Reflective Tag:

Sex and gender is a very thick and complex topic as of late in the world.  It is not the flat two sided topic that it was once perceived to be in the days of the past.  In this Essay, the complexities of modern concepts of sex and gender will be expounded upon, taking apart what each term really means.

SEX & GENDER

In times past, If you had asked me what ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ were I would have first said that they were essentially the same thing and the the options were male of female.  This, unfortunately, is the view that most of the world holds today on the subject.  Sex and gender are much more complex than what they seem though.  First of all, sex and gender are not the same thing.

Sex, as it is interpreted today, refers to the anatomical and physiological differences between male and female genitalia and other traits; however, it is not just limited to the options of male and female.  There can be all different kinds of combinations of genitalia and features that lead to non set sexual status.  Sex can be seen through looking at chromosomes.  Complexities arise when the standard xx and xy patterns of female and male are broken, and this does occur.  As it turns out, this can create problems for an individual later in life if the person was born with both genitalia and the doctors determined that it was the opposite of what the person would come to identify as… and this is just one of many extenuating circumstances that occur with sex.  Sex as noted before is not the simple and clear cut issue that it was once viewed as.

Pictured here are some of the Chromosome patterns and what they can.

Print

(http://moodle2.rockyview.ab.ca/pluginfile.php/64201/mod_book/chapter/25798/biology_30/images/m5/b30_m5_041_L.jpg)

Gender, as it is interpreted today, refers essentially to how an individual identifies based on cultural and societal constructs within their respective cultures and societies.  Gender identity and expression in today’s societies are very complex and multi-leveled.  It is not interpreted just by what genitalia someone has.  No no, it is much more in depth than that.  It is not just just male or female identification.  A person’s gender is more something internal to the mind that orients them to their position .  If that is not confusing enough, here is are a few diagrams of some of the many ways an individual can identify as…

Sex-sexuality-venn

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Sex-sexuality-venn.png)

b548fd8229eb68376b91dafe9046087c

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b5/48/fd/b548fd8229eb68376b91dafe9046087c.jpg)

As can be seen from these diagrams, there are many dimensions.  As can be interpreted from the diagrams,  there is difference between gender expression and gender identity.  Gender expression is more the external way one’s gender is presented.  It is the way, well, one expresses their gender.  Gender identity is a bit different… Gender identity is a much more internal thing and simply put is the gender that one identifies as internally.  For a simple example, you can be a male externally (genitalia & physique) but identify as female internally if that is what you feel.  This just goes to show that gender is so much more than, as a TED Talk once put it, “penises and vaginas”.  Anatomy is almost irrelevant in determining gender.  We see this more and more in this day and age.  These are still concepts that are not as understood as they should be, but there is progress being made on this front.

 

Works Cited:

(for images, see under image)

Class material & material on canvas page