Sex And Gender

2 Pages 613 Words

Sex and Gender

The definition of sex simply refers to whether one is a male or a female based upon reproductive organs. It can also be referred to as the biological sex, or sex chromosomes such as XX for females and XY for males. In our reading of Mary Whiton Calkins, we saw that she was discriminated based upon her sex. Even though she had fulfilled all of the requirements for her Ph.D., Harvard did not grant degrees to women at that time. In our reading about Mary Crawford, she was also discriminated against her sex, time and time again, throughout her life and career.
Gender, on the other hand, is more simply put as gender roles. The roles are usually considered masculine or feminine. Gender is socially and culturally formed by the society in which one lives. Therefore, these roles are the expected behaviors depicted by society for the two gender types. These expectations determine what behavioral traits a boy or girl should have. Examples of gender characteristics or behavior in males can include being aggressive, dominant, ambitious, and strong. Socialization theory suggests that children are taught to behave a certain way according to their sex. An example of this would be that children learn by watching their parents in the roles that they play. Another example would consist of the type of toys that we buy our children. Such as, we buy boys Tonka trucks and Army toys, while we buy girls dress up sets and babies. Chores designated to us could also reinforce or influence our gender roles. Examples of this could be designating males to take out the trash, whereas females help in the kitchen and with cleaning.
Our book states that there are many social biases. The ones mentioned here are sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, ableism, and ageism. These are not discrimination per say, but negative attitudes toward these people. Sexism is the term used for a negative attitude toward someone because of one’s gender. An exampl...