Essay Plans (SO110)
What, if any, is the relationship between sex and gender?
Introduction: Although there have been calls for a distinction between sex and gender as a counter
to biological essentialism which has led to an entrenchment of gendered inequalities, we must not
risk creating a false dichotomy between the two. Sex and gender are intrinsically inter-connected
as sexed bodies never exist outside gendered, social meanings and vice versa.
#1: Definition of sex and gender
- Sexual differences refer to biological differences between males and females
- Presence of certain chromosomes and reproductive organs
- Sex is what is ascribed by biology —> anatomy, hormones, physiology
- E.g. biological males have penises, biological females have vaginas
- Males on average tend to have deeper voices and are more prone to baldness in later life
- Gender refers to notions of masculinity and femininity
- Looks at the social, cultural distinctions between the sexes
- Focused on social roles, positions, behaviours and identities
- “an achieved status” (Zimmerman), constructed through psychological, cultural and social
means
#2: Biological essentialist views of sex and gender
- Traditional understanding of the relationship between sex and gender is that gendered
constructs, relationships and phenomena could be explained by biological, ‘sex’ reasons
- “Things are the way they are by virtue of the fact that men are men and women are women - a
division perceived to be natural and rooted in biology, producing in turn profound psychological,
behavioural and social consequences”
- The way society is structured along the lines of gender is therefore in accordance with biology
(sex)
- Those who advocate biological essentialism and determinism put forward the argument that
human behaviour (aka gender, masculine and feminine behaviour) lies in our cells, our biology
- Social and political arrangements naturally flow from biological differences
- Geddes and Thompson
- Argued that social, psychological and behavioural traits were caused by metabolic states.
Women, being ‘anabolic’, meant that they conserved energy, making them passive and
uninterested in politics. Men, being ‘katabolic’ meant that they were more active and thus
more interested in socio-political issues, thereby explaining the reasons for women playing a
minimised role in politics
- “What was decided among the prehistoric Protozoa cannot be annulled by Act of Parliament”
- Women’s efforts to enter the public sphere were therefore misguided and unfounded as it
violated “laws of nature”
- Biological, sex facts explaining differences in behaviour as well as socio-political
arrangements, a key element of gender
- Clarke
- Women should be exempted from higher education because of the tremendous demands
placed on them to reproduce
- If they went to college, they would not be able to reproduce
- More contemporary examples
- 1970s —> as women will be hormonally unable on a monthly basis, they are not fit for jobs
such as that of airline pilots as they would not be able to perform the job properly due to their
sexed characteristics
- “Societal arrangements between women and men (gender inequality) seem to stem directly and
inevitably from the differences between us. Biological arguments reassure us that what is is
what should be, that the social is natural. Finally, such reassurances tell us that these existing
inequalities are not our fault, that no one is to blame.” (Kimmel)
, Essay Plans (SO110)
#3: Distinction between sex and gender
- Feminists have argued for a distinction between sex and gender to counter biological
determinism
- Saw that behavioural and psychological differences had social (gender) rather than biological
(sex) causes
- By establishing a disconnect between sex and gender, feminists were able to argue for social
change since these inequalities would have lost its biological, scientific grounding, establishing
them as social constructs that can be changed
- Gayle Rubin
- Gender as the “socially imposed division of the sexes”
- Although biological, sex differences are fixed, gender differences are the oppressive results of
social interventions that dictate how women and men behave
- Simone du Beauvoir
- One is not born, but rather becomes a women
- “social discrimination produces in women moral and intellectual effects so profound that they
appear to be caused by nature”
- Margaret Mead
- Conducted a cross-cultural study on gender in three very different societies in Papua New
Guinea
- Found significant variations in the definitions of masculinity and femininity (if sex naturally
implied gender roles and notions as posited by biological determinists, then this would not be
possible since a biological female living in London would have the same sexual anatomy as a
biological female living in one of these societies in Papua New Guinea, yet social norms and
expectations differ —> seems to be a disconnect between sex and gender)
- In two of the cultures, there were remarkable similarities between women and men, both took
on the role of homemaking, appeared gentle, passive (‘feminine’ attitudes)
- In one of the cultures, gender roles were switched with biological males taking on more
feminine roles and biological females taking on more masculine roles
- Biological facts and characteristics are seen to be neutral, do not entail an answer to the
normative questions that surrounds understandings of gender
#4: Sex as not being wholly biological, similar to gender in the sense that it is socially constructed
- Sex classification is not solely a matter of biology
- Concept of sex can be said to be a product of social forces in the sense that what counts as sex
is shaped by social meanings
- Those with XX-chromosomes, ovaries etc count as biologically female, those with XY-
chromosomes, testes etc count as biologically male
- This understanding is fairly recent, until late 18th century, males and females not seen as
distinct categories with specific traits, a one-sex models —> female genitals thought to be the
same as males but simply directed inside the body (Nicholson)
- Biological criteria to be sexed a male or female is a social construct (often arbitrary)
- Fausto-Sterling
- Sex gradually institutionally disciplined into a binary system through medical advances —>
problematic for intersex individuals
- Two-sex model isn’t straightforward, 1.7% fail to fall neatly within the usual sex classification
(e.g. Maria Patino born and raised a female, found to have XY chromosomes, barred from
competing)
- Looked at the way doctors treat intersex children
- Believe that intersex children are actually male or female
- Behaviour formulated by the cultural gender assumption that there are only two sexes
- Determining the sex of children becomes a cultural act, a social construct
- Social forces can be said to construct certain kinds of sexed bodies
- Promotion of exercise differs for males and females —> result in difference in secondary sex
characteristics
What, if any, is the relationship between sex and gender?
