Mental

by Sylvia Farley

Created on: January 04, 2011   Last Updated: March 15, 2011

The United Nations define “gender”  as comprising the widely held beliefs, expectations, customs and practices that define ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ attributes, behaviours, roles and responsibilities within different societies.

The World Health Organisation says gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women.

J.H. Morgan describes gender as “a set of characteristics distinguishing between male and female, particularly in the cases of men and women. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity.”

Discussions of gender identity provoke vigorous argument because socially constructed differences are a matter of debate and discrimination.  Gender theorists see sex and gender as opposing ideas: one is biological; the other mental.  Sex is the biological identification of male or female, whereas gender is a social construct which relies on stereotypes to reinforce socially-prescribed roles.

An on-line dictionary definition of “sex” is the property or quality by which organisms are classified as biologically female or male on the basis of their reproductive organs and functions.  By contrast "gender" is a mental concept developed as a result of social preferences.

Wikipedia states that in biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety (each known as a sex).  Sex is also commonly used in reference to erotic practices.  In general, sexual characteristics are considered inherent, although even this is debatable in the light of modern surgical possibilities.

In popularized and scientifically debased usage, sex is what you are biologically; gender is what you are socially.  Gender identity is your own awareness of being male or female and gender role is the cultural stereotype of what is masculine and feminine.  Hurst states that some people think sex will “automatically determine one’s gender demeanour and role (social) as well as one’s sexual orientation (sexual attractions and behaviour)".

There are many different definitions of  the word “gender”, depending  upon its context.  Since the writings of Thomas Usk in 1378 it has been used to refer to femininity or masculinity.  It is often used interchangeably with the word “sex”.  The American Heritage Dictionary (2000) notes that the distinction "is useful in principle, but it is by no means widely observed, and considerable variation in usage occurs at all levels."

In "Gender Studies", the term "gender " excludes reference to biological differences and focuses on cultural differences.

At the end of the 20th century, the use of “gender” is more common than “sex” in the social sciences, probably because of confusion about the feminist doctrines that made it popular.

Gender is now commonly used even to refer to the physiology of nonhuman animals. In social sciences, the meaning of gender has expanded to include sex or even to replace the latter word.  “Among the reasons that working scientists have given for choosing gender rather than sex in biological contexts, are desires to signal sympathy with feminist goals, to use a more academic term, or to avoid the connotation of copulation,” ( David Haig, The Inexorable Rise of Gender and the Decline of Sex).

There are two different scientific definitions of "gender".  Both are mental constructs.  The first is the result of socially accepted ideas about the behaviour, actions, and roles performed by a particular sex.  This is "Social Identity".  The second is the beliefs, values and attitudes exhibited by an individual.  This is "Gender Identity".  One is the cultural stereotype and the other the personal perception of the individual. 

According to Social Identity theory, self-concept is derived from memberships in social groups and categories which provide their members with definitions of who they are and how they should behave.  This causes people to feel that in order to be accepted they must define themselves as one gender or another.

 "Gender Identity" is the gender in which a person identifies his or her self.  Early Gender Identity research saw maleness and femininity as opposites on one continuum. But social stereotypes are loosening and they are now acknowledged as co-existing to varying extents within the same individual.

Sexologist John Money coined the term "Gender Role" in 1955.  He said, "Gender Role is used to signify all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman, respectively. It includes, but is not restricted to, sexuality in the sense of eroticism."  He explained that such things included clothing, speech patterns, movement, occupations, and other factors not limited to biological sex.

Gender sociologists like Michael Schwalbe believe that humans must be taught how to act appropriately in their designated gender role in everything from clothing and hairstyle to relationship and employment choices, because people need to be able to identify and categorize each other to know how they should react.  When most people conform to these expectations there can be severe consequences for being different which are rooted in discrimination based on sexual orientation.  Hurst says "courts often confuse sex, gender, and sexual orientation in a way that results in denying the rights not only of gays and lesbians, but also of those who do not present themselves or act in a manner traditionally expected of their sex".

