Essentially, almost all people are born with physical characteristics called men or women. In 1964, Robert Stoller1 coined the term gender identity, which refers to an individual`s personal idea of gender and inner feeling. It is a deeply rooted inner sense of self and is usually self-identified. Gender identity is different from gender identity and is not related to a person`s sexual orientation (see Gender Identity Education Research and Society Terminology for more information). As a result, the gender category with which a person identifies may not correspond to the gender assigned to them at birth. Intersex – (adj) refers to a person whose reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or chromosomal pattern do not conform to typical definitions of male or female. There are many different diagnoses or medical conditions that an intersex person may have. However, there are scientists who argue that sex is also socially constructed. For example, gender theorist Judith Butler notes that “perhaps this construction called `gender` is culturally constructed in the same way as gender; Perhaps this has always been gender, with the result that the distinction between gender and gender turns out to be no distinction at all. [87] Two instruments that integrate the multidimensional nature of masculinity and femininity have dominated gender identity research: the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Both instruments categorize individuals according to either gender (men say they identify primarily with masculine traits, women say they identify primarily with feminine traits), gender (men say they identify primarily with feminine traits, women say they identify primarily with masculine traits), androgynous (men or women, who describe themselves as having both masculine and feminine characteristics).

high) or undifferentiated (men or women who describe themselves as having weak male and female characteristics). [65] Twenge (1997) noted that men are generally more masculine than women and that women are generally more feminine than men, but that the association between biological sex and masculinity/femininity is declining. [66] In 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a series of webinars on gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender, etc.[105][106] In the first lecture, Dr. Sherer explains that parental influence (by punishing and rewarding behavior) can affect gender expression, but not gender identity. [107] She cites a Smithsonian article showing a photo of a 3-year-old President Franklin D. Roosevelt with long hair wearing a robe. [108] [109] Until the 1940s, 6-year-olds wore gender-neutral clothing consisting of white dresses. [108] In 1927, Time magazine printed a gender-appropriate color chart consisting of pink for boys and blue for girls.

[108] Dr. Sherer argued that children will change their gender expression to demand a reward from their parents and society, but this will not affect their gender identity (their inner sense of self). [110] In gender studies, the term gender refers to proposed social and cultural constructions of masculinities and femininities. In this context, gender explicitly excludes reference to biological differences in order to focus on cultural differences. [72] This emerged from various fields: in sociology of the 1950s; the theories of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan; and in the work of French psychoanalysts such as Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray and American feminists such as Judith Butler. Those who followed Butler viewed gender roles as a practice sometimes described as “performative.” [73] Some believe that society is constructed in such a way that gender is divided into a dichotomy via social organizations that constantly invent and reproduce cultural images of gender. Joan Acker believes that gender takes place in at least five different interactive social processes:[138] There are many positive aspects to collecting data on gender identity. The Commission on Gender Equality and Human Rights stresses that people welcome inclusion in surveys as it gives them the opportunity to express their opinions and raise the profile of gender identity in society.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) workshop on gender identity suggested that gender identity data would be useful for monitoring discrimination and equality and informing policymakers. It would be: In Taoism, Yin and Yang are considered feminine and masculine respectively. Taijitu and the concept of the Zhou period extend to family and gender relations. Yin is a woman and Yang is a man. They fit together as two parts of a whole. The masculine principle was equated with the sun: active, luminous and radiant; The feminine principle corresponds to the moon: passive, shaded and reflective. Male tenacity was balanced by feminine gentleness, masculine action and initiative by female perseverance, and the need for perfection and masculine guidance by female support. [161] The difference between sociological and popular definitions of gender implies a different dichotomy and orientation. For example, the sociological approach to “gender” (social roles: women versus men) focuses on the difference in position (economic/power) between a male CEO (besides whether he is heterosexual or homosexual) and female workers in his job (whether heterosexual or homosexual). However, the popular approach to sexual self-understanding (self-understanding: gay versus heterosexual) focuses on the different self-conceptions and social ideas of those who are homosexual/heterosexual versus those who are heterosexual (with the exception of the very different economic and power positions between female and male groups in each category). In terms of definition and access to “gender”, there is therefore a tension between historical feminist sociology and contemporary homosexual sociology. [143] The World Health Organization`s Regional Office for Europe describes gender as biologically defined traits, while gender is based on socially constructed traits.

They recognize that there are differences in how people experience gender based on self-perception and self-expression, and how they behave. The failure of an attempt to raise David Reimer as a girl from childhood to adolescence after her genitals were accidentally mutilated is cited as a refutation of the theory that gender identity is determined by education alone. [101] [102] Between the 1960s and 2000s, many other newborns and young boys were surgically reassigned as women if they were born with a malformed penis or lost their penis in accidents. Many surgeons believed that these men would be happier if they were socially and surgically reassigned female. Available data suggest that in such cases, parents were very committed to raising these children as girls and as gendered as possible. Six out of seven cases providing counselling in adult follow-up studies were identified as heterosexual men, with one retaining a female identity but attracted to women. Such cases do not support the theory that parenthood affects the gender identity or sexual orientation of people born male. [103]: 72-73 Reimer`s case is used by organizations such as the Intersex Society of North America to warn against unnecessary alteration of minors` genitals. [104] A person`s gender as male or female has legal meaning – gender is stated in government documents, and laws provide for different things for men and women. Many pension systems have different retirement ages for men and women.

Marriage is generally available only to opposite-sex couples; Some countries and jurisdictions have same-sex marriage laws. Homosexual – (adj) medical term used to describe a person who is primarily attracted emotionally, physically, and/or sexually to members of the same sex/gender. This term is considered stigmatizing due to its history as a category of mental illness and is not recommended for general use (use gay or lesbian instead). In terms of history, Linda Nicholson, professor of history and women`s studies, argues that the understanding of the human body as sexually dimorphic has not been historically recognized. She notes that male and female genitalia were intrinsically equal in Western society until the 18th century. At that time, female genitalia were considered incomplete male genitalia, and the difference between the two was understood as a matter of degree. In other words, it was believed in a gradation of physical forms or spectrum. [91] Scholars such as Helen King, Joan Cadden, and Michael Stolberg have criticized this interpretation of history. [92] Cadden notes that the “unisex” model was controversial even in ancient and medieval medicine,[93] and Stolberg points out that medicine had evolved into a model as early as the sixteenth century. [94] The modern academic meaning of the word in the context of the social roles of men and women dates back to at least 1945,[34] and was popularized and developed by the feminist movement beginning in the 1970s (see § Theory of Feminism and Gender Studies below), which theorizes that human nature is essentially epicene and that gender-based social distinctions are constructed arbitrarily.