Theory Literature Society: PHIL3141

Dr Sylvie Gambaudo

Is Biology Important in Defining Gender?

Anonymous code: Z0365335

Word Count: 1469

Submission Date: 15th March 2008

The relationship between gender and biology is an increasingly complex issue. This essay will argue that traditionally in Western Culture, biology is seen as an important factor in defining gender; but that the emergence of a greater universal cultural awareness, recent philosophical, psychological and legal debate has lessened the biological emphasis in determining gender. It is now understood that maleness and femaleness encompasses many shades of grey both in a biological and a gendered sense. At face value Sex can be considered a biological term and gender a psychological, cultural and philosophical one. For a clearer understanding of their problematic relationship this essay will first clarify the terms, gender and biology (biological sex), focusing on basic baseline definitions. However, as the developing essay will show, even the scientific has problems with the straight binary and dualistic distinction of man and woman, complicating its relationship to gender further.

In most contexts, sex is determined by biological factors and is binary, meaning that beings are classified as one of either ‘male’ or ‘female’. This is usually ascertained on examination of external genetalia, internal genetalia, gonads, hormonal states and secondary sexual characteristics but also chromosomal qualities, which are usually 23XX (for females) or 23XY (for males).Traditionally, this biological classification has been heralded as an important in defining gender because, although definitions of gender vary,  it is generally considered that gender is  “a social construction organised around biological sex. Individuals are born male or female, but they acquire over time a gender identity, that is, what it means to be male or female. Gender is a package of expectations which a society associates with each sex

So, the concept of gender was, throughout much of Western history, considered to be synonymous with sex and this remains the case to a large extent even today. However, if one examines the OED definition of ‘gender’, we see that the word was “often intended to emphasize the social and cultural, as opposed to the biological, distinctions between the sexes”. Gender can be said to have a much wider spectrum of meaning than sex.  There are so-called ‘shades of grey’ between the two poles of classification of sex, though these usually arise when developmental anomalies result in ambiguous external genitalia or in the possession of an extra chromosome (eg. 23XXY).  It is in such cases that the concepts of sex and gender can be said to begin to overlap.

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A rare hormonal imbalance during pregnancy can affect the physical development of the genitals so that their shape becomes indeterminate. This condition is called intersex and affects about 1 in 12,000 or 60 births each year in Britain. Societal expectations of unambiguous gender often pressurises a decision to be made regarding the sex of the child, resulting in surgery to alter their genetalia so they can be categorised. This often leads to complications for the individual in later life because although biologically speaking their sex is defined, their internal mental state, their perception of their own gender may be ...

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