Introduction: Although there have been calls for a distinction between sex and gender as a counter
to biological essentialism which has led to an entrenchment of gendered inequalities, we must not
risk creating a false dichotomy between the two. Sex and gender are intrinsically inter-connected
as sexed bodies never exist outside gendered, social meanings and vice versa.
#1: Definition of sex and gender
- Sexual differences refer to biological differences between males and females
- Presence of certain chromosomes and reproductive organs
- Sex is what is ascribed by biology —> anatomy, hormones, physiology
- E.g. biological males have penises, biological females have vaginas
- Males on average tend to have deeper voices and are more prone to baldness in later life
- Gender refers to notions of masculinity and femininity
- Looks at the social, cultural distinctions between the sexes
- Focused on social roles, positions, behaviours and identities
- “an achieved status” (Zimmerman), constructed through psychological, cultural and social
means
#2: Biological essentialist views of sex and gender
- Traditional understanding of the relationship between sex and gender is that gendered
constructs, relationships and phenomena could be explained by biological, ‘sex’ reasons
- “Things are the way they are by virtue of the fact that men are men and women are women - a
division perceived to be natural and rooted in biology, producing in turn profound psychological,
behavioural and social consequences”
- The way society is structured along the lines of gender is therefore in accordance with biology
(sex)
- Those who advocate biological essentialism and determinism put forward the argument that
human behaviour (aka gender, masculine and feminine behaviour) lies in our cells, our biology
- Social and political arrangements naturally flow from biological differences
- Geddes and Thompson
- Argued that social, psychological and behavioural traits were caused by metabolic states.
Women, being ‘anabolic’, meant that they conserved energy, making them passive and
uninterested in politics. Men, being ‘katabolic’ meant that they were more active and thus
more interested in socio-political issues, thereby explaining the reasons for women playing a
minimised role in politics
- “What was decided among the prehistoric Protozoa cannot be annulled by Act of Parliament”
- Women’s efforts to enter the public sphere were therefore misguided and unfounded as it
violated “laws of nature”
- Biological, sex facts explaining differences in behaviour as well as socio-political
arrangements, a key element of gender
- Clarke
- Women should be exempted from higher education because of the tremendous demands
placed on them to reproduce
- If they went to college, they would not be able to reproduce
- More contemporary examples
- 1970s —> as women will be hormonally unable on a monthly basis, they are not fit for jobs
such as that of airline pilots as they would not be able to perform the job properly due to their
sexed characteristics
- “Societal arrangements between women and men (gender inequality) seem to stem directly and
inevitably from the differences between us. Biological arguments reassure us that what is is
what should be, that the social is natural. Finally, such reassurances tell us that these existing
inequalities are not our fault, that no one is to blame.” (Kimmel)
, Essay Plans (SO110)
#3: Distinction between sex and gender
- Feminists have argued for a distinction between sex and gender to counter biological
determinism
- Saw that behavioural and psychological differences had social (gender) rather than biological
(sex) causes
- By establishing a disconnect between sex and gender, feminists were able to argue for social
change since these inequalities would have lost its biological, scientific grounding, establishing
them as social constructs that can be changed
- Gayle Rubin
- Gender as the “socially imposed division of the sexes”
- Although biological, sex differences are fixed, gender differences are the oppressive results of
social interventions that dictate how women and men behave
- Simone du Beauvoir
- One is not born, but rather becomes a women
- “social discrimination produces in women moral and intellectual effects so profound that they
appear to be caused by nature”
- Margaret Mead
- Conducted a cross-cultural study on gender in three very different societies in Papua New
Guinea
- Found significant variations in the definitions of masculinity and femininity (if sex naturally
implied gender roles and notions as posited by biological determinists, then this would not be
possible since a biological female living in London would have the same sexual anatomy as a
biological female living in one of these societies in Papua New Guinea, yet social norms and
expectations differ —> seems to be a disconnect between sex and gender)
- In two of the cultures, there were remarkable similarities between women and men, both took
on the role of homemaking, appeared gentle, passive (‘feminine’ attitudes)
- In one of the cultures, gender roles were switched with biological males taking on more
feminine roles and biological females taking on more masculine roles
- Biological facts and characteristics are seen to be neutral, do not entail an answer to the
normative questions that surrounds understandings of gender
#4: Sex as not being wholly biological, similar to gender in the sense that it is socially constructed
- Sex classification is not solely a matter of biology
- Concept of sex can be said to be a product of social forces in the sense that what counts as sex
is shaped by social meanings
- Those with XX-chromosomes, ovaries etc count as biologically female, those with XY-
chromosomes, testes etc count as biologically male
- This understanding is fairly recent, until late 18th century, males and females not seen as
distinct categories with specific traits, a one-sex models —> female genitals thought to be the
same as males but simply directed inside the body (Nicholson)
- Biological criteria to be sexed a male or female is a social construct (often arbitrary)
- Fausto-Sterling
- Sex gradually institutionally disciplined into a binary system through medical advances —>
problematic for intersex individuals
- Two-sex model isn’t straightforward, 1.7% fail to fall neatly within the usual sex classification
(e.g. Maria Patino born and raised a female, found to have XY chromosomes, barred from
competing)
- Looked at the way doctors treat intersex children
- Believe that intersex children are actually male or female
- Behaviour formulated by the cultural gender assumption that there are only two sexes
- Determining the sex of children becomes a cultural act, a social construct
- Social forces can be said to construct certain kinds of sexed bodies
- Promotion of exercise differs for males and females —> result in difference in secondary sex
characteristics
