Sociology of Gender and Sexuality

Running head: SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Sociology of gender and sexuality
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1SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
The study of sociology offers a distinct viewpoint on the concepts of sexuality and gender
and how they affect an individual’s position in society. The terms sex and gender are often
considered to be similar in meaning and are thus usually used interchangeably in common
parlance. However, it must be realized that the two terms or concepts in sociology are vastly
different, with one having biological connotations and the other being related to the cultural
factors attributed to biology. In other words, sex is biology and distinguishes human beings into
two distinct categories – males and females, whereas gender is the cultural and social value that
is endowed to an individual’s sex. The following essay provides a sociological perspective and
argues that gender and sex are indeed different, and play a crucial role in determining gender
roles.
According to Risman and Davis (2013), sex and gender are inherently different. Sex may
be defined as anatomy, or the biological differences between a man and a woman which is
decided during time of conception itself. The sexual differences between boys and girls are due
to a difference in the X and Y chromosomes, which results in a difference in the primary sex
characteristics, or the genitalia. On the other hand, as Westbrook and Saperstein (2015) claim,
gender is a social construct or concept. Basically, gender refers to the cultural and social
differences that the society assigns to individuals on the basis of gender. For instance, in the
bygone eras, women were considered to be the weaker sex while men were considered to be the
superior sex. It is probably because of this stereotype that women were deemed as the “other”
while men were considered to be the superior sex. In other words, it was believed that women
needed men to survive or exist in society. Alesina, Guiliano and Nunn (2013) opine that it was
John Money who first defined the concept of gender as something that an individual says or does
which reveals his status of being a man or a woman.

2SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Essentially, this can be said to be the beginning of gender roles. As Andersen et al.
(2013) argue, the feminine and masculine expectations that are commonly associated with
gender and attributed to sex have been around for ages and are instilled into the minds of human
beings from a tender age. For instance, baby girls are commonly associated with the color pink,
while baby boys are associated with the color blue. Gender roles encompass a range of attitudes
and behaviors which would be considered acceptable or desirable or even appropriate given a
person’s sex or sexuality. This concept results in highly gendered expectations from both sexes.
For example, it was once assumed that women should be restricted to the domestic spheres,
whereas men were meant to go out and earn a living for the family. Similarly, as Chalabev et al.
(2013) argues, women were largely excluded from the sphere of sports and other such fields
which were considered to be masculine and thus unfit for the female sex.
Haines, Deaux and Lofaro (2016) argue that although sociological perspectives on gender
have changed over a period of time, gender roles and gender stereotypes which are attributed to
the biological sex of a person persist. Certain stereotypical expectations have been endowed on
men and women based on common beliefs about their gender, and the respective individuals are
expected to abide by them. It is due to the interactions between an individual and his or her
environment that gender roles have been established. These stringent gender roles are set in stone
and determine what behaviors would be appropriate for which sex. In fact, as Rosenfield and
Mouzon (2013) claim, gender roles tend to have an impact on the behavioral patterns of men and
women in society. For instance, while men are considered to be aggressive and self confident,
the personality traits of meekness and sensitivity are commonly associated with women.
Imposing gender stereotypes on individuals is extremely unfair and justified, because it compels
people to behave in a manner that suppresses their natural selves. For example, men are

3SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
discouraged when it comes to crying and expressing their emotions because it is not considered
manly enough. Similarly, inculcating the concept that women need men for survival from a
young age can be potentially damaging.
As Dixson (2016) argues, masculinity and femininity are the sociological expectations
that are endowed on men and women on the basis of sex. Apart from biological differences, men
and women are believed to be fundamentally different from each other. As a matter of fact,
calling someone feminine is often taken as an insult and used in a derogatory sense. This is
largely because adjectives like weak, meek, dependent, delicate, submissive, emotional and
passive are ascribed to women. On the other hand, men are described as being more assertive,
strong, powerful, independent, competitive and even intelligent. Ann Oakley in 1972 was one of
the first social scientists who highlighted the differences between sex and gender from a
sociological perspective. Oakley was of the opinion that gender not only divided men and
women on the basis of biological differences but also on the basis of masculinity or femininity
(the expectations that the society imposes on males and females). Gender as a social
construction, can thus be defined as the ascribing of certain traits, values and behaviors to
individuals purely on grounds of sex, irrespective of their individual preferences. Yet, these
ascriptions usually differ over cultures and societies and between various strata of the same
society.
Another very important sociological concept which must be analyzed in this context is
gendered sexuality. As Westbrook and Schilt (2014) argue, the concepts of sex and sexuality
have become increasingly gendered in the present society. Gendered sexuality refers to the way
the concepts of sexuality and gender are considered to be interlinked; gender or the social
construct of gender of a person would have an impact on how others view his sexuality. For