Distinguish between sex and gender : Explanation for feminist theory

Distinguish between sex and gender : Explanation for feminist theory

In many past societies men and women have performed significantly different social roles and despite a range of economic, political and social changes such differences persist to a considerable extent in the contemporary world. For example in the case of the UK women are still more likely than men to take disproportionate responsibility for childcare and housework; their employment opportunities, although improving, are still worse than men’s and although they finally gained the right to vote in 1928 they are still much less likely than men to become local councillors, MPs or government ministers. There has been great controversy surrounding the extent to which these differences in social roles are explicable by biological sexual differences or by gender differences which are socially constructed rather than biologically determined.

Sexual differences refer to biological differences between males and females such that there are variations between males and females in their chromosomes, their reproductive organs and their relative production of different hormones which in turn result in a range of physical differences. Males are on average hairier, have deeper voices and are more prone to baldness in later life. They are also on average heavier, taller and physically stronger than females and they also have larger brains although female brains are relatively larger than male brains when measured in proportion to body weight.

Gender differences refer to differences between males and females in their social attitudes and behavior and in their social roles  within a given society so that, for example, in the UK men may typically be more aggressive, assertive and competitive, more likely to be in paid employment and also more likely to occupy positions of political power whereas females may typically be more passive, sensitive and emotional and more likely to take disproportionate responsibility for childcare and housework.
When males and females adopt these “traditional” patterns of behavior they are said to be adopting traditional masculine or feminine gender roles but it has also been claimed that these differences in masculine and feminine characteristics and roles can be explained mainly by the biological and psychological sexual differences between males and females. That is: the aforementioned differences in temperament, employment patterns and childcare responsibilities derive from gender differences in hormonal balance, from biologically determined differences in physical strength and competitiveness and from women’s biologically determined maternal instincts. It has even been argued in the past that because males have larger brains they are on average more intelligent than females and that differing aptitudes and skills between males and females can be explained partly by differences in brain shape.

Supporters of these biologically based arguments claim that because traditional differences in gender roles derive from natural, biological, sexual differences they must obviously be maintained because they reflect the natural order of things so that any change would be a change for the worse than for the better for women as well as for men. The female career woman and the house husband are acting against the grain of human nature in ways which can only be harmful for themselves and for society as a whole.
Feminists have rejected these traditionalist arguments as invalid and patriarchal and sought to show that their effects were to legitimize and protect male privilege and to entrench female disadvantage in education, employment, politics and personal and domestic relationships. However there are also disputes within feminism around the concepts of sex and gender and in this respect we must distinguish between egalitarian and difference feminism.

Egalitarian feminists may be described as adopting an anti-essentialist, androgynous view of human nature  in the sense that they believe that although men and women have important biological differences in relation to reproduction they are otherwise physically and mentally very similar in all other respects. Therefore gender differences in attitudes, behavior and social roles are not biologically determined but primarily socially constructed through gender differences in socialization [ and also through processes of social control which restrict female freedoms.]
To support their arguments that gender role differences are mainly socially constructed egalitarian feminists have referred to cross cultural studies [such as Margaret Mead’s findings of cross cultural variations in gender roles between various Pacific Island tribes] and to changes in male-female behavior overtime in given societies such as the different employment patterns which occurred in the UK and elsewhere during war time and more recently as female educational and employment opportunities have improved.
Thus egalitarian feminists have claimed that in societies such as the UK the socialization process as it operated at least up to the 1970s meant that many parents socialized their daughters to show dependence, obedience, conformity and domesticity whereas boys were encouraged to be dominant, competitive and self -reliant and also that when young children saw their parents acting out traditional gender roles they would perceive these roles as natural and inevitable. In schools teachers praised girls for "feminine qualities" and boys for "masculine qualities"; boys and girls were encouraged to opt for traditional male and female subjects and then for traditional male and female careers. Furthermore in the mass media girls were encouraged to recognize the all importance of finding "Mr. Right" and settling down to a life of blissful domesticity in their traditional housewife-mother roles.

According to egalitarian feminists it was therefore the power of the socialization process rather than the influence of biology which encouraged females to accept the traditional gender roles which entrenched female disadvantage in the private domestic sphere and in the public sphere of employment and political and social life. However because these gender roles were socially constructed rather than biologically determined they could be changed via various political and economic strategies and the improvements in female educational and employment opportunities which occurred from the 1980s onwards were welcomed as indications of reduced gender inequality and not as flying in the face of human nature.

Liberal, Marxist-Socialist, and some but not all Radical feminists can all be described as to some extent egalitarian feminists in that they believe that gender roles are primarily culturally rather than biologically determined and that gender roles can be altered so as to enhance gender equality without “flying in the face of human nature.” However it must also be recognized that there are important differences between Liberal, Marxist-Socialist and Radical feminists in relation to the precise nature and cause of female disadvantage and the strategies by which gender inequalities are to be reduced.
There are also difference feminists who reject the broad egalitarian feminist perspectives on sex and gender and argue that physical sexual differences between males and females include not only different reproductive organs but also biologically determined differences in temperament. Thus some radical feminists [often described as radical cultural feminists] argue that there are significant biological and/or psychological differences between males and females which explain why men are naturally more aggressive, competitive and potentially violent and females more sensitive and co-operative.
In this approach women’s biological sexual differences mean that they are in important respects superior to men and women should therefore celebrate their differences from men and aim for women's liberation rather than gender equality so as to retain their superior characteristics and liberate themselves from unsatisfactory relationships with men. Nonetheless many radical difference feminists see motherhood as a rewarding female experience which implies that women may seek to become pregnant via new reproductive technologies rather than through direct relationships with men.

Conclusion

Sexual differences refer to biological differences between males and females such that there are variations between males and females in their chromosomes, their reproductive organs and their relative production of different hormones which in turn result in a range of physical differences. Males are on average hairier, have deeper voices and are more prone to baldness in later life. They are also on average heavier, taller and physically stronger than females and they also have larger brains although female brains are relatively larger than male brains when measured in proportion to body weight.

Gender differences refer to differences between males and females in their social attitudes and behavior and in their social roles  within a given society so that, for example, in the UK men may typically be more aggressive, assertive and competitive, more likely to be in paid employment and also more likely to occupy positions of political power whereas females may typically be more passive, sensitive and emotional and more likely to take disproportionate responsibility for childcare and housework.

It has been argued that attempts to modify gender roles are doomed to failure because gender differences in social roles are explained primarily by sexual differences in physical characteristics so that modification of gender roles would fly in the face of human nature.
Egalitarian feminists have argued that apart from differences in reproductive organs sexual differences between males and females are limited and that gender differences in social roles are primarily culturally rather than biologically determined. Gender inequalities are widespread in contemporary societies and claims that they are biologically determined are invalid, patriarchal arguments which serve only to legitimize female disadvantage in the interests of men and/or the capitalist system.

Egalitarian feminists believe that in reality because gender differences in social roles are culturally determined this means that they can be changed and lead to reductions in gender inequality although there are disputes within egalitarian feminism among Liberal, Marxist-Socialist and some Radical feminists as to how gender equality might best be achieved.

Difference Feminists [among whom radical cultural feminists are the most prominent category] reject traditional biologically based arguments which would confine women to the domestic sphere and limit their employment opportunities but argue instead that biological factors are influential in explaining women’s greater sensitivity and emotional intelligence and males’ greater competitiveness and aggression. Given these biological differences difference feminists argue in support of women’s liberation rather than gender equality as a means of preserving females’ higher qualities.