Sex versus Gender Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sex versus Gender - Assignment Example One culture will define an actual man who beats up his wife; while another culture will consider a person a man considering his height and voice. Some cultures define a woman as a person bearing children; while, others will define a woman as individuals with delicate stature. These are all the gender roles that every culture assigns to men and women, thus associating these roles with one gender. Feminist theories have arisen because of distinction in gender because â€Å"most feminists differentiate sex from gender† (Nfah-Abbenyi 16). Generally speaking as in all cultures, male gender is associated with roles like going out for jobs, playing games, joining clubs, and becoming politicians; while, female gender is associated with roles like running a house, bearing children and raising them up, doing grocery, serving the family, and the like. Thus, we assign specific roles to one gender and call it man or woman. However, we do not have that liability for the biological category of sex. Sex is defined by Nature: sex with smaller gametes (sperms) and Y-chromosomes is male; while sex with larger gametes (ova) and X-chromosomes is female. Sex is defined at the time of fertilization of the egg. If a Y-chromosome from the male fertilizes an X-chromosome from the female, then the resulting sex is male. When an X from the male fertilizes an X from the female, the resulting sex is female. These and some other features like the structure of the reproductive system define which one is male sex and which is female. Hence, the distinction of sex is defined by the Nature depending upon certain physical features; while the distinction of gender is defined by the society depending upon the societal roles (Powell 4).