At times we judge people’s gender or choice of gender roles according to their sexuality or physical attributes. Sexual appearance doesn’t not make you who you are or box you into certain gender roles. A lot of people have said that a woman belongs in the kitchen based on sexuality and gender sometimes says “I wanna do the garden with the boys” that’s gender. What’s in your mind and heart.
Below is a basic definition of the differences between Sex and Gender trust me there is a difference and remember gender roles are not determined or defined by a persons sexuality.
Sex
-refers to a person’s biological status and is typically categorized as male, female, or intersex (i.e., atypical combinations of features that usually distinguish male from female). There are a number of indicators of biological sex, including sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia.
Gender
-refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex. Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as gender-normative; behaviors that are viewed as incompatible with these expectations constitute gender non-conformit
So while your sex as male or female is a biological fact that is the same in any culture and too often all cultures, what that sex means in terms of your gender role as a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’ in society can be quite different cross culturally and difficult to explain to many. These ‘gender roles’ have an impact on the health of the individual and more often than not their social image and personality or confidence to be themselves.
In sociological terms ‘gender role’ refers to the characteristics and behaviours that different cultures attribute to the sexes and use to box “different” sexes. What it means to be a ‘real man’ in any culture requires male sex and masculinity plus what our various cultures define as masculine characteristics and behaviours and bodily features, likewise a ‘real woman’ needs female sex and feminine characteristics, being the typical wife material.
When a male’s masculinity is questioned they are often accused of being homosexual. This is believed even though in ancient times the love between two males was more meaningful than that of a heterosexual couple. At the same time, a female who can care for herself is frequently criticised for it, and sometimes labeled a lesbian because society cannot accept a female who does not need a male.
While we are born with biological features that determine our sexuality, our behaviours and choices decide our gender. Like the picture at the beginning of this article, you can’t put a face to a person’s gender but you can tell a person’s sexuality by their physical attributes. The sooner we learn to accept and understand gender over sexuality the sooner we’ll be accepting of people’s relations and choices they make. Make your personal choices based on your gender and not because of sexual orientation.
Create your own identity.
