ABSTRACT
A baby is born. In most cases, it conforms physically to one of two recognized sex categories in Western cultures: female or male. But what will the baby’s gender be and how will the child develop that gender? This chapter focuses on how individuals learn gender or how they become gendered beings. The fi rst section of the paper distinguishes between sex and gender. The second section reviews key fi ndings related to sex-linked behavior, with emphasis on demonstrated differences between women and men’s social behavior. The third section of the chapter presents four theories that shed light on how individuals learn gender in the early years with emphasis on learning within families. The fi nal section of the chapter identifi es limitations of the theories covered in this chapter and offers suggestions for theoretical advances
Although the terms sex and gender are routinely treated as interchangeable, they are distinct concepts and the difference between them is important. Sex is a biological characteristic whereas gender is socially constructed, sustained, changed, and performed. Before elaborating this distinction, it is important to note that the line between sex and gender is not as clear as it might seem. In most cases, sex categorization and gender identity are both clear and consistent, that is, biological females develop into primarily feminine individuals and biological males develop into primarily masculine individuals. Yet this general consistency should not eclipse the considerable inconsistencies that exist within and between sex and gender. Intersexed individuals have biological characteristics of both sexes, and transgender 1 individuals have the biological characteristics of one sex yet do not identify with that sex. In less striking cases, male-bodied individuals may be more feminine than most male-bodied individuals and female-bodied individuals may be more masculine than most female-bodied individuals. With this understanding that the line between sex and gender is sometimes blurred, we can now elaborate the conceptual distinction between sex and gender.
