Gender and Sex Worksheet
Answer the following questions in 50 to 150 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use.
What is gender? What is sex in biological terms? Are gender and sex the same thing? Explain why or why not?
Gender is the description or identification of a person as either male or female. In bioloical terms, sex is described as the biological differences between men and women. Gender and sex are not the same thing. Gender describes a person as male or female, which can be determined by the ender in which a person identifies with. For example, a transgendered female is essentially a person that was born a male, but identifies with females. In this particular situation, the person would be considered female from the gender perspective. However, the person is still considered male from the perspective of sex in the bioloical sense.
How do gender and sex contribute to the concepts and constructions of masculinity and femininity?
Gender and sex are major contributors to the concepts and constructions of masculinity and femininity in many ways. The biological sex of a person determines how parents and families interact with their children from birth. If the child is a girl, we dress them in pastel colors and buy them dolls. We tend to be more compassionate towards our daughters. If the child is a boy, we dress them in blue and buy them tonka trucks and action figures. We tend to be more active and athletic with our sons. However, if at some point that child finds themselves to identify with the opposite gender, they will exhibit characteristics of that gender (i.e. a male with feminine behaviors and characteristics).
Do our concepts of gender and sex contribute to the ways we embrace gender and sex in diversity?
I think that our society’s concepts of gender and sex definitely contribute to how we embrace gender and sex. We tend to be less open-minded if a transgendered woman prefers to be