sex and gender

• sex refers to a person’s biological status as either male or female
• sex is determined by one pair of sex chromosomes. These chromosomes influence hormonal differences as well as differences in anatomy
• gender refers to a person’s psychosocial status as either masculine or feminine
• gender includes all the attitudes, roles and behaviours that we associate with being a man or being a woman and these are heavily influenced by social norms and cultural expectations
• sex is innate whilst gender is at least partly environmentally determined
• sex cannot be changed
• gender is ‘assigned’ because it is a social construct
• gender is ‘fluid’ and open to change
• a person may become more masculine or more feminine depending on the social context they are in and the norms and expectations associated with it
• some people experience gender dysphoria when their biologically prescribed sex does not reflect the way they feel inside and they gender they identify as
• sex role stereotypes are a set of shared expectations that people within a culture or society hold about what is acceptable or usual behaviour for men and women
• these expectations are somehow communicated or transmitted throughout society and may be reinforced by parents, peers, the media, as well as other institutions such as schools
• many sex role stereotypes may lead to sexist assumptions being formed