles

During this week we have discussed the differences of how we describe masculine and feminine based on biological and cultural assessments of gender, while also looking at how media depicts these gender roles, and how it influences our understanding of sex and sexuality. Gender roles are drawn upon normative rules and standards that “society” create. When we distinguish between these roles, the Masculine role is more self-oriented or agentic, while the feminine role is communal. Males are understood of having a standard of being strong, aggressive, dominant, and most importantly being the provider. Females are thought of having the standard of being weak, fragile, submissive, nurturing, and subordinate. This gender socialization begins at birth starting when a girl is placed in a pink hat, while a boy is placed in a blue cap.

Since birth children are taught the necessary components of human interaction; the lesson of how to be a male and female is one that is never-ending in their development. Whether or not the parents choose to teach these barbaric messages of what is conventionally expected from a male or female, their children will be bombarded with this agenda by other aspects of western civilization’s culture. The machine, which is known as society, facilitates the media, our peers, and social interaction which will in result shaping its citizens as it sees fit. Steering clear of these messages is impossible, but the ability to recognize these lessons in gender for what they really are will be liberating and vital to an

Genderism refers to the idea that there are only two ways to fit into socially normative views of gender: male or female. This term also fortifies the notion that gender, and the gender which one identifies with, is inherently connected to the biological makeup of the genitalia they were assigned with at birth. Genderism is seen as a cultural belief, and therefore is a commonly shared perspective amongst people in many regions of the world. For those who were born into a culture where genderism is practiced, it can be difficult to formulate opposing opinions and viewpoints regarding gender. Moreover, this causes individuals to subconsciously place people into categories or a binary, which as a result, excludes multiple individuals and restricts many from being true to who they are. Hall (2013) stated in his work,that while it is necessary for humans to sort new information into ‘types’ in their brains to comprehend meaning, it is critical not to limit individuals to these types. Furthermore, with the knowledge and technology at the hands of scientists and researchers today, limitations of gender and gender identification

The words ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are commonly confused with each other in regular, everyday conversations when the two have very different meanings. The term ‘sex’ refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of a person, such as male or female; ‘gender’ is a social construction that refers to masculine or feminine roles in society ( Nordqvist). For

When considering gender and sex, a layman’s idea of these terms might be very different than a sociologist’s. There is an important distinction: sex, in terms of being “male” or “female,” is purely the physical biological characteristic differences – primarily anatomical differences. (There are also rare cases of “intersexual” individuals as outlined in the Navarro article, “When Gender Isn’t a Given”.) Gender, on the other hand, is an often misconstrued concept that is commonly mistaken as synonymous with sex. A non-sociologist might surmise the following, “men act masculine and women act feminine, therefore, it must follow that gender is inherent to sex,” however, this is not necessarily the case.