What Is Gender? In Simple Words About The Complex

Many of us are accustomed, as they say, to mix together "gender" and "gender". Is it appropriate?

The content of the article

• 1 Gender
• 2 Gender
• 3 Men and heels
• 4 Color and gender

Today we will look at issues such as gender and gender identification, and compare the meanings of the terms “sex” and “gender”.

We are used to using the word "gender" in a biological sense, that is, when we talk about the differences between a man and a woman. Gender is a much more complex concept. Here it is worth touching on such a burning topic as the gender role in society.

Sometimes a person's genetically determined sex is at odds with their gender identity. You've probably heard about such people - they are transgender people, non-binary people, people with a complete lack of gender, etc.

Let's try to figure it out.

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As mentioned above, the term "sex" (or "sex" in English) is used to refer to biological differences between a man and a woman - anatomical and physiological. This also includes genitals and hormones.

Genetic factors determine the sex of an individual. Women have 46 chromosomes, including two X, and men have 46, including X and Y. The Y chromosome is dominant - it is responsible for the growth of testicles in the embryo.

In both men and women, hormones such as testosterone, estrogen and progesterone are present in the body. The difference is that the female body contains more estrogen and progesterone, and the male body contains more testosterone.

It is generally accepted that men and women are mostly binary, but this is not entirely true. For example, some men are born with two or three X chromosomes, just as some women are born with a Y chromosome.

And in some cases, a baby is born with a mixture of male and female genitals. Such people are called intersex. The parents of such a child can personally decide which gender to assign to him. The birth rate of intersex people is 1 in 1500.

Gender2

Gender most often refers to cultural and social roles in society. He does not have to match the genetically determined sex.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines gender as:

“Gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men, such as norms, roles, and relationships between groups of women and men. It varies from society to society and can be changed."

What does “vary from society to society” mean? The fact is that in some cultures gender roles are more rigid than in others.

In different countries and cultures, men and women have different degrees of responsibility for providing financial support to families, housekeeping and raising children. It is also worth noting that even in two different families living in the same cultural environment, gender roles can be quite different.

To make it clearer for you, let's digress from complex terms. Suffice it to recall that a lot has changed in modern society. Now men take on "female" roles (housekeeping, take care of small children), and women play those roles that were previously assigned exclusively to men (financial support of the family, for example).

Gender roles and gender stereotypes are highly variable.

Men and heels3

High-heeled shoes. What associations do they evoke in you? Surely, you immediately imagine a beautiful woman in an elegant dress, on whose feet the aforementioned type of shoes. Did you know that high-heeled shoes were originally intended for upper class men? Excellent footwear for horse hunting.

As soon as women began to wear high-heeled shoes, the heels of men's shoes instantly began to shorten and thicken. And women's shoes acquired high and thin heels.

Over time, we all got used to the fact that a high heel is an element of a woman's wardrobe. Although can we say that any type of shoe has a gender? This is not how we perceive everything if social norms did not come into play.

Color and gender4

Which color is feminine and which is masculine? It just so happened that girls from childhood are dressed in pink clothes, and boys - in clothes of blue and blue shades.

But initially all babies were dressed in white clothes. This whole epic with "girlish" and "boyish" flowers began only with the advent of colored children's clothing in the nineteenth century.

In other words, gender is genetics, and gender is self-identification.