2.1: Let's talk about sex!

Did that subtitle catch your attention? Good! But in this section we won’t be discussing intercourse, or sexual activity; rather, we’ll be talking about sex ( as a biological category) and gender. People often use the terms “sex” and “gender” interchangeably; however, these terms are two separate entities. Sex is one’s biological classification and characteristics as male or female.⁷ A person’s sex is determined as soon as the sperm reaches the egg. Every egg is an X chromosome, and sperm can be either X or Y chromosome. Therefore, if an X sperm reaches the egg, the individual will have XX chromosomes (female), and if a Y sperm reaches the egg, the individual will have XY chromosomes (male). The term “sex” refers to biology and should be used when biological distinctions are emphasized. For example, “There are sex differences in hormone production”.

The main differences between sexes are reproductive body parts, which develop in reaction to hormone levels introduced when the embryo is only about nine weeks. At this point in the pregnancy, the embryo will develop the gonads, or reproductive glands. They are the tiny beginnings of either testes or ovaries. However, hormonal anomalies can (and do) occur during those early stages of development. These anomalies can result in external genitalia not being easily discernable as either male or female. In these cases, the individual will likely be identified as intersexed.

Males and females have far more in common than they have differences. For example, think about our organs, hair, skin, limbs, nervous systems, endocrine systems, etc. The similarities in these things far outweigh the differences in males and females. However, we pay a lot of social attention to the differences between sexes, often even looking to those physiological differences to explain behavioral differences.

Gender, on the other hand, serves as a cultural indicator of a person’s personal and social identity.⁸ Gender, for the individual, starts with sex assignment, and sex is assigned on the basis of the observable genitalia at birth. In other words, sex is nature, and gender is nurture. Sex is predetermined, and gender is learned through socialization. Gender is something we do.⁹ Therefore, gender is a psychologically ingrained social construct that actively surfaces in everyday human interaction and behaviors. We learn masculinity; we learn femininity. Then we do masculinity, and we do femininity. And how about all those behaviors we don’t describe as either strictly masculine or feminine? Enter androgyny! Androgynous behaviors are all behaviors that do not fit neatly into our constructions of masculine or feminine. Therefore, our behaviors can be described as masculine, feminine, or androgynous. And just like walking or talking are learned behaviors, so are our interpretations of labeling our behaviors as masculine, feminine, or androgynous.

Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex. Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as gender-normative; behaviors that are viewed as incompatible with these expectations constitute gender non-conformity.¹⁰ Gender expression is the presentation of an individual, including physical appearance, clothing choice and accessories, and behaviors that express aspects of gender identity or role. Gender expression may or may not conform to a person’s gender identity. Gender identity refers to one’s sense of oneself as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or transgender.¹¹ Gender dysphoria refers to discomfort or distress that is associated with a discrepancy between a person's gender identity and that person's sex assigned at birth.¹² Transgenderis an umbrella term used to describe the full range of people whose gender identity and/or gender role do not conform to what is typically associated with their sex assigned at birth.13

Gender is shaped through our learning process, and is influenced by all kinds of things outside of the individual, such as family, friends, television, social media, teachers, politicians, legislation, institutions, and culture. Western gender conceptualization reflects a bipolar construction, recognizing two major gender categories (masculinity and femininity) as being dominant. Western construction of gender also reinforces the idea that males are masculine while females are feminine, and often this idea is taken further with the western interpretation of gender suggesting people are born a specific gender. Constricting? Yes. Over-simplified? Absolutely. Completely inaccurate? You betcha’! This interpretation of gender is narrowly fashioned by a traditional European perpesctive. Take, for instance, many of the Plains Indians’ interpretation of gender wherein people can be two-spirited, known as berdache.¹⁴ Berdache was not recognized as a third category; instead, the term was used to describe the continuum of human behavior that didn’t fit neatly into European notions of what it meant to be male or female. In fact, the term berdache has a history deflecting its Eurocentric origins and ethnocentrism of most 17th, 18th, and 19th century European and European American observers of Native American cultures.

Identical male twins, Bruce and Brian Reimer, were born in 1963 to parents Janet and Ron Reimer. During a routine circumcision, Bruce had his penis nearly burned off. Dr. John Money was a psychologist, sexologist, and author, specializing in research into sexual identity and biology of gender. Janet Reimer wrote to Dr. John Money seeking help for her son who she feared would not have a sex or gender identity because his genitalia had been mutilated. At the strong encouragement of Dr. Money, the boy’s parents opted for sex reassignment surgery for their 17-month-old baby. The boy was sexually reassigned to a female with lifelong hormone therapy. Dr. Money declared the surgery and reassignment a total success in 1973. From a young age, Bruce (who had been renamed Brenda) demonstrated behaviors indicating she did not want to wear dresses, play with dolls, or help with traditionally feminine household chores. At age 12 (many years earlier) Brenda began experiencing severe emotional problems because, even though she was receiving estrogen regularly, she appeared very masculine and was the brunt of a lot of joking and bullying in school and from her peers. At 14 years old, the child refused any more hormone therapy or genital surgeries, and her father finally told her the truth about her medical history. She was reportedly relieved and started male hormone therapy, underwent genital reconstruction surgery to create a penis, and had a mastectomy, and changed his name to David. Researchers concluded a person could be “successfully” socialized as a female because essentially his brain “knew otherwise.”

In addition to his difficult lifelong relationship with his parents and peers and his own identity, Reimer had to deal with unemployment and the death of his brother Brian from an overdose of antidepressants in 2002. In 2004, his wife Jane told him she wanted to separate. On the morning of May 4, 2004, Reimer drove to a grocery store's parking lot and took his own life by shooting himself in the head with a sawed- off shotgun. He was 38 years old.

David Reimer taught us a lot about sex category and gender attainment. While gender is learned through a socialization process, we cannot socialize or train someone into their sex identity. In other words, a boy can be socialized to “act like a girl” or a girl can be socialized to “act like a boy,” but you cannot socialize someone into believing they are the opposite sex. He also taught us our brains develop as being either male or female. And most often time, our genital development with align with our brain’s development, but sometimes not. David Reimer reported that from a young age he “just knew” he wasn’t a girl, even though he never knew he had been born a male.

Testosterone and Gender

Males and females produce the same hormones, but in different amounts. Females secrete more estrogen and males secrete more testosterone. Studies conducted have, in fact, concluded more testosterone does lead to more aggressive behavior. However most of these studies have been done in animals, wherein the animal will be injected with high levels of testosterone and aggressive behavior will ensue. Many people feel these findings are indicative of male behaviors, sometimes been excusing overly aggressive behavior with excuses like, “Boys will be boys.” But maybe a more appropriate response would be “boys will be a$$h*les” when we see overly aggressive behavior. Because people need to be cautious when interpreting results from the previously mentioned studies, as there is tremendous variation in behavior among animal species.

In research in human, higher levels of testosterone have been linked to higher levels of edginess, competitiveness, and anger—in females and males. Also, hormone levels fluctuate throughout the day and are influenced by environment. Think about it: What do you think your hormone levels look like when you’re about to jump out of a plane versus sitting on the couch watching TV? Therefore, biology itself is influenced and affected by environment. The myth that testosterone alone affects men’s behavior has been debunked.

In addition, hormones do not dictate behavior. Hormones may affect mood, but they do not dictate behavior. Consider a time when you felt like you were unable to demonstrate your desired behaviors because of the social context in which you were engaged. Maybe you were in a classroom or a workplace or whatever, and when you were feeling aggressive, upset, or angry you were able to control your emotions and behaviors because of the social context. So while hormones were affecting mood, they did not dictate your behavior. You were able to control your behavior because of the setting you were in. Therefore, behavior is highly governed, not by hormone, but by the situation or context in which it occurs.

Further, research indicates women can be just as aggressive as men when they’re either rewarded for their behaviors (athletes) or when they think it is safe to do so while avoiding social sanctions. Think about people like Ronda Rousey, Serena Williams, Hillary Clinton, Pink, or Chyna. All of these women have in common being rewarded for what have traditionally been described as masculine behaviors. Is there something wrong with them? No. Are they biologically less female than other females? No.

Women, Hormones, and Behaviors

Jokes about women’s hormone levels are old ones. Seriously, very old. Like, we need some new material. How are people even still laughing at PMS jokes? I don’t know, but women’s hormone levels (especially testosterone) do not fluctuate as much as men’s throughout the day. I’m going to say that again to make sure you really read that last sentence. Women’s hormone levels (especially testosterone) do not fluctuate as much as men’s throughout the day. Rather female hormone production is influenced by the monthly reproductive cycles as well as the cessation of the reproductive capacity (menopause) during the life course. So, really, instead of accusing women of getting crazy once a month, women could accuse men of getting crazy every day! No, no, I’m kidding, and that is not the kind of equality sociologists are fighting for.

Both girls and boys learn negative attitudes toward menstruation at early ages. These negative beliefs at influence women’s experiences with PMS symptoms. Meaning, if women are taught PMS id horrible, women may expect the horridness, and then produce behaviors reflective of that horridness. While many women report mood wings, research shows that negative chance in mood as well as physical changes mat nave more to do with stressful external events than with the phase of PMS. So, women might be reacting to PMS and excusing our sometimes horrid behavior by blaming it on this occurring phase. Kind of like that whole “boys will be boys” thing, huh?

In studies where both men and women participated, men were equally likely to express mood swings, problems at work, and physical discomfort. Men are actually subject to a daily hormone cycle in which testosterone levels peak at about 4am and are lowest at 8pm. “When people say women can’t be trusted because they cycle every month, my response is that men cycle every day, so they should only be allowed to negotiate peace treaties in the evening.” -- June Reinisch.

⁷ Young, R. (20090401). Sex/Gender. AMA Manual of Style. Retrieved 17 Oct. 2016, from
http://www.amamanualofstyle.com/view /10.1093/jama/9780195176339.001.0001/med-9780195176339-div2-350.
⁸ Ibid
⁹ Doing Gender. Candace West; Don H. Zimmerman. Gender and Society, Vol. 1, No. 2. (Jun., 1987), pp. 125-151.
¹⁰ American Psychological Association. (2012). Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual
Clients. American Psychologist, 67(1), 10–42. doi: 10.1037/a0024659
¹¹ Ibid
¹² American Psychological Association & National Association of School Psychologists. (2015). Resolution on gender and
sexual orientation diversity in children and adolescents in schools. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/about/policy/orie...diversity.aspx
¹³ American Psychological Association. (2015). Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender
Nonconforming People. American Psychologist, 70(9), 832-864.
¹⁴ Estrada, Gabriel S. 2011. "Two Spirits, Nádleeh, and LGBTQ2 Navajo Gaze." American Indian Culture and Research
Journal 35(4):167-190.