Unfortunately, because of the intimate connection our society has made between gender and sex, the important distinction between the two categories has been blurred. .
Gender must not be mistaken with sex. The category sex refers to our biological makeup, and uses certain biological markers (such as our genitals) to create the distinction between females and males. We are each pronounced at birth, upon the doctor's glance at our genitals, to be a girl or a boy. What is really discovered about each of us at that point is not our gender, but simply our sex. .
The operation of gender as a socializing force is obscured by the assumption that gender is a natural function of sex. Gender, however, comprises two "sets" of social characteristics, which combine to create the categories of "woman" (girl) and "man" (boy). .
The gender category woman (that is, the so-called "feminine" gender automatically assigned to members of the female sex) carries with it certain expectations about how to act, what to do, who to love and so on: Women are generally expected to be more passive, submissive and dependent than men. Women are often seen to be subjective, emotional beings, are usually associated with the private sphere of life and tend to be the care-givers. Women are expected to love and marry a man and to become mothers. .
Likewise, the gender category man (that is, the so-called "masculine" gender automatically assigned to members of the male sex) carries with it a very different set of expectations about how to act, what to do and who to love: Men are assumed to be more active and dominant than women, and are seen to be rational, objective individuals. Men are more often associated with the public sphere of life, and are expected to be dependable income earners. Men are expected to love and marry a woman and to become fathers. .
Of course these descriptions are generalized, and there is some overlap between them.
"Wha!" "A baby cries," it a girl, and it all started when her mother gave birth to Sandra Annette Bullock on 7/26/1964 in Arlington, Virginia. Sandra's parents were and still are John and Helga. A few years later Helga gave birth to Sandra's little sister who now is a former lawyer. John was a form...
The same I feel goes for not only gender roles but for race roles, religion roles, and feelings of hatred, so much so, that the age old philosophy of Nature vs Nurture comes into play every time. ... I cannot speak from a man's point of view honestly, and that is because I do consider myself a woman, but I'm certain just as I was a tomboy as a child, there are certainly boys who are tomgirls. ...