The Psychological Explanation Of Gender Identity

The determination of gender identity is much deeper than whether a person is born a male or a female. The exact identifier that separates gender identity is currently unknown but researchers believe that genetics, hormones, reproductive organs, biological, and environmental factors all play a role in distinguishing a person’s gender identity. A person’s physical gender and their sense of gender are formed at two different times in two different parts of the body. A person’s gender is whether they are born male or female, but the way they identify themselves may be the opposite, which is not uncommon and has occurred since the beginning of time. In culture males are known to be the stronger, more aggressive sex, while females are the

Many people confuse the definition of gender and sex. “Gender, on the other hand, refers to the meanings, values, and characteristics that people ascribe to different sexes. Sex is a biological concept, determined on the basis of individual 's primary sex characteristics.” (Blackstone) Society gives social cues on the appropriate behavior for each sex. For example, women are to exert more feminine traits such as dependent, emotional, passive, innocent, nurturing, and/ or self-critical. On the other hand, men are to behave more masculine such as independent, non-emotional, aggressive, competitive,

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 and gender roles are a somewhat complicated idea to understand. Contrary to popular belief, gender and sex are two different things in that “gender is not inherently nor solely connected to one’s physical anatomy” (“Understanding Gender”). When parents automatically assign their child a gender based on their sex organs, it leaves very little room for change later in the child’s life, because children born with female sex organs are not necessarily girls, just as children born with male sex organs are not necessarily boys. Rather, gender is based on mindset, personal identity, outward presentations, and behavior of the individual. Binary genders, or the broadly

Gender is a complex socially constructed idea. Often people interchangeably use gender to refer to someone’s sex. This is not the case. Sex is the biological characteristics that makes someone a male, female or intersex. Gender however is made up of expression, identity, and sexual orientation. Gender identity is how one views themselves such as a woman, man or transgender. Gender identity does not correspond to the sex of that person. Gender expression is how one expresses their gender identity. This could be through a masculine , feminine or androgynous expression. In Western societies, although there has been a push for change in our gender system, the gender system as been a binary system. This binary system only believes that there are

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.

Sex and gender are often used interchangeably in American culture, yet they have distinctly different meanings. Sex is based on a person’s biological traits, such as chromosomes and genitals, while gender is used to outline what cultural roles a person will perform. American society uses a binary system of male or female for sex and gender. Both sex and gender are integral in shaping a person’s identity. The gender and sex binary system can be detrimental to individuals who do not conform to it.

Similar to race and ethnicity, sex and gender are terms that can sometimes be confused. Sex “refers to physical or physiological differences between males and females” and gender “refers to social or cultural distinctions with being male or female.” A person’s sex relates strictly to biological factors, while a person’s gender relates to characteristics that are identified as masculine or feminine in society.

Gender is socially constructed, signifying processes and practices of conduct ("doing", "undoing" and "re-doing" gender) (West & Zimmerman, 1987; Deutsch, 2007; West & Zimmerman, 2007) based on an assigned sex category (Hird, 2000; Risman, 2004; Connell, 2010). Sex, in contrast, refers to the biological differences between men and women (chromosomes, hormones and genitalia) (Harding, 1996; Hird, 2000).

The concept of gender has a strong social impact on me. When I was born, I was immediately assigned to a biological sex as a female with two X chromosomes. I was then socially classified as a girl in the society with feminine gender roles. Gender is defined as a social principle which attribute to the roles and expectations of males and females through the years of different societies (Phillips, 2005). Gender can be considered as behavioural, cultural and psychological traits

There has been much confusion that sex and gender are the same but actually there is a vast difference between the two concepts as gender is the social, cultural and psychological difference between a male and

Unlike gender, sex refers to the biological attributes which deem a person male, female, neither or both such as the chromosomal combination in the genotype of the individual, consequently the genitalia present at birth, if any, and the presence of hormones. From a sociological stance, gender on the other hand is the non-biological aspect of one’s identity which adheres to the societies’ categories of masculine or feminine (Moore, Aiken and Chapman 2008), through the process of gender determination according to Westbrook and Schilt (2014). The World Health Organisation (2015) similarly describes gender as characteristics pertaining specifically to masculinity or femininity established by the society raising the fact that it may vary amongst different societies and as the society evolves, so can the concept of gender. From the two perspectives and other works it is evident that there lies a clear distinction between gender and sex, however gender cannot exist without the biological classifications of male and female as found in the medical field, thus the “biology-based” definition of gender will refer to whether an individual is classed as masculine or feminine based on their sexual assignment at birth (Westbrook and Schilt

Sex and gender have been categorized in the same loop time and time again, but is merely confused about between one person to the next. Sex is what you are born with penis, vaginia, and in some cases both as opposed to gender. Although we link two and two together mentally, logically they are opposites. Socialization, parenting, and media throughout the world, develop your sense of gender, male or female “gender roles.”

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

From the minutes we are conceived, our lives are formed by our biological characters, which thusly, are further affected by a boundless number of cultural, environmental and mental strengths. At this point in our lives we are assumed sorted roles of how to behave as a boy or girl. We are told how to dress, act and fit into society’s norms. We focus on these roles without being given opportunity to choose our paths in life. Even when we reach adulthood, these social and mental forces are still very common to us. Figuring out what it feels like to be male and