Sex vs Gender

According to a website titled Transgender Student Guidelines, transgender is a term that represents an individual who identifies differently from what his or her biological gender is. In simpler words if an individual was born with male anatomy, then that individual feels identifies as a female, this clarification also

being a person whose gender identity is opposite the sex the person had or was

‘‘Sex’ is a biological term; ‘gender’ a psychological and cultural one’ (Oakley 1972, p.158). To further expound on Oakley, ‘sex’ refers to the biological framework a person is born with while ‘gender’, an identity that we acquire as a result of social and cultural influence. Sex is naturally constant throughout an individual’s life whereas gender is a variable. Via gender socialisation, men and women constantly learn to adapt to society’s expectations associated with their biological form as society changes. This very concept clearly elucidates the dichotomy between sex and gender. Therefore, coming from such a perspective, it is true to say that we are born as human beings (males, females or intersex) who formulate socially accepted gender identities as a product of social and cultural implications (Abbott, Wallace & Tyler 2005). Conventionally, societies associate the male and female sexes with their definitions of masculinity and femininity respectively.

The term transgender is used to define individuals who do not identify with the sex that they were assigned at birth. For example, if a person who is born female decides later on in her life that she would like to identify as a man, that person would identify as a trans-man, and would most-likely use the pronouns “he” or “him” when describing himself.

Transgender is a metaphorical umbrella term that covers a person whose self-identification, anatomy, appearance, manner, and/or expression is different from the sex assigned to them at birth and does not fit with societies interpretation for the norm of gender roles. Included in the transgender umbrella are transsexual people, non-binary gender identities, and cross-dressing (LGBT Youth, 2017). Transgender individuals are often the target of discrimination, injustice and social stigma that can lead to negative health outcomes.

People with gender Identity crises do not feel their genitalia reflects who they are inside. They may feel a powerful drive to have their genitalia match their self-image opting for sex reassignment surgery. Gender expression is far more relaxed than it has been throughout our history in America, but it still poses a problems for some on a daily basis. Gender expression is one area where women have a social advantage over men. It is far more socially acceptable for a woman to dress masculine than for a man to dress feminine; although neither are without predigests.

However many individuals interpret masculinity and femininity in very different manners. Along with different interpretations of acceptable gender behavior, people usually relate to this elements in a multitude of ways. However an individual can identify with a gender that does not match their biological sex. These individuals are often referred to as transgender, binary gender, or gender nonconforming. However the inability to establish an identity based on gender can cause serious insecurities in an individual.

According to the articles, transgender is when someone's gender identity, expression, and behaviors are not conforming with their biological sex.

There are several sources that tell a person how to be a man or woman. Science tells us by recognizing the X or Y chromosomes. The media shows us through the physically ideal celebrities that grace the covers of magazines and flaunt their bodies in commercials. Sports, wrestling, cars, and blue for the boys. Dresses, make-up, painted nails, and pink for the girls. All of these sources, as well as others, have evolved into an expectation that has become institutionalized within society. This expectation, is placement and belonging into the binary system of person: the man or the woman. In Anne Fausot-Sterling's acrticles “The Five Sexes” and the “The Five Sexes, Revisited”, the

As a parent, I only want what is best for my child. At first, surgery seemed like it would fix everything and give my baby a normal life. After a great deal of research, I learned that surgery did not simply entail removing extra tissue without any consequences. My child could either grow up to be physically and psychologically affected by this one clinical decision, or the surgery could prove to be completely beneficial. Too much uncertainty lies in performing this surgery. No one, not even our doctor, knows which gender he or she will grow up to identify with. I could never forgive myself if I forced my child into conforming to certain gender norms, only for him or her to feel trapped in his or her body later

A person who identifies as transgender is one who expresses a gender identity that differs from the one that corresponds with their assigned sex. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female, or any other gender. Gender expression refers to the way someone communicates their gender identity, whether it’s through the clothing they wear, their hairstyle, or their voice and body characteristics. Although some may not be aware, sex and gender aren’t synonyms. Sex is assigned at birth and refers to a person’s biological status whereas gender is based on socially constructed roles, behaviors and attributes that given societies consider appropriate for men or women. People who fall under the transgender umbrella may identify

Many cultures and countries, traditionally, have viewed gender as naturally immutable, as biologically determined at birth, and as binary – either male or female. Because gender binary is accepted as a norm in many cultures and countries, many have ideas and expectations toward newly born infants – these infants are expected to fit neatly into either male or female, and their sexual anatomies are expected to be distinct from one another. When infants are born with intersexual condition, however, medical authorities not only consider these intersex births as anatomic abnormality but intervene also to “fix” these intersex infants back to “normal” by performing highly invasive genital modification surgeries. Because they believe that intersex

According to Hagg and Fellows (2007:4), sex generally refers to anatomy and biology such as male or female, whereas gender refers to the qualities and behaviours society expects from a boy or girl, a man or woman. The definition of transgender refers to a person having no identification with, or no presentation as, the gender one was assigned at birth (Hagg and Fellows 2007:4). The definition of transsexual in Hagg and Fellows (2007:4) refers to a person who had undergone a sex change operation or a person identifying with the opposite sex.

Transgender is a human who does not identify with the sex that they were assigned at birth. Transgender is often shortened to trans to make it easier to say and convey what they mean easier. Transgender is an umbrella term to encompass many identities. There are many other identities that go along with being transgender like trans man or women, trans demiboy or demigirl, trans nonbinary, and many others. The thing that makes you transgender is if you self identify with being transgender than you are transgender. There are many words at this moment that are used against trans people and some of those words are tranny, transgendered, transexual, shemale, and many others. These words are used against trans people to spread hate in this world. Many trans

Sex and gender are not equal - contrary to common assumption. Sex, as defined by Rosman, is the “physical differences between male and female [based on] biological and anatomical composition of genitals and secondary sexual characteristics” (141). On the other hand, gender is defined as “the culture-specific set of behavioral, ideological, and social meanings constructed around the understandings of these biological and anatomical differences” (142). So what does this mean? Indeed, the assumption of sex equating to gender is not necessarily true because gender is culturally constructed. Different societies often have different perceptions of what gender is: for instance North American heteronormative culture in comparison with the gender relationships of people in Wogeo (minimal differences between men and women) or of the people in Samoa - specifically focusing on the fa 'afafine.