Gender and Sex in the Structure of Feminist Theories: A Concept and a Development

Abstract

Ann Oakley is considered the first to use the concept of 'gender'. She tried to distinguish between 'gender and 'sex'. In fact, she borrowed the idea of distinguishing between the two concepts from the American psychologist Robert Stoller, who was working on unlimited or sexually ambiguous cases. Sex, at that time, was not clearly defined whether it refers to 'males' or 'females', especially since the feelings and emotions were not in harmony with the person's real sex. Robert found that the distinction between the two concepts was beneficial to describe the condition of those individuals who found themselves in special gender positions and models but practiced gender deeds that are not connected to their sex. Accordingly, Oakley defined 'sex' as: "the physiological and biological characteristics that distinguish 'males' from 'females.' Oakley defined gender as "Masculinity and Femininity that are socially structured, and culturally and psychologically formed." These concepts are acquired through a socialization process, through which the individual learns how to become a 'male' and how to become a 'female' in a specific society and at a specific time, as 'gender' represents social characteristics and not a direct product that is connected to biological sex. In general, the concept of 'gender' refers to the distinction between the 'male' and the 'female' on the regular basis of the social role of each category, under the influence of the prevailing social values. The concept of 'Sex' or biological kind means, "the biological, physiological, and psychological differences between the two sexes regarding the differences of chromosomes and hormones and internal and external sexual organs, and consequently, 'Sex' is characterized by 'predestination' and 'aesthetics'. The differences between the woman and the man are fixed and eternal. This condition is called 'sexual dimorphism', namely, 'duplication' or 'duality', which indicates the existence of two kinds of the same category, which differ from each other in several properties. To express the biological differences between the two sexes, sociologists employ the term 'Sex-Category' or 'Sex-Assignment', which describe the operations through which social meanings are given to the biological category (male, female). Thus, we find that the concept of 'gender' has a dynamic meaning, where the role that men and women play extremely vary from one culture to another, and from one social group to another within the same culture. Ethnic race, social class, economic circumstances, and age are factors that influence the actions that are considered appropriate for women. Roughly, we can say that 'sex' is the concept that we give to our mother tongue, through which we speak and figure out our desires, while 'gender' indicates the cultural practices or media that enable these desires to be achieved.[1].