What is Sex? What is Gender?

Retell

What is Sex? What is Gender?

Michael S. Kimel

Sex and gender are not interchangeable terms. Michael S. Kimmel defines the two so we might better understand the main ideas of his piece. “Sex refers to the biological apparatus, the male and the female - our chromosomal, chemical, anatomical organization. Gender refers to the meanings that are attached to those differences within a culture. Sex is male and female; gender is masculinity and femininity - what it means to be a man or a woman. . . . And while biological sex varies very little, gender varies enormously.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 115)

Kimmel also speaks about several completing ideas. In my mind, I made a little t-chart to help sort it all out.

Nature	Nurture
Hardwired	Taught
Biological Determinism	Differential Socialization

We see and feel the gender differences but we experience the gender inequality. Gender inequality basically comes down to speaking about power. “ Virtually every society known to us is founded upon assumptions of gender difference and the politics of gender inequality.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 114)

Men and women are constantly told we are different. Yet, we go to the same schools, restaurants, homes and workplaces. In those workplaces we are evaluated by the same set of criteria. Men dominate those workplaces and get more from them. Kimmel believes that gender inequality needs to be eliminated and that we can indeed eliminate it. He says, “. . . I believe that as gender inequality decreases, the differences among people – differences grounded in race, class, ethnicity, age, sexuality as well as gender – will emerge in a context in which each of us can be appreciated for our individual uniqueness as well as our commonality.”(Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 116)

With such a strong belief there needs to be an idea to achieve it. The idea is that we must think differently. I believe we are. Courses in gender studies are being entered into college bulletins. Students are discussing gender. Femininity and masculinity are being better understood. The realization that there is no one-way to describe femininity and no one way to describe masculinity is also being discussed. In talking about our differences, we can also see our similarities.

Where's the Rulebook for Sex Verification?

Alice Dreger

We know men and women have differences and similarities and the dilemma’s they both bring about. The second reading, Where’s the Rulebook for Sex Verification, discusses differences and similarities between people of the same sex.

 

Alice Dreger talks about a couple of people, one who looks like a male from the outside, and another who looks like a female from the outside, have their sex questioned. One was an athlete who had her sex investigated, debated, and reported on in the public arena. The reason was this question: Is it fair for a female “looking” person who is male-typical on the inside, compete against other females? Do they have an advantage? Are the other players at a disadvantage?

 

Scientists, lawyers, physicians, committees, and many others have a long road ahead of them in determining what specifically is a female, and what, specifically is a male. Dreger says, “Sex is so messy that in the end, these doctors are not going to be able to rum a test that will answer the question. Science can and will inform their decision, but they are going to have to decide which of the dozens of characteristics of sex matter to them.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 124)

All Together Now: Intersex Infants and IGM

Riki Wilchins

The Third reading, All Together Now: Intersex Infants and IGM, speaks to the issue of not actually knowing what sex a baby is.

 

The baby in this reading is Charlie. He was born and for the first year and a half, was raised male. After many tests, it was determined that Charlie was actually Cheryl. Cheryl underwent IGM (Intersex Genital Mutilation) surgery. Her parents were told to lie to people, and Cheryl, because it would be too traumatic.

 

In our culture, you need to be female or male. There is no intersex choice. Our society wants us to decide what the infant is and have a doctor fix it so it becomes one or the other. It is interesting that the child is given no say in the matter. It is not okay to be different.

 

Riki Wilchins says, “Medical theories of Sex, like so much of theory, are concerned with the resolution and management of difference. Intersex infants represent one of society’s most anxious fears-the multiplicity of Sex, the pinging under the binary hood, a noise in the engine of reproduction that must be located and silenced.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 127)

Recall/React

The first reading makes me think of a couple of students I have taught over the years. One was a fifth grade girl. She was tall, strong, and extremely athletic. She could play absolutely any playground game thought up to play and would be the best at it. She was a leader and was friends with all the athletic boys in the grade. When the fifth grade went out to recess, she was always captain of one of the teams. She told everybody what to do and scored just about every single point for her team. She was, as one fifth grade boy put it, “One of us.”

Three years later I taught another tall, strong, and extremely athletic girl. She was in fourth grade. Just like the previous girl, this one could out-play anyone on the field or court. There was a difference though. She was not captain. She was never picked as one of the first players. She never got the ball. She complained to the recess monitors and eventually stopped playing. She got sick of running up and down a field never actually being involved in the game.

I wonder why there was such a difference. Did the fourth grader realize things were never really going to change and therefore just gave up? Was the fifth grader more assertive? I wonder if her assertiveness will hurt her in her adult years competing for jobs with males. Will she be seen as “bitchy” or worse?

I feel as though we tell our girls that they can be anything, and they can do anything. But, can they? Really? Until our society believes they are equal will they be? I feel we do need to continue to tell them they can. If enough girls and boys, men and women, believe that they can, than it just might become true.

Rethink

What I learned in the third reading makes me sick to my stomach. I actually had to put the book down several times, while reading Wilchin’s piece. Deciding what person will be without waiting for them to voice their opinion is bad enough, but hearing that, “ . . .about 1,000 infants are surgically altered for cosmetic reasons each year in U.S. hospitals, or about five every day.”(Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 126)

puts me into fits. As a parent, I sympathize with the agony the parents must go through to make these decisions. Our culture sees two sexes not three. We do not want our children to be outcasts or made fun of. What is the right thing to do? I have learned that issues of diversity can be messy things and cannot be “fixed” with a quick solution. It will take a lot of time, thought, and discussion.