Running Head: GENDER IS NOT SEX 1

Gender Is Not The Same As Sex But Is Often Used Interchangeably

Lesly Gordillo Santoyo

Arizona State University

GENDER IS NOT SEX 2

Abstract

Gender and sex have been used as synonymous to identify whether a person is a male or female

biologically, distinguished by the physical traits such as reproductive organs. However, gender is

how an individual recognizes themselves, like a personality. Moreover, gender does not

determine their sexual orientation of who they are attracted to nor how they physically appear.

This term is a description of how a person feels inside. A male may feel that he was supposed to

be born with a female body. A female may feel that she was supposed to be born with a male

body. A person can also feel that they are to possess both a female and male body. In our society,

gender has been generalized to two main categories where women and men are supposed to have

specific traits that label them as female or male. Gender has been influenced by cultural impacts

as well which have manipulated our visions of the common genders one knows. Although,

gender has more than just two classes, and this is what creates our unique world.

Keywords: gender, sex, identity, male, man, female, women, society

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“Who he is on the inside didn’t match the body he had on the outside,” Max Andrew

Jackson, 15, revealed to his classmates during a class presentation (Bland, 2012). Transgender

children like him suffer through a confusion within themselves. On top of that, people

surrounding their everyday lives such as their classmates may not be accepting of their gender

identity especially when it contrasts their physical appearance. This offends those with a binary

gender.

Many children have been educated about only two genders: female and male. However,

there are many more gender identities that a person can identify as than simply associating with a

male or female. This is a common misconception that our society has confounded. When

important documents such as health forms during a doctor’s visit inquire about one’s gender, and

all they place are the words “male” and “female,” people assume that this is the same as the term

“sex.” This is the incorrect use of the term “gender.” Society has implemented these visuals and

make it seem that since there are two options of sex, then there must be two options for gender if

they are utilized synonymously. Gender and sex are used interchangeably, but their definitions

are not the same since there are more than two gender identities.

Sex, sexual orientation, and gender expression are certainly related to gender identity, but

there are differences between each one. Sex determines the biological body parts that one is born

with, that being ovaries for females and testes for males. The other physical component of a

person is gender expression. This is how an individual considers their dressing style, how they

behave and communicate with gestures. A more mental and heartfelt aspect of an individual is

the sexual orientation, which is the attraction towards a biologically born male or female. Gender

identity is the gender that they believe they are. This is a mental attribute that only the individual

can decide what they truly believe they are.

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Gender has been a term used for several years, but it has been implied to contain two

categories that one can identify with. This is due to the impressions that have been established by

the human race. Feminist philosopher Drucilla Cornell evaluates this concept with a writer for

The New York Times, George Yancy, during in an interview. Goldfinger was an exemplary

movie that served as entertainment back in the 1960’s and yet was able to augment the idea that

many people have today about the traits of being a man or a woman. Drucilla Cornell pointed out

Sean Connery’s role as James Bond in the movie to being a wimp. In this 1964 film, James Bond

would treat the many women that he encountered as a simple “pieces of flesh” (Yancy, 2018).

Another film that Clint Eastwood directed apart from Goldfinger included Sudden Impact in

which a woman takes revenge on numerous rapists from her and her sister’s past by murdering

them though she does not receive proper justice when caught by the police (Yancy, 2018). An

additional Clint Eastwood film during this time was another woman’s fantasy written in a diary

when she cheated on her husband called The Bridges of Madison County (Yancy, 2018). This

goes to show many movies give the message that women are used for pleasure and appear to be

inferior to men, less than a human being. The aspects of women being seen as incomplete people

without emotions, intentions, and wisdom have been installed in our society. Men, on the other

hand, have an image open to more possibilities and seen to be superior and choose whatever they

like.

Stereotypical representations of men and women are still present. Women continue to

have the sexual approach of being at men’s disposal, through the indication of rap songs, movies,

and books. Luckily, not all women or all men are following these normative behaviors. Now, it

can be seen that genders create an array of personalities, such as a woman deciding to work as a

firefighter because she feels that she has the capabilities that were assigned to men and her self-
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efficacy steers her to her freedom to choose what it is that she wants. A man may prefer to play

the traditional mom role and take care of the children while he allows his spouse to work. Times

have changed but people still believe that the common societal images of men and women define

genders.

As noted before, people pay close attention to what the entertainment industry offers.

Although, some people do use these methods to voice the truth behind the term “gender.” “The

Boys in the Band” was a play with a stage full of gay men produced half a century ago. Fifty

years later, this play will be revived by the director Joe Mantello and other award winning actors

such as Robin de Jesus, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Jim Parsons. The article , “‘The

Boys in the Band’ Cast Reads Queer Poetry,” mentioned that the celebrities are ready to get in

action and have even pronounced their gender identities through a series of queer poem

recitations that Danez Smith collected from them. Danez used the specific set of poems for the

actors and director of “The Boys in the Band” to recite because he found a deeper value to the art

that the gender queer authors wrote. Having gay men read these queer works of art would give

the literature a profound meaning as if these actors had written the poems themselves, with a

first-person point of view. Danez proudly mentioned in the article that he felt “boldly and

bravely” about his own work as a queer author (Chee, 2018).

On a more political standpoint, gender identities are gradually becoming recognized as

not only male and female. California, Washington D. C., and Oregon have installed the “non-

binary” gender option on their state driver’s license. This is a small but appreciated detail for

those who do not feel that they fit under the given categories of male or female. Rosanna

Gabaldón and Ken Clark are leaders in the Arizona state government that would like to create the

same movement as the prior states mentioned (Polleta, 2018). Green Valley Representative
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Gabaldón declared, “I want to be able to say that Arizona’s on the front lines of recognizing

diversity" (Polleta, 2018). This conforms to creating a more accepting place that will allow for

more personal expression of what one believes of their own individuality. Instead, people have to

pick between either being a man or a woman though some do not feel this way.

The two lawmakers’ suggestion of adding an additional gender sounds like a small detail

to be fixed, but it can transform an entire community. The LGBT community have spoken out

about being offended on this issue. Not being acknowledged for who one truly is can be

insulting. When some people showed their identification for various situations with a gender that

did not align with their physical appearance, “more than 30 percent of respondents… reported

being ‘verbally harassed, denied benefits or service, asked to leