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All 8 Flashcards — Sex and gender
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Question
Sex vs gender?
Answer
Sex = the biological classing of the body (chromosomes, anatomy); gender = the social roles, expectations and identity attached to it.
Question
Sex?
Answer
The biological features a body is classed by — chromosomes, anatomy, hormones.
Question
Gender?
Answer
The social meanings, roles and identity attached to being a man, woman or neither.
Question
Gender essentialism?
Answer
The view that men and women each share a fixed inner nature (an 'essence') set by biology, so gender follows sex.
Question
Objection 1 to essentialism?
Answer
The categories are messier than two clean boxes — intersex traits, and people whose gender doesn't match their assigned sex.
Question
Objection 2 to essentialism?
Answer
The traits pinned to each gender keep changing across time and place — a fixed essence shouldn't wander like that.
Question
Why does the sex/gender split matter?
Answer
Once sex and gender are apart, 'gender simply follows biology' stops being obvious — opening the constructionist debate.
Question
The key question of the topic?
Answer
How much of 'being a man' or 'being a woman' is the body (sex), and how much is what society and the self make of it (gender)?
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Topic 8.3 hub
Gender
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