For example, Mary Frith ("Moll Cutpurse") defied gender roles and scandalised 17th century society by wearing male clothing and smoking in public.  But "Rosie the Riveter" in her boiler suit, became a role model for women in  America in WWII. There, as in England, women took on male roles with the full approval of society and that role reversal did not change either their sex or their gender identity.  They were still seen as socially admirable women.

While the social sciences and gender studies in particular consider gender a social construct, the natural sciences regard the development of gender in humans as influenced by biological and behavioural differences in males and females.

Michel Foucault claimed that gender is a political concept, linked to power.  As sexual subjects, humans are caught in a "complex strategical situation". Being female characterizes one as a “woman”, weak, emotional, irrational, and incapable of actions attributed to a "man". Similarly, being male demands strength, self-control and logic.  Judith Butler agreed. She said "gender" and "sex" are more like verbs than nouns. She reasoned that her actions are limited because gender is politically and therefore socially controlled. “Rather than “woman” being something one is, it is something one does."

In deciding whether gender is biologically  innate or culturally mentally conditioned, we need to look at the various ways in which we use the word.  To clarify our meaning we often link it to the relevant concept.  In the study of linguistics we can immediately see very different concepts of gender from one culture to another.

There is no better demonstration of the artificiality of the concept of gender than the different ways it is acknowledged in different languages.  In French and Spanish even inanimate objects are assigned a gender, as male or female nouns.  In Finnish, not even men and women are differentiated. The same word “han” is used for both “he” and “she”.   The English differentiate between sex and gender using phrases like “sexual intercourse”' and “safe sex” which illustrate the difference. “Safe gender” would make no sense. Germans use the same word for both sex and gender and have to borrow from other languages to express a distinction.

Even gender assignment can be arbitrary where for physical, social or spiritual reasons it is necessary to make a choice.  Gender coding in the brain is bipolar. In gender identity disorder,  or "gender ambiguity", there is no match between the natal sex of one's external genitalia and the brain coding of one's gender as masculine or feminine. This is a biological factor that leads to a mental enigma.

Being classified into one or the other sex is necessary to complete a birth certificate. Cultural traits coupled to a particular sex finalize the assignment of gender. We  often refer to gender as a sexual characteristic and decide if a person is male or female depending on genitalia.  Where the genetic or physical characteristics are ambiguous as in Klinefelter’s and Turner’s syndromes, often parental choice is the sole deciding factor. This is undeniably a mental construct.

In some primitive cultures, gender roles are assigned in the full knowledge that they are incorrect, as a protection against demons until children come of age. Or, like indigenous American Two-Spirit people, they assign special roles to people who adopt a gender role opposite to their biological sex. Other societies include a third gender, considered distinct from male and female, such as the hijra of India and Pakistan.

It is now generally agreed that gender is a socially conditioned mental concept, but these days even sex is becoming a mental concept, capable of socially acceptable biological (hormonal and surgical) manipulation.

Gender is still being constructed. The rigid dichotomous structure of the gender/sexuality system is criticised for being exclusive and repressing all persons who do not  fit into the demanded categories.   Morgan says, " Trans-gender” may be interpreted broadly as meaning “some degree of discomfort, all or some of the time,  with one’s birth-assigned gender.”  In this category one could assign most alternative sexuality, homosexuality, lesbianism, feminism,  trans-gender, bi- and queer. This allows not only for gender expression to be either/or, but it also accounts for gender expression being both or neither.

There is growing  rebellion against fixed identity and consistency and a demand to be allowed to experience all that one can be.  Biology is not  always the deciding factor.

http://www.gender-st udies.leeds.ac.uk/

http://www.alibris.c om/search/books/qwor k/8888771/used/Gende r%2C%20Bodies%2C%20a nd%20Work

philpapers.org/rec/D UDFBA

David Haig, 'The Inexorable Rise of Gender and the Decline of Sex: Social Change in Academic Titles, 1945–2001', Archives of Sexual Behavior 33 (2004): 87–96. Online at Questia.

http://www.theory.or g.uk/ctr-butl.htm

John Money, 'The concept of gender identity disorder in childhood and adolescence after 39 years', Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 20 (1994): 163-77.

Laurence D. Hurst, 'Why are There Only Two Sexes?', Proceedings: Biological Sciences 263 (1996): 415-422

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