Originally posted by Starlight
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Um, so? That is obviously true. Gender, which I understand to mean essentially "behavioral patterns" like "wears dresses, has long hair, wears makeup and jewelry" etc have always been social constructs. Most societies in human history have had 3-5 genders, and the Europe of the last millennium was kind of the odd society out for having only two genders that didn't allow people any freedom of gender choice and tied them tightly to biological sex. To get the difference clear in your mind: Biological sex - the genitalia that is between your legs - is what it is and isn't a 'choice' (though modern medical science could help you change it if you wanted I guess), whereas questions of how you behave - e.g. if you choose to wear dresses or not, are obviously a choice, and that is "gender". How you behave need have nothing to do with your biological sex. A person could potentially go their whole life behaving like a man without anyone realizing they were actually a woman. I have read claims that one Pope in the early middle ages was a woman who pretended to be a man.
Since gender is a social construct and behavioral patterns, it is obviously up to society to create any set of behavioral patterns it likes, or for individuals to forge new ones.
Biological sex isn't binary because of chromosomal anomalies. So there is non-binaryness at both the genetic and hormonal levels at which 'biological sex' operates, as well and the cultural level at which gender constructs operate.
Biological sex is a thing that is based on chromosomes and hormones, and it is scientifically measurable. It's a measure of things like the physical anatomy of a person and what parts they have.
Gender roles are social behavioral patterns that govern things like what a person wears and what jobs they perform. Obviously a person's feelings determine which of the available social behavioral patterns that society offers that they will follow. Or they can choose to trail-blaze their own path. For example, in the 20th century in the West, women increasingly rejected the gender role of being homemakers and instead opted for full time work in jobs previously understood to be 'male' roles.
Since gender is a social construct and behavioral patterns, it is obviously up to society to create any set of behavioral patterns it likes, or for individuals to forge new ones.
Biological sex isn't binary because of chromosomal anomalies. So there is non-binaryness at both the genetic and hormonal levels at which 'biological sex' operates, as well and the cultural level at which gender constructs operate.
Biological sex is a thing that is based on chromosomes and hormones, and it is scientifically measurable. It's a measure of things like the physical anatomy of a person and what parts they have.
Gender roles are social behavioral patterns that govern things like what a person wears and what jobs they perform. Obviously a person's feelings determine which of the available social behavioral patterns that society offers that they will follow. Or they can choose to trail-blaze their own path. For example, in the 20th century in the West, women increasingly rejected the gender role of being homemakers and instead opted for full time work in jobs previously understood to be 'male' roles.
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