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s used to denote a female (left) or male (right) organism, derived from the astrological symbols of Venus and Mars.]] "Gender", in common usage, refers to the differences between ," within the academic fields of Cultural Studies , Gender Studies and the Social Sciences in general, the term "gender" often refers to purely social rather than biological differences. Some view gender as a Social Construct ion rather than a biological phenomenon. People whose gender identity feels incongruent with their physical bodies may identify themselves as Intersex , Transgender or Genderqueer . Many languages have a system of Grammatical Gender , a type of Noun Class system — nouns may be classified as ''masculine'' or ''feminine'' (for example Spanish , Hebrew , Arabic and French ) or may also have a ''neuter'' grammatical gender (for example Sanskrit , German and Polish ). In such languages, this is essentially a Convention , which may have little or no connection to the meaning of the words. Likewise, a wide variety of phenomena have characteristics termed ''gender'', by analogy with male and female bodies (such as the Gender Of Connectors And Fasteners ) or due to Societal Norms . ETYMOLOGY AND USAGE The word ''gender'' in English ;Gender = kind The word ''gender'' comes from the Middle English ''gendre'', a Loanword from Norman -conquest-era Middle French . This, in turn, came from Latin ''genus''. Both words mean 'kind', 'type', or 'sort'. They derive ultimately from a widely attested Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root ''gen-'', Julius Pokorny, 'gen' , in ''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'', (Bern: Francke, 1959, reprinted in 1989), pp. 373-75. 'genə-', in 'Appendix I: Indo-European Roots', to '', 2000). which is also the source of ''kin'', ''kind'', ''king'' and many other English words. Your Dictionary.com, 'Gen', reformatted from AHD. It appears in Modern French in the word '' Genre '' (type, kind) and is related to the Greek root ''gen-'' (to produce), appearing in '' Gene '', '' Genesis '' and '' Oxygen ''. As a verb, it means ''breed'' in the King James Bible :
Most of the uses of the root ''gen'' in Indo-European languages refer either directly to what pertains to birth or, by extension, to natural, innate qualities and their consequent social distinctions (for example ''gentry'', ''gentile'', ''genocide'' and ''eugenics''). The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED1, Volume 4, 1900) notes the original meaning of ''gender'' as 'kind' had already become obsolete.
;Gender = masculinity or femininity The use of ''gender'' to refer to Masculinity and Femininity as types is attested throughout the history of Modern English (from about the 14th Century ).
:— Mary Wortley Montagu , ''Letters to Mrs Wortley'' lxvi 108
:— '' 33 (February, p. 162.)
;Gender = noun class According to Aristotle , the Greek philosopher Protagoras used the terms ''masculine'', ''feminine'', and ''neuter'' to classify nouns, introducing the concept of Grammatical Gender .
:— Aristotle, '' The Technique Of Rhetoric '' III v The words for this concept are not related to ''gen-'' in all Indo-European languages (for example, ''rod'' in Slavic Languages ). The usage of ''gender'' in the context of grammatical distinctions is a specific and technical usage. However, in English, the word became attested more widely in the context of grammar, than in making sexual distinctions. This was noted in OED1, prompting Henry Watson Fowler to recommend this usage as the primary and preferable meaning of ''gender'' in English. "Gender ... is a grammatical term only. To talk of persons ... of the masculine or feminine g {Link without Title} , meaning of the male or female sex, is either a jocularity (permissible or not according to context) or a blunder." Fowler's Modern English Usage , 1926: p. 211. The sense of this can be felt by analogy with a modern expression like "persons of the female persuasion." It should be noted, however, that this was a recommendation, neither the ''Daily Mail'' nor Henry James citations (above) are "jocular" nor "blunders." Additionally, patterns of usage of ''gender'' have substantially changed since Fowler's day (''noun class'' above, and ''sexual stereotype'' below). ;Gender = sexual stereotype Over the course of the 1970 s, the feminist movement took the word ''gender'' into their own usage to describe their theory of human nature. Early in that decade, ''gender'' was used in ways consistent with both the history of English and the history of attestation of the root. However, by the end of the decade consensus was achieved in both theory and terminology. The theory was that human nature is essentially Epicene and social distinctions based on sex are arbitrarily constructed. Matters pertaining to this theoretical process of social construction were labelled matters of ''gender''.
:— '' (April) The American Heritage Dictionary uses the following two sentences to illustrate the difference. Usage note: ''Gender'', ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', Fourth Edition, (2000).
In the last two decades of the 20th century, the use of ''gender'' in academia increased greatly, outnumbering uses of ''sex'' in the social sciences. Haig, D. (2004). ' The Inexorable Rise of Gender and the Decline of Sex: Social Change in Academic Titles, 1945–2001'. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'' 33: 87–96. Frequently, but not exclusively, this indicates acceptance of the feminist theory of human nature. However, in many instances, the term ''gender'' still refers to sexual distinction generally without such an assumption.
:— D Haig, ''The Inexorable Rise of Gender and the Decline of Sex'' In fact, the ideological distinction between ''sex'' and ''gender'' is only fitfully observed. The concept of gender in other languages ;German and Dutch In English, both 'sex' and 'gender' are used in contexts where they could not be substituted (sexual intercourse; anal sex; safe sex; sex worker; sex slave). Other languages, like German or Dutch, use the same word, ''Geschlecht'' or ''Geslacht'', to refer both to grammatical gender and to biological sex, making a distinction between 'sex' and 'gender' difficult. In some contexts, German has adopted the English loanword ''Gender'' to achieve this distinction. Sometimes ''Geschlechtsidentität'' is used for 'gender' (although it literally means 'gender identity') and ''Geschlecht'' for 'sex'. More common is the use of modifiers: ''biologisches Geschlecht'' for 'sex', ''Geschlechtsidentität'' for 'gender identity' and ''Geschlechtsrolle'' for 'gender role', and so on. ;Swedish In Swedish, 'gender' is translated with the linguistically cognate ''genus'', including sociological contexts, thus: ''Genusstudier'' (gender studies) and ''Genusvetenskap'' (gender science). 'Sex' in Swedish, however, only signifies sexual relations, and not the typical English dichotomy, a concept for which ''kön'' (also from PIE ''genə'') is used. A common distinction is then made between ''kön'' (sex) and ''genus'' (gender), where the former refers only to biological sex. In earlier literature, and occasionally in non-academic contexts, Swedish uses the word ''könsroll'' (literally 'sex role', but contextually translated as 'gender role'). These terms can have the same or different meanings depending on the context. SEX See Also: Biological sex See Also: Sexual dimorphism Sex-determination systems Sexual differentiation Evolution of sex Gender can refer to the biological condition of being male or female, or less commonly Intersex or " Third Sex " as applied to humans, or Hermaphroditic , as applied to non-human animals and plants. In this sense, the term is a synonym for ''sex'', a word that has undergone a usage shift itself, having become a synonym for ''sexual intercourse''. BIOLOGY OF GENDER See Also: Biology of gender See Also: Gender taxonomy SOCIAL CATEGORY See Also: Sociology of gender Gender roles Since the 1950s, the term ''gender'' has been increasingly used to distinguish a social role (. Many societies categorize all individuals as either argues that in some non-human animal species, there can also be said to be more than two genders, in that there might be multiple templates for behavior available to individual organisms with a given biological sex.Roughgarden, Joan. (2004) ''Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People''. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24073-1 There is debate over to what extent gender is a Social Construct and to what extent it is a biological construct. One point of view in the debate is Social Constructionism , which suggests that gender is entirely a social construct. Contrary to social constructionism is Essentialism which suggests that it is entirely a biological construct. Others' opinions on the subject lie somewhere in between. Some gender associations are changing as society changes, yet much controversy exists over the extent to which Gender Role s are simply Stereotypes , arbitrary Social Construction s, or natural innate differences. In feminist and gender theory See Also: Feminist theory Gender studies During the 1970s there was no consensus about how the terms were to be applied. In the 1974 edition of '' Masculine/Feminine Or Human '', the author uses " Innate gender" and "learned Sex Roles ," but in the 1978 edition, the use of ''sex'' and ''gender'' is reversed. By 1980, most Feminist writings had agreed on using ''gender'' only for socioculturally adapted Trait s. The philosopher and feminist ); from the theories of the psychoanalyst Jaques Lacan ; and in the work of feminists (such as Judith Butler ). Each field came to regard "gender" as a practice, sometimes referred to as " Performative ."Butler, J. (1999). "Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity," 9. Gender and development See Also: Gender identity Gender, and particularly the role of Women is widely recognized as vitally important to International Development issues. This often means a focus on gender-equality, ensuring Participation , but includes an understanding of the different roles and expectation of the genders within the community. As well as directly addressing inequality, attention to gender issues is regarded as important to the success of development programs, for all participants. For example, in Microfinance it is common to target women, as besides the fact that women tend to be over-represented in the poorest segments of the population, they are also regarded as more reliable at repaying the loans. Also, it is claimed that women are more likely to use the money for the benefit of their families. Some organizations working in developing countries and in the development field have incorporated advocacy and empowerment for women into their work. A notable example is Wangari Maathai 's environmental organization, the Green Belt Movement . Legal status A person's sex as female or male has legal significance—sex is indicated on government documents, and laws provide differently for women and men. Some examples of how sex and gender are legally relevant: many pension systems have different retirement ages for men or women, and usually marriage is only available to opposite-gender couples, whereas a civil partnership is often only available for same-sex couples. The question then arises as to what legally determines whether someone is male or female. In most cases this can appear obvious, but the matter is complicated for Intersexual or Transgender people. Different jurisdictions have adopted different answers to this question. Almost all countries permit changes of legal gender status in cases of intersexualism, when the gender assignment made at birth is determined upon further investigation to be biologically inaccurate—technically, however, this is not a change of status ''per se.'' Rather, it is recognition of a status which was deemed to exist unknown from birth. Increasingly, jurisdictions also provide a procedure for changes of legal gender for transgender people. Gender Assignment , when there are any indications that genital sex might not be decisive in a particular case, is normally not defined by any single definition, but by a combination of conditions, including chromosomes and gonads. Thus, for example, in many jurisdictions a person with XY chromosomes but female gonads could be recognised as female at birth. The ability to Change Legal Gender for transgender people in particular has given rise to the phenomena in some jurisdictions of the same person having different genders for the purposes of different areas of the law. For example, in Australia prior to the Re Kevin decisions, a transsexual person could be recognised as the gender they identified with under many areas of the law, e.g., social security law, but not for the law of marriage. Thus, for a period it was possible for the same person to have two different genders under Australian law. It is also possible in federal systems for the same person to have one gender under state law and a different gender under federal law (e.g., suppose the state recognises gender transitions, but the federal government does not). SPIRITUALITY In Taoism , Yin And Yang are considered feminine and masculine, respectively. In Christianity , God is described in masculine terms; however, the Church has historically been described in feminine terms. Of one of the several forms of the Hindu God, Shiva, is Ardhanarishwar (literally half-female God). Here Shiva manifests himself so that the left half is Female and the right half is Male. The left represents Shakti (energy, power) in the form of Goddess Parvati (otherwise his consort) and the right half Shiva. Whereas Parvati is the cause of arousal of Kama (desires), Shiva is the killer. Shiva is pervaded by the power of Parvati and Parvati is pervaded by the power of Shiva. While the stone images may seem to represent a half-male and half-female God, the true symbolic representation is of a being the whole of which is Shiva and the whole of which is Shakti at the same time. It is a 3-D representation of only shakti from one angle and only Shiva from the other. Shiva and Shakti are hence the same being representing a collective of Jnana (knowledge) and Kriya (activity). Adi Shankaracharya, the founder of non-dualistic philosophy (Advaita–"not two") in Hindu thought says in his "Saundaryalahari"—''Shivah Shaktayaa yukto yadi bhavati shaktah prabhavitum na che devum devona khalu kushalah spanditam api'' " i.e., It is only when Shiva is united with Shakti that He acquires the capability of becoming the Lord of the Universe. In the absence of Shakti, He is not even able to stir. In fact, the term "Shiva" originated from "Shva," which implies a dead body. It is only through his inherent shakti that Shiva realizes his true nature. This mythology projects the inherent view in ancient Hinduism, that each human carries within himself both male and female components, which are forces rather than sexes, and it is the harmony between the creative and the annihilative, the strong and the soft, the proactive and the passive, that makes a true person. Such thought, leave alone entail gender equality, in fact obliterates any material distinction between the male and female altogether. This may explain why in ancient India we find evidence of homosexuality, bisexuality, androgyny, multiple sex partners and open representation of sexual pleasures in artworks like the Khajuraho temples, being accepted within prevalent social frameworks."The Male-Female Hologram," Ashok Vohra, Times Of India , March 8 , 2005 , Page 9 LANGUAGE Connectors and fasteners See Also: Gender of connectors and fasteners In Electrical and Mechanical trades and manufacturing, and in Electronics , each of a pair of mating Connectors or Fastener s (such as Nut s and Bolt s) is conventionally assigned the designation ''male'' or ''female''. The assignment is by direct Analogy with animal Genitalia ; the part bearing one or more protrusions, or which fits inside the other, being designated male and the part containing the corresponding indentations or fitting outside the other being female. Music In western music theory, keys, chords and scales are often described as having ''major'' or ''minor'' tonality, sometimes related to ''masculine'' and ''feminine''. By analogy, the ''major'' scales are masculine (clear, open, extroverted), while the minor scales are given feminine qualities (dark, soft, introverted). German uses the word ''Tongeschlecht'' ("Tone gender") for tonality, and the words ''Dur'' (from Latin ''durus'', hard) for ''major'' and ''moll'' (from Latin ''mollis'', soft) for ''minor''. See Linguistics Natural languages often make gender distinctions. These may be of various kinds:
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