Biological or Social Factors Forming Cultures Gender/Sex Roles



Biological or Social Factors Forming Cultures Gender/Sex Roles

Introduction

For people, the terms gender and sex are interchangeable, an idea so common today that it is hardly ever questioned. However, our biological sex and gender are different, as gender is not, connected with the physical anatomy of an individual.

The Sex of an individual is biological and this includes the physical attributes such as the external genitalia, sex chromosomes, sex hormones, gonads, and internal structures of reproduction. These attributes are what differentiate between a male and a female. Gender however, is far more complicated. This is because along with the physical traits of an individual, it is the complex interrelationship between these attributes and the individuals internal sense of self as male or female, outward presentation and the behaviors connected to these perceptions.

Gender Roles are those actions, behaviors, responsibilities and tasks that the society decides upon and considers appropriate for women, men and young boys and girls. Gender is a very wide concept, which divides the entire human population into two separate groups. It is the basic concept of the maleness of a man and the femaleness of a woman and is the foundation for all social interactions.

It refers to social behavior, physical characteristic, self-image, psychological and behavioral tendencies and the capability for allowing differentiating between a woman and a man (Werbach, et.al 1992).

Biological or Social Factors

There is some objective proof that the differences between the sexes exist. Today most truck drivers are men and nurses are women, most cooks are females and chef's men, the primary caregiver is usually a woman for a child, men earn more than women at the same kind of job. Men score lesser than men do on average on science and mathematics, men score lesser on their ...