The A Project

Gender is how societies view men and women, how they are distinguished, and the roles assigned to them. People are generally expected to identify with a particular gender, that has been assigned (gender assignment) to them, and act in ways deemed appropriate for this gender. While gender roles are based on expectations that a culture has of behavior appropriate for male or female, gender identity is an individual’s sense of belonging to the category of men or women or neither of the two. We attribute a gender (gender attribution) to someone.

Sex (male and female) describes a (usually) either/or categorization of humans based on their biology, whereas gender (men and women) describes the social dimension of these two categories. Gender is how societies view, and distinguish between, men and women not through their biology but through assigning gender norms (assigned masculine and feminine roles to thoughts, behaviors, dress codes, politics etc…). While gender roles are based on expectations that a culture has of behavior appropriate for men or women, gender identity is an individual’s sense of belonging to the category of men or women or neither of the two (gender queer, transgender, genderless…). People are generally expected to identify with a particular gender (either man or woman), which has been assigned (gender assignment) to them at birth based on a complex set of cues, which vary from culture to culture. These cues can range from the way a person looks dresses and behaves to the context in which they do so and also on their relationship with and use of power.