As an anthropology major, the difference between sex and gender is learned from the start. So to me, the difference between the two has been clear for a while. With the recent openness especially in the media, I believed the two were becoming more clear and people had begun to tell them apart. What I’ve found though is that some people know and others use them interchangeably.
First, let’s talk about sex. Not intercourse, but male or female. It’s important to note that these aren’t the only categories, but we’ll come back to that in a bit. Sex is defined based on biology, and typically, what a child looks like at the time of birth. Based on this, if a child is born with a penis and testes, then they will be assigned male. If a child is born with a vagina, then they will be assigned female. People can be born intersex though and they fit the molds of both male and female. Sometimes, intersex people do not find out until later in their lives that they are intersex because it may not present itself until they reach puberty. When talking about biological sex, the word assigned is typically used since a doctor is telling the child what they are when they are born. So, sex is biological and based on the sex organs a person is born with.
Conversely, gender is based on culture and what the person chooses to express themselves as. That’s where the term transgender comes from – a person can identify as a different gender than the sex they were assigned a birth. For example, an individual can be born male and identify as a female. People can also identify as gender fluid, which means they are a specific sex, but the gender they identify as changes from day to day. Gender is not assigned at birth and can or cannot coincide with a person’s given sex.
The issue is that people use the two interchangeably. Sex and gender are two very different things that our culture is just learning to separate. For people whose sex and gender align, the difference is not a big one. However, for those who do not express themselves as the sex they are assigned at birth, the consequences of confusing the two can be cast. For an individual who doesn’t not feel as though their spirit matches their body, it can be devastating to be reminded of their difference. The way we ostracize others and neglect to identify people as they choose to identify themselves is something incredibly important that we as Americans have yet to entirely grasp.
So the next time you or someone else around you is talking about sex and/or gender, remember to take a moment and distinguish between the two. Whether or not you understand the position that others may be in, it is important to not invalidate their feelings and experiences and recognize them as people, just like everyone else.