{"id":2296,"date":"2018-11-26T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2296"},"modified":"2018-11-25T19:14:18","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T01:14:18","slug":"the-social-construction-of-gender-and-sex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2018\/11\/26\/the-social-construction-of-gender-and-sex\/","title":{"rendered":"The Social Construction of Gender and Sex"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2300\" style=\"width: 320px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/iowapipe\/14479878091\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2300\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/14479878091_0a260c29e3_z-600x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/14479878091_0a260c29e3_z-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/14479878091_0a260c29e3_z-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/14479878091_0a260c29e3_z-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/14479878091_0a260c29e3_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2300\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo of a drag king holding a rainbow umbrella during a pride parade. Photo by IowaPipe, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>According to a recent memo, the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/\">Department of Health and Human Services<\/a> is seeking to establish a legal definition of sex and gender based on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/10\/21\/us\/politics\/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html\">a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable<\/a>.\u201d However, social and biological scientists agree that &#8212; based on their scientific understanding &#8212; gender and sex are not solely biological, and sex and gender are not the same thing. Sex is a category used to describe a culmination of biological and genetic components, including chromosomes, hormones, and physical anatomy. Gender, on the other hand, may or may not be linked to biological traits. Gender refers to a cultural identity, one that has social weight in the world, with particular meanings attached to it. Gender involves social norms, attitudes, and expressions.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/campusdirectory.ucsc.edu\/cd_detail?uid=west\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Candace West<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.soc.ucsb.edu\/faculty\/don-zimmerman\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don H. Zimmerman<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1987. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0891243287001002002?casa_token=2Dj4yGh8crAAAAAA%3AfZLBKbT_vgwUV7uFUMd3ZbYP80-NBc-rFDmEYnAJ2gWWuTgLT3wlyyZdq3MiX55zHIPvkyeJbrzD-A\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing Gender<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender &amp; Society <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1(2): 125-151.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/kamartin\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Karin Martin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1998. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/2657264\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Sociological Review<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 63(4): 494\u2013511.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judith_Lorber\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judith Lorber<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1993. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/089124393007004006?casa_token=12z1dWpbHUAAAAAA:gpgC8epXiKiV-rw6xh_-szqTKbM1cXBI99ZWGjoywq9pVViyqL2x1g817no-Jjm-BI6_EAT_SK041g\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <em>Gender &amp; Society<\/em> 7(4): 568-581.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Neither sex nor gender are binaries, meaning there are not just two categories &#8212; female or male, women or men &#8212; and they are not fixed or static. They can and do change over individuals\u2019 lifetimes. U.S. society is increasingly more likely to accept that gender is more of a spectrum than a binary. We\u2019re hearing more about transgender individuals in the media, but <em>transgender<\/em> is only one gender identity that challenges a binary view of gender. Others include, but are not limited to, <em>gender nonconforming<\/em>, <em>gender fluid<\/em>, and <em>gender queer<\/em>.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judith_Lorber\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judith Lorber<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1996. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/j.1475-682X.1996.tb00214.x\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond the Binaries: Depolarizing the Categories of Sex, Sexuality, and Gender<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sociological Inquiry <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">66(2): 143-160.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/laurelwestbrook\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Laurel Westbrook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.stanford.edu\/people\/aliya-saperstein\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aliya Saperstein.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2015. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/0891243215584758\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Categories Are Not Enough: Rethinking the Measurement of Sex and Gender in Social Surveys<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender &amp; Society <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">29(4): 534-560.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Just as gender is not a binary, neither is sex. The biological components of sex do not always align solely with \u201cmale\u201d or \u201cfemale.\u201d \u00a0An individual may have XY chromosomes and an outward female appearance, including breasts and a vagina. Another might have XX chromosomes and high levels of testosterone. Yet another might have genitalia that appear to be neither male or female (too long to be a clitoris, too short to be a penis). These individuals fall into a category called \u201cintersex.\u201d While it\u2019s hard to know how many individuals are intersex (some don\u2019t even know themselves), a commonly reported statistic is 1 in 1500 to 2000 American births.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.georgianndavis.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Georgiann Davis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2015. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nyupress.org\/books\/9781479887040\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contesting Intersex: The Dubious Diagnosis<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. New York University Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamline.edu\/faculty-staff\/sharon-preves\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sharon Preeves<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2003. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Intersex-Identity-Contested-Sharon-Preves\/dp\/0813532299\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intersex and Identity: The Contested Self<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rutgers University Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Nevertheless, U.S. society remains deeply invested in two categories of sex and gender. In fact, most of society is organized around these ideas. In other words, gender is an institutionalized system. And during our everyday lives we constantly categorize people based on their appearance and behavioral cues &#8212; gender is a system of categorization we use to understand our social world. People who challenge gender or sex binaries thus can face serious consequences, including <a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2015\/03\/28\/the-politics-of-peeing\/\">discrimination<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2017\/09\/25\/violence-and-discrimination-against-transgender-people\/\">violence<\/a>.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.stanford.edu\/people\/cecilia-ridgeway\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cecilia L. Ridgeway<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.stanford.edu\/people\/shelley-correll\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shelley J. Correll<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2004. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0891243204265269\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unpacking the Gender System: A Theoretical Perspective on Gender Beliefs and Social Relations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender &amp; Society<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 18(4): 510\u201331.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.raewynconnell.net\/p\/about-raewyn_20.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">R.W. Connell<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1987. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=DoZuDwAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PR3&amp;dq=gender+and+power+connell&amp;ots=S3Bl2g_A_q&amp;sig=_NDgolI_ZLGIrg1eNQScp2kzkoc#v=onepage&amp;q=gender%20and%20power%20connell&amp;f=false\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stanford University Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.uchicago.edu\/directory\/kristen-schilt\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kristen Schilt<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/laurelwestbrook\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Laurel Westbrook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2009. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0891243209340034\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDoing Gender, Doing Heteronormativity: \u2018Gender Normals,\u2019 Transgender People, and the Social Maintenance of Heterosexuality.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender &amp; Society<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 23(4): 440\u201364.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lisarmiller.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lisa R. Miller<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/egrollman.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eric Anthony Grollman<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2015. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/socf.12193\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Social Costs of Gender Nonconformity for Transgender Adults: Implications for Discrimination and Health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sociological Forum\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">30(3): 809-831.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No doubt, the recent controversy in the Department of Health and Human Services isn\u2019t the first time we\u2019ve grappled with contested definitions of gender and sex in our political history &#8212; and it certainly won\u2019t be the last. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to a recent memo, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seeking to establish a legal definition of sex and gender based on \u201ca biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.\u201d However, social and biological scientists agree that &#8212; based on their scientific understanding &#8212; gender and sex [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2020,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,15,55,33,13,85],"tags":[38547,38543,38545,23676,2777,110492,31146,11306,110493,25235,110497,110498,2090,38544,38541,261,38546,120,110499,39174,1936,176,293,110490,110491,29450,306,133],"class_list":["post-2296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-culture","category-gender","category-health","category-inequality","category-politics","tag-crime","tag-culture","tag-gender","tag-gender-binary","tag-gender-discrimination","tag-gender-fluid","tag-gender-identity","tag-gender-inequality","tag-gender-nonconforming","tag-gender-queer","tag-gender-spectrum","tag-gender-system","tag-gender-violence","tag-health","tag-inequality","tag-intersex","tag-politics","tag-sex","tag-sex-binary","tag-sex-discrimination","tag-sexual-identity","tag-sexuality","tag-social-construction","tag-social-construction-of-gender","tag-social-construction-of-sex","tag-trans","tag-transgender","tag-violence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2296"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2304,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions\/2304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}