4.01 Sex and Gender - Differences and Perspectives

• Introduction
• Learn
• Try It
• Task

Introduction

When asked the question, "what is your sex?" you would typically responds with male or female. When asked "what is your gender?" you would most likely respond the same way however, in some cases someone may identify with one gender even though they are biologically one sex.

In sociology, the terms are separated. Sex refers to the biological and gender refers to the social. Ultimately, in sociology, your biological sex has little to do with your gender. In other words, your gender is totally learned through socialization. Of course, for most of us, our primary socialization is certainly based on our biological sex. For example, if you're a boy, your parents probably painted your room masculine colors, such as blue or green, and bought toys that were gender specific, such as an action figure. If you're a girl, your room may have been full of dolls and painted pink or purple. This is all part of the process of learning to be male or female. In this lesson, you're going to learn an overview of sex, gender, and how society teaches behavior for men and women.