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The Relationship between Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

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The Relationship between Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
Gender in Asia Tahia Shamsul
Minor Essay AUW 080060 18th February, 2012

Q1. Critically discuss the relationship between sex, gender, and sexuality. Your discussion should address sex role socialization theory and gender as performance or doing gender. Provide examples from ‘Asia’ to support your argument. A common notion about sex is which differentiates biological and psychological characteristics and put into the categories, male and female. There are some distinctions between men and women’s biological characteristics which are identified by sex. On the other hand, Gender is more related to society and culture and often rather than biological distinctions between male and female. It is mostly refers to the roles and activities which are constructed by the society and culture and these behaviors putted gender into two categories, masculine and feminine. Gender expectations start from the moment of the birth of a child and it exists in every society. It starts with the selected color by the elders that a girl baby will wear pink and the boy baby will be suited with blue. This categorization includes the behavior also that a girl needs to be soft and polite, whereas, a boy needs to be more independent. In one side, sex determines the identity of male and female and the other side, gender determines the characteristics constructed by the society. Gender socialization is not biologically fixed, but it is ruled by the culture and often changes over time period. Our way of thinking and attitude towards other people also get shape by gender socialization. Moreover, gender identity has strong impact on people’s feeling as generally females used to be more

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