In most dictionaries,
gender is more or less defined as the properties
which differentiate between organisms based on their
respective reproductive roles. From a broader perspective,
the term “gender” can be described as
the differences between males and females ranging
from biological roles to social roles. In light
of the biological perspectives, male gender is specified
by the occurrence of Y-chromosome as it is absent
in the female gender. Nonetheless, there are numerous
debates regarding the differentiation made by biological
perspective between gender roles as well as on gender
identity.
The feminism notion has always rejected gender
roles on the basis of it being socially constructed
and not being supported by a clear biological
statement. In contrast, feminism has not been
able to come up with an explanation regarding
power relations in society which are dominated
by male gender.
Gender is interchangeably used with the term
sex or sexual orientation and also identity. However,
according to social sciences this term is used
to define only social differences, moreover, of
people cannot fit into the definition of biological
sex, they may be referred to as transsexual or
transgender. Before the 1970s, the term “sex”
was widely use used within the context of differential
roles of men and women in societies.
The influences of the feminist movement had introduced
the word “gender” in their own description
of human nature and soon all matters relating
to human nature are associated with the term “gender”
as at this time, the human nature was perceived
as epicene as well as socially distinct.
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