Sex and Gender

• Sex


  The biological differences between males and females including chromosomes, hormones and anatomy.
• Gender


  The psychological, social and cultural differences between males and females including attitudes, behaviours and social roles. It is a social construct and can change over time, place and situation.
• Gender identity


  A person's innate sense of their gender.
• Gender role


  The role, or behaviours, considered to be appropriate to a particular gender as determined by prevailing cultural norms.
• Sex-role stereotypes


  A set of beliefs and preconceived ideas about what is expected or appropriate for men/women in a given society or social group.
• Gender fluidity


  The ease at which you can switch your gender
• Gender dysphoria


  When sex and gender fail to correspond
• Imperato-McGinley (1974) studied 4 children who identified as female at birth and then became males after puberty. The Batista boys were born with a rare genetic condition meaning their genitalia was not external until puberty. They abandoned their gender with few issues, despite being raised as girls.
• Studies into sex-role stereotyping can be used to support the social learning theory of gender, and the view that various agents of socialisation sustain stereotypical expectations we have for men and women. For example, advertising typically depicts women using stereotypically feminine products, such as washing powder.
• Intersex


  Those whose genitalia, chromosomes or reproductive organs don't fit into a male/female sex binary.
• Androgyny


  A flexible gender role - displaying a balance of both masculine and feminine traits.
• During the 1970s, Sandra Bem developed the Bem Sex Role Inventory as a form of measuring androgyny. The BSRI included 20 masculine traits, 20 feminine traits and 20 neutral traits and participants were required to rate themselves on a 7-point Likert scale. Scores were then classified on the basis of two dimensions: masculinity-femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated.
• Bem found that 34% of male participants and 27% of female participants were androgynous. These individuals were found to be more adaptable to situations and had a greater sense of well-being.
• One strength of Bem's work is that gender identity was measured quantitatively and therefore would be useful in research in order to make comparisons.
• A limitation of the BSRI is that gender is a social construct, and therefore open to interpretation. The scoring system is therefore subjective and the BSRI cannot be classified as a scientific way of assessing gender identity.
• A strength of the BSRI is that it was a valid and reliable way of measuring gender at the time. Using test-retest, Bem had respondents redo the BSRI and then calculated the correlation coefficient, discovering high rates of test-retest reliability.
• A counterpoint to the BSRI's reliability concerns its low temporal validity. The BSRI was developed over 40 years ago, and people's attitudes and language surrounding gender have changed massively since then.