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Post by michellespencer on Oct 19, 2017 22:04:30 GMT
Simply put, sex is biological- the sex characteristics you are born with, you are born a boy or a girl. Gender is more cultural- you are a boy so you behave this way, you are a girl so you behave a different way. The relevance of knowing this distinction as a psychologist is is the discovery of how gender roles are constructed by society. The idea of trans gendered individuals and how that came do be makes this distinction very important-- why does the individual identify as the opposite sex despite their sex characteristics. When you are studying and asking an individual questions, do they answer questions a certain way because they are a girl and should answer that way? When asking someone who is trans gendered questions for example, should you be analyzing the data based on how they identify or what they are sexually? Gender identities and roles are created based on societal pressures. For example, in western societies, boys are strong and tough, providers. Girls are softer, more nurturing and loving. This has been something that has been the norm historically. Many societies now are challenging that logic and rethinking this idea that people need to be a certain way because of their sex-- this is leading to interesting research and forward movement in psychology especially on the topic of gender. Michelle
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