May 21, 2015
Reflective tag:
If you went up to 20 different people and asked them what sex and gender were and how they were different, you would probably get 20 different responses. Sex can only be changed through surgery to transform the existing genitalia while gender is how one person perceives what they are, you can have a penis and consider yourself female if that is how you would prefer people to view you. Long story short, sex is given to you genetically but through some means can be changed, but gender is decided by the person whose life it is, in most cases.
Artifact 1:
What is the difference between sex and gender? Sex is the biological distinction as to whether an individual is male or female. This can be any number of key clues, genes and chromosomes, gonads and gametes, hormones, or reproductive anatomy both internal and external. Gender is the difference between masculine and feminine as decided by the individual or in some cases the society.
Sex can be changed through surgery where the external and sometimes the internal reproductive anatomy is changes to look and function like the opposite sex’s anatomy. Even though you have the surgery, your body still tries to keep you the original sex you were born as, which is why some people have to go through hormone therapy to cancel out the body’s natural processes. Gender is a lot easier to changes, in some countries where sons are preferred, the families that are sonless due to several daughters, will change one daughter to look and dress like a boy to fulfill the roles that a son would have to avoid family shame. Each culture views gender a little differently and reacts to gender switches in different ways, some embrace while others cast out anyone who is “gender confused”.
Cultures are the ideals, beliefs and characteristics of a particular group or society. Some promote the changing of gender to better suit a family’s needs while others tend to alienate those that try to change what they were born as. Sex is harder to change than gender; it requires therapy and surgery to change the genetic and physical aspects of a person. Gender however, is based on how a person feels; do they have male anatomy but feel like a woman or vice versa? That is their choice and they need to do what makes them feel better in their surroundings.