9781422282731

Chapter One

GENDER AND SEX

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Words to Understand

gender: the social classification of men and women based on cultural characteristics (feminine, masculine). gender roles: sets of expected behaviors that each society attaches to a sex category (male or female). gender socialization: the lifelong process of learning how to be feminine or masculine. norm: something considered standard or usual in a particular community. sex: individual biological identity based on biological characteristics (male, female).

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M any people use the terms sex and gender as synonyms, but they do have different meanings. Sex refers to an individual’s membership in one of the two biologically distinct categories prevalent throughout the world: male or female. The distinction between the two categories is based on factors such as chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs, as well as external sexual

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