Chapter 1
Gender and how it affects our behaviour 1.1. On the biological and social nature of gender Gender is between your ears and not between your legs1. Chaz Bono
Sex, gender and the crucial distinction between these two terms that people often confuse or underestimate one to the detriment of the other. Generally, sociologists use the term sex to refer to the anatomical and physiological differences defining male and female creatures (William, 2014). Term gender, conversely, concerns the psychological, social, and cultural differences between males and females (Eagly and Wood, 1991). Gender is linked to socially constructed notions of masculinity and femininity and is not ineluctably a direct outcome of an individual’s biological sex. When talking about gender, sociological usage is importantly different: sex is used for the biological differences between women and men, and gender is used for the packages of social characteristics that are culturally associated with the sex difference. Some people believe they were born into the wrong bodies and seek to ‘put things right’ by changing their gender or following the lifestyle or dress of the other sex (Lundeberg, 2014). The dissimilarity between sex and gender is fundamental from the perspective of current research since many differences between males and females are not biological in origin. Contrasting approaches have been taken Chaz Bono on GMA: Gender It Between Your Ears, Not Between Your Legs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGr8vl0vlfg (accessed 8.12.2021).
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