Pride Month is Here!!
Happy June, and also Pride Month, and don’t forget that Juneteenth is also on the 19th!
This month we’re talking about the difference between gender and sex.
The terms “gender” and “sex” are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings and refer to different aspects of a person’s identity.
Sex refers to the biological and physical characteristics that typically distinguish males from females. These characteristics include reproductive organs, chromosomes, and hormones. In most cases, individuals are assigned a sex at birth based on observable physical characteristics such as genitalia. The commonly recognized categories for biological sex are male and female, but it’s important to note that there are intersex individuals who have variations in their biological sex characteristics.
On the other hand, gender refers to the social, cultural, and psychological traits and expectations, which in western society are generally associated with being male or female. It is a complex and multifaceted concept that encompasses the roles, behaviours, expressions, and identities. Gender is more of a spectrum than a binary, and individuals may identify as male, female, non-binary, two-spirit (if they are Indigenous), or a variety of other terms, which means they don’t exclusively identify as either male or female. Gender identity is a deeply-held sense of being male, female, or another gender, and it may or may not align with the sex assigned at birth.
A good way to further separate someone’s sex from their gender is to look at their personality. We all know that people are much more complex than the traditional traits and roles our collective dictates. Women can like sports and have short hair. Men can be emotional and like platform shoes. If we can agree that people can and do break out of the traditional binary with these small things, it’s within our grasp to understand that people can also break out of gender boxes, too.
In short, sex refers to biological and physical characteristics, while gender refers to the social and cultural aspects associated with being male, female, or non-binary. Understanding this distinction is important for recognizing and respecting the diversity of human experiences and identities. This short video does a great job explaining gender identity as well.
A final note, you don’t need to fully understand someone’s identity to respect it. You can show your respect by using the name and pronouns that a person identifies themselves to you as.
If you’re interested in OCSU’s stance of protecting 2SLGBTQ+ and all minority cultures, click here to view our stance on equity (spoiler alert, we’re big fans).
Happy Pride and pronoun respecting!
-OCSU