Gender

People have many ways to be.

Some feel like boys. Some feel like girls. Some feel like both or neither. This is called gender.

Many groups use two main groups. These are male and female. But some lands have more. Some have a third kind.

People use gender to show who they are. This can be how they act. It can be how they dress.

Gender is a big part of life. It helps us live together.

Gender is how people feel and act.

It is about being a man, a woman, or another kind. Many cultures use two groups. These are male and female. This is called a gender binary. But some places have more. For example, South Asia has the hijras. In North America, some people are two-spirit. People who do not fit two groups are called non-binary.

Long ago, the word gender meant something else. It was used for grammar. In the mid-1900s, the meaning began to change. Scholars started to see a difference between sex and gender. Sex is about biology. Gender is about how society works.

In the 1970s, many people used this new idea. Scientists also study this. They look at how genes and hormones might help shape how we feel. Some people feel their gender does not match their body. This is called being transgender. Understanding gender helps us learn how people live together.

Gender is a way to describe how people live in society. It includes social, psychological, and cultural parts of being a man or a woman. Some people also identify as a third gender. Many cultures use a system called a gender binary. This means they divide people into two groups based on their biological sex. People who do not fit into these two groups are often called non-binary.

Some societies have even more groups. For example, the hijras live in South Asia. In North America, some native people are called two-spirit.

Scientists study gender in many different ways. They look at how social roles and expressions work. Some researchers use a biopsychosocial approach. This means they look at biology, psychology, and social culture all at once. Natural scientists study if biological differences change how people act. Social scientists often look at gender as a social construct. This means it is something created by how people live together.

ways the word gender is used has changed over time. Long ago, the word mostly referred to grammar. It was used to sort words into categories like masculine or feminine. In the mid-20th century, the meaning began to shift. By the 1950s and 1960s, it started to mean something different in social science. In the 1970s, feminist scholars helped make a clear distinction. They separated biological sex from the social idea of gender.

History shows us how these ideas grew. Before 1964, the word gender was very rare in studies about marriage. An analysis of 30 million article titles showed its use grew greatly. By the end of the 20th century, it was used more than the word sex in many fields. The US Food and Drug Administration used the word gender in 1993. They did this to avoid confusion with other meanings. In 2011, the FDA changed its rules again. They started using sex for biology and gender for how people see themselves.

Biology also plays a part in how gender is felt. Some research looks at how hormones in the womb affect people. For example, higher levels of male hormones can influence behavior. Some women have a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia. This can lead to different interests in activities. Scientists also study if genes or the brain influence gender identity. This helps us understand the complex link between our bodies and our identities.

Gender refers to the social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man, a woman, or a third gender. It is a central characteristic used for social organization in many societies. While gender often corresponds to a person's biological sex, they are not always the same thing. A transgender person may identify with a gender different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Many cultures follow a gender binary, which divides people into two categories: male and female. People who fall outside these two groups may use the term non-binary.

To understand gender, scientists often use a biopsychosocial approach. This method looks at biological, psychological, and social or cultural factors together. Natural scientists investigate if biological differences influence gendered behavior or identity. Social scientists, such as those in gender studies, often view gender as a social construct. A social construct is an idea created by how a society functions and organizes itself.

There are different ways to categorize these identities. Some societies recognize more than two genders. For example, the hijras are a third gender in South Asia. In North America, some native people identify as two-spirit. The experiences of intersex people also show the complexity of these categories. Intersex refers to people with biological traits that do not fit typical definitions of male or female.

The history of the word "gender" has changed significantly. The word comes from the Latin "genus," which means "kind" or "type." For most of history, the word was used only for grammatical categories. In grammar, nouns are assigned to categories like masculine, feminine, or neuter. Before the mid-20th century, it was very rare to use the word for people. An analysis of 12,000 references on marriage from 1900 to 1964 showed the term "gender" did not appear once.

In the mid-20th century, a major shift occurred in how the word was used. In the 1950s and 1960s, the term began moving toward its modern social science meaning. An analysis of 30 million academic titles from 1945 to 2001 showed this trend. Early in that period, "sex" was used much more often than "gender." However, by the end of that period, "gender" outnumbered "sex" in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the 1970s, feminist theory embraced the distinction between biological sex and the social construct of gender.

Government and legal systems have also adapted to these changing definitions. In 1993, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used "gender" instead of "sex" to avoid confusion with sexual intercourse. In 2011, the FDA reversed this and began using "sex" for biological classification. They defined "gender" as a person's self-representation or how social institutions respond to them. Legal cases also reflect this evolution. In the 1994 Supreme Court case J.E.B. v. Alabama, the court noted a long history of sex discrimination. The court stated that using gender stereotypes can reinforce prejudicial views.

Biological factors can also influence how gender is experienced. Some research suggests that prenatal hormone exposure affects gendered behavior. For example, maternal testosterone levels may influence "rough and tumble" play in many mammals. Some women have a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). This condition causes an overproduction of the male hormone, androgen, while in the womb. Research by Dr. Sheri Berenbaum suggests these women may be statistically more likely to enjoy activities traditionally linked to males.

Today, the study of gender connects many different fields of science and thought. It is studied in psychology, sociology, sexology, and neuroscience. These fields work to understand the interaction between biology and society. While the distinction between sex and gender is not always strictly observed, it remains a vital tool for researchers. This helps experts understand how identity, biology, and social structures all work together in human life.