An Examination of Cultural and Ethical Influences on Gender and Sex

This essay examines the multifaceted influence of culture and ethics on gender and sex, exploring how these concepts are shaped by various societal factors. The introduction clarifies the often-interchanged terms of sex and gender, emphasizing their distinct yet interrelated nature. The essay then delves into several key influencing factors, including language barriers, cultural norms, technological advancements, initiation into adulthood practices, cultural symbols, sexual orientation, cultural activities, and parental psychopathology. Each factor is analyzed for its impact on the societal perception and understanding of gender and sex. The essay highlights how misinformation, societal expectations, and cultural practices contribute to the distortion of information. The conclusion underscores the importance of sex education as a strategy to mitigate the negative impacts of misinformation and promote a positive influence of culture and ethics on gender and sex.

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Student’s name
Institutional Affiliation

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How Culture and Ethics Influence Gender and Sex
Introduction
Sex and gender are often used interchangeably. A person’s gender is a complex
interrelation between body, identity, and expression.Sex, on the other hand, refers to the
biological orientation of a person, in terms of their genitalia. Though gender and sex are two
distinct but related aspects of self, gender is personal while sex is interpersonal. Culture and
ethics bring a common misunderstanding of these terms. Some of the factors that influence sex
and gender include norms, religious beliefs, language, lack of appropriate education, initiation
into adulthood, technology, cultural symbols, sexual orientation, cultural activities, and parental
psychopathology.
Firstly, language influences sex and gender. Language refers to a systematic way of
communicating ideas using signs, gestures or words (Merriam-webster). Communication has its
barriers — language influences gender and sex mostly by misinformation. With wrong or
inaccurate information, messages are usually misinterpreted. For example, an international
community may find it hard setting a basis for the naming of children after birth. Thus a girl’s
name may end up being given to a boy. The relationship of this to language is that the meaning
of a word may be different among different language groups. Culture is coincidentally a common
language barrier.
Norms also influence gender and sex. Norms are standards accepted in a community or
by a group of people. For example, in most African households, the boy is supposed to play
football in their teenage, or it is a norm that when people meet after a long time apart, they say
hello to each other. There is a category of norms referred to as social norms. which is the
primary influencer of gender and sex, and in this regard, gender norms an example of social

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norms. (social norms, gender norms and adolescent girls: a brief guide) Gender norms are
standards and expectations to which women and men should act abide by. These norms influence
gender and sex by controlling and restricting specific actions to a particular sex or gender. By
having these norms define gender and sex, there exists a significant impact of culture and ethics
on sex and gender.
Another factor that influences sex and gender is technology. The advancement of
technology has led to increased ways in which the sex of a child can be determined. Ultrasound,
for example, is a standard procedure that pregnant women use to determine the sex of an unborn
child. In this regard, many parents, therefore, have a gendered expectation of their child. This
factor has the effect of misguiding gender and sex definitions as perceived by the society since
what the mother expects of the child might turn out to change due to other environmental factors.
Moreover, initiation to adulthood influences gender and sexuality. Initiation to adulthood
means transitioning from children to adults. Different communities have different approaches
when it comes to this transition. For example, some African countries initiate boys to men by
circumcision and girls by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Other non-western cultures may
have shortened the period of emerging adulthood; therefore they emphasize practices that lead to
early transitions (Larry, Sarah and Bo). Therefore, these practices have a significant impact on
gender and sex perception by society.
Problem statement
, cultural symbols influence gender and sex. Symbols in this context refer to physical
things that signify the ideology of a particular culture. These symbols include carvings, artifacts
and geographical phenomena. Cultural symbols influence gender and sex by controlling the
beliefs of people. For example, some sculptures are associated with females and others with

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males so when males are seen with carvings made for females, they are misjudged on their
gender orientation. This issue of cultural symbols signifying a gender orientation of a person is
an excellent influence on sex and gender in terms of culture and ethics.
Another element of culture that influences sex and gender is sexual orientation. Romance
and attraction towards someone else define sexual orientation. The case of sexual preference has
a role to play in sexual orientation. A woman could be attracted romantically to a fellow woman,
and a man could be attracted romantically to fellow man. Cases, where a man is sexually
attracted to a fellow man, is termed to as being gay while where a woman practices sex with a
woman is termed to as lesbianism.
Literature review
aspects define and lay a foundation to which a society defines gender and sex.
Religious beliefs also influence sex and gender. Religious beliefs are concerns about the
spiritual world and the supernatural aspects of religion. Different religions have different impacts
on society. Therefore people that belong to a particular religious group have different beliefs
which they conform to about gender and sex. Subsequently, gender attitudes are an outcome of
religion’s role in appreciating inequalities within societies. Some religious beliefs, however, like
Muslim, suppress women and support men. What a certain religious group stipulates, becomes a
roadmap and guidelines in the societal doctrines. All these beliefs are attributes that influence
sex and gender.
Cultural activities also influence sex and gender. These effects can be seen by analyzing
the differences between males and females of different ethnic groups. Cultural actibivtes which
include music festivals debating and dancing. All these activities are made in an attempt to bring
different people together. In these activities, many preparations are staged. Most of these

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activities have two sides participationg and most often than not, girls take a side and boys take
the other side. By having boys compete against girls, the latter usually gets oppressed.
Oppression automatically leads to inferiority of the oppressed and therefore it feels as if one
gender is not recognized. Cultural activities thereby ends up being a factor influencing sex and
gender.
Lack of appropriate education also influences gender and sex. Proper education means
having the correct information regarding something. The fact that gender and sex are usually
interchanged in meanings proofs that appropriate education concerning these terms is lacking.
This education lacks in some communities since they devalue education or are not accessing
education. For example, some societies do not educate the girl child; thus they never distinguish
biological dimension and interpersonal perception of people. Lack of appropriate education on
such an issue leads to ignorance and henceforth an influence on gender and sex.
Finally, parental psychopathology influences gender and sex to a significant extent.
Parental psychopathology refers to the psychological detachment of children from their parents
which happens due to factors such as mental illness, or social disorganizations according to
(Ronald, Nadine and Avi). After birth, a child is usually assigned gender about the genitalia.
(intersex society of North America ) Gender is said to be a complex interpersonal perception by
others. In that case, gender can be shaped, and parents play the most prominent role here. The
claim that parental psychopathology influences gender applies where a child learns and adopts
from their immediate family. If for example, they grow up in a gay community, the children may
end up being gay. Another example occurs where a child grows up without parents, like street
children and eventually, their immediate environment shapes them, and their identity is
influenced.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, some of the factors that influence sex and gender include norms, religious
beliefs, language, lack of appropriate education, initiation into adulthood, technology, cultural
symbols, sexual orientation, cultural activities, and parental psychopathology.. This influence
contributes to distortion of information of what gender and sex means, and its position in the
society. Consequently, factors influencing sex and gender in terms of culture and ethics are
majorly out of misinformation or fallacies. In this light, to ensure culture and ethics influences
sex and gender in a positive way, sex education should be taken into consideration as a strategy
to eradicate the negative impact it has on society.

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Works Cited
Ehrlich, Susan. The handbook of language gender and sexuality. Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
Intersex Society of North America. 2008. http://www.isna.org/faq/gender_assignment.
Larry, J Nelson, Badger Sarah and Wu Bo. "sage journal." the influence of culture in emerging
adulthood: the perspective of Chinese college (2004). Journal.
Merriam-webster. n.d.
Ronald, T Brown, et al. "parental psychopathology and children's adjustment to leukemia."
(1994). article.
"social norms, gender norms and adolescent girls: a brief guide." odi (2015): 17. PDF.