gender and society

1. LESSON 1:
DEFINING SEX
and GENDER

2. LESSON OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able
to:
1.Know the difference between sex and gender
based on their distinct definitions, and
2. Use the terms properly in discussions.

3. GENDER CONCEPTS
Let’s Define
Gender
Let’s Define
Sex

4. Sex and Gender are actually
two different terms and thus
these should not be used
interchangeably. It is a
promising development that
modern use of the terms
“sex” and “gender” are now
based on their distinct
meaning, as is appropriate.

5. Definition of Gender
Gender refers to those characteristics and roles
of women and men that are socially
constructed.
Etymologically, the word gender came from the
Latin genus, meaning kind, type, or sort. It is the
legal status differentiated through social roles,
behaviors, capabilities, emotional, intellectual, and
social characteristics attributed to a given culture
to women and men (Eviota, 1994)

6. “The gender question is not just about
women but about both women and men and
how they interact”
In simple terms, gender is a analytical category
that is socially constructed to differentiate the
biological difference between men and a women
The term gender is also used to describe the
differences between men and a women which are
described as “masculine” and “feminine”.

7. What is Gender About?
• Social roles and relations between men and a
women in the society.
• It affects all parts of our lives (social,
economic, and political).
• It changes over time.
• It is what we expect men and women to
behave.
• It is about how power is used and shared.

8. Definition of Sex
In a very broad way, sex refers to biological and
physiological differences between male and female sex.
The term sex is a physical differentiation between the
biological male and the biological female. Thus, when
an infant is born, the infant comes to be labeled “boy” or
“girl” depending on their sex. The genital differences
between male and a female is the basis of such
characterization.

9. There is a biological difference between the sexes and most
people are born as one sex or another.
In general, sex refers to categories that people are aassigned to at
birth based on reproductive characteristics (Little et al., 2012;
Stevenson & Waite, 2011).
Biologically, organisms of various species are assigned either as a
male sex or a female sex in reference to the physical differences
between a female organism and a male organism, including
primary characteristics such as the reproductive system and
secondary characteristics such as height and muscle mass.

10. Genetic factors largely determine the sex of an
organism. The sex chromosomes are referred to as X
and Y. Whether a person has an XX or an XY
chromosome depends on what kind of human sperm
cell fertilized a human egg cell.
Typically, all human female egg cells only carry X
chromosomes. A human male’s sperm cell carries either
an X chromosome or a Y chromosome.

11. If a sperm carrying an X chromosome pairs up
with the egg cell, the anatomical
characteristics of the human baby from this
pairing would typically be that of a female. On
the other hand, if the sperm carrying a Y
chromosome pairs up with the egg cell, the
resulting baby from this pairing would typically
be a male. (Purves, et al., 2000)

13. Sex identifies biological differences between men
and a women.
e.g. Women can give birth and men provide
sperm. Sex is universal (every nation, throughout
history)
Gender identifies social relations between men
and women. Gender is socially constructed. But
gender roles are dynamic and change over time.

15. THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES ON
GENDER AND FAMILY

16. The family is an essential, natural, and
fundamental unit of society. There is a
widely accepted and supported belief
that the nuclear family, constituted of
legally married parents raising their
biological offspring in an exclusive
arrangement is the singular morally and
socially desirable choice of adults and
children alike.

17. The following are the multiplicity of theoretical arguments as to why this belief is
sustained (Gross, R.M. 2001)
1. Functionalist – It assumed that the traditional nuclear family is a natural unit and
exists to maintain social order and is mutually beneficial to all. Marriage controls
sexual behavior and ensures it is morally acceptable and parents can control
children.
2. Marxist – It believed that the nuclear family is valued over the typical working-class
extended family to encourage material aspirations. This family unit is organized to
reinforce passive acceptance of authority, hierarchy, and inequality, thereby keeping
the working classes (proletariat) under the control of the middle/upper classes
(bourgouise)
3. Marxist Feminist – It explained that the nuclear family benefits the powerful at the
expense of the working class, and women’s domestic labor enables the future
workforce to be raised at little cost to the patriarchal capitalist community. The
containment of women’s sexual services and domestic labor within marriage ensures

18. SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR
WORK TASK is an allocated sexual division of
labor, either in the private household or in the
public economy. It is a specific expression of the
division of labor where workers are divided
according to certain assumptions about “men’s
work” and women’s work.”