Sex vs. Gender

By Jaxson

Main Difference

The main difference between Sex and Gender is that the Sex is a either of two main divisions (either male or female) into which many organisms can be placed, according to reproductive function or organs and Gender is a range of physical, mental, and behavioral characteristics distinguishing between masculinity and femininity.

  • Sex

    Organisms of many species are specialized into male and female varieties, each known as a sex. Sexual reproduction involves the combining and mixing of genetic traits: specialized cells known as gametes combine to form offspring that inherit traits from each parent. The gametes produced by an organism define its sex: males produce small gametes (e.g. spermatozoa, or sperm, in animals; pollen in seed plants) while females produce large gametes (ova, or egg cells). Individual organisms which produce both male and female gametes are termed hermaphroditic. Gametes can be identical in form and function (known as isogamy), but, in many cases, an asymmetry has evolved such that two different types of gametes (heterogametes) exist (known as anisogamy).

    Physical differences are often associated with the different sexes of an organism; these sexual dimorphisms can reflect the different reproductive pressures the sexes experience. For instance, mate choice and sexual selection can accelerate the evolution of physical differences between the sexes.

    Among humans and other mammals, males typically carry an X and a Y chromosome (XY), whereas females typically carry two X chromosomes (XX), which are a part of the XY sex-determination system. Humans may also be intersex. Other animals have different sex-determination systems, such as the ZW system in birds, the X0 system in insects, and various environmental systems, for example in crustaceans. Fungi may also have more complex allelic mating systems, with sexes not accurately described as male, female, or hermaphroditic.

  • Gender

    Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity. Depending on the context, these characteristics may include biological sex (i.e., the state of being male, female, or an intersex variation), sex-based social structures (i.e., gender roles), or gender identity. Traditionally, people who identify as men or women or use masculine or feminine gender pronouns are using a system of gender binary whereas those who exist outside these groups fall under the umbrella terms non-binary or genderqueer. Some cultures have specific gender roles that are distinct from “man” and “woman,” such as the hijras of South Asia. These are often referred to as third genders.

    Sexologist John Money introduced the terminological distinction between biological sex and gender as a role in 1955. Before his work, it was uncommon to use the word gender to refer to anything but grammatical categories. However, Money’s meaning of the word did not become widespread until the 1970s, when feminist theory embraced the concept of a distinction between biological sex and the social construct of gender. Today, the distinction is followed in some contexts, especially the social sciences and documents written by the World Health Organization (WHO).In other contexts, including some areas of the social sciences, gender includes sex or replaces it. For instance, in non-human animal research, gender is commonly used to refer to the biological sex of the animals. This change in the meaning of gender can be traced to the 1980s. In 1993, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started to use gender instead of sex. Later, in 2011, the FDA reversed its position and began using sex as the biological classification and gender as “a person’s self representation as male or female, or how that person is responded to by social institutions based on the individual’s gender presentation.”The social sciences have a branch devoted to gender studies. Other sciences, such as sexology and neuroscience, are also interested in the subject. The social sciences sometimes approach gender as a social construct, and gender studies particularly do, while research in the natural sciences investigates whether biological differences in males and females influence the development of gender in humans; both inform debate about how far biological differences influence the formation of gender identity. In some English literature, there is also a trichotomy between biological sex, psychological gender, and social gender role. This framework first appeared in a feminist paper on transsexualism in 1978.

Wikipedia
  • Sex (noun)

    A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species.

    “The effect of the medication is dependent upon age, sex, and other factors.”

  • Sex (noun)

    Another category, especially of humans and especially based on sexuality or gender roles.

  • Sex (noun)

    The members of such a category, taken collectively.

  • Sex (noun)

    The distinction and relation between these categories, especially in humans; gender.

  • Sex (noun)

    Women; the human female sex and those who belong to it.

  • Sex (noun)

    preceded by a modifier.

  • Sex (noun)

    Genitalia: a penis or vagina.

  • Sex (noun)

    alternative form of sect.

  • Sex (verb)

    To sex of an animal.

  • Sex (verb)

    To sex with.

  • Gender (noun)

    Grammatical gender.

  • Gender (noun)

    A division of nouns and pronouns (and sometimes of other parts of speech) into masculine or feminine, and sometimes other categories like neuter or common. from 14th c.

  • Gender (noun)

    Any division of nouns and pronouns (and sometimes of other parts of speech), such as masculine / feminine / neuter, or animate / inanimate. from 19th c.

  • Gender (noun)

    Class; kind. 14th-19th c.

  • Gender (noun)

    Sex a category such as “male” or “female” into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species. from 15th c.

    “the gene is activated in both genders”

    “The effect of the medication is dependent upon age, gender, and other factors.”

  • Gender (noun)

    Identification as a man, a woman{{,}} or something else, and association with a (social) role or set of behavioral and cultural traits, clothing, etc; a category to which a person belongs on this basis. Compare gender role, gender identity. from 20th c.

  • Gender (noun)

    The quality which distinguishes connectors, which may be male (fitting into another connector) and female (having another connector fit into it), or genderless/androgynous (capable of fitting together with another connector of the same type).

  • Gender (verb)

    To assign a gender to (a person); to perceive as having a gender; to address using terms (pronouns, nouns, adjectives…) that express a certain gender.

  • Gender (verb)

    To perceive (a thing) as having characteristics associated with a certain gender, or as having been authored by someone of a certain gender.

  • Gender (verb)

    To engender.

  • Gender (verb)

    To breed.

Wiktionary
  • Sex (noun)

    (chiefly with reference to people) sexual activity, including specifically sexual intercourse

    “I didn’t want to have sex with him”

    “they enjoyed talking about sex”

  • Sex (noun)

    a person’s genitals.

  • Sex (noun)

    either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and most other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions

    “adults of both sexes”

  • Sex (noun)

    the members of either sex considered as a group

    “she was well known for her efforts to improve the social condition of her sex”

  • Sex (noun)

    the fact of belonging to either the male or female sex

    “the same allowances for childcare should be available to all single parents irrespective of sex”

    “the fish were separated by sex and held in storage tanks”

  • Sex (verb)

    determine the sex of

    “each bird would need to be individually sexed”

  • Sex (verb)

    present something in a more interesting or lively way.

  • Sex (verb)

    arouse or attempt to arouse someone sexually.

  • Gender (noun)

    either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. The term is also used more broadly to denote a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female

    “someone of the opposite gender”

    “everyone always asks which gender I identify as”

    “a condition that affects people of both genders”

  • Gender (noun)

    members of a particular gender considered as a group

    “social interaction between the genders”

    “encouraging women and girls to join fields traditionally dominated by the male gender”

  • Gender (noun)

    the fact or condition of belonging to or identifying with a particular gender

    “I’m a strong believer that gender is fluid”

    “traditional concepts of gender”

    “video ads will target users based only on age and gender”

  • Gender (noun)

    (in languages such as Latin, French, and German) each of the classes (typically masculine, feminine, common, neuter) of nouns and pronouns distinguished by the different inflections which they have and which they require in words syntactically associated with them. Grammatical gender is only very loosely associated with natural distinctions of sex.

  • Gender (noun)

    the property (in nouns and related words) of belonging to a grammatical gender

    “determiners and adjectives usually agree with the noun in gender and number”

Oxford Dictionary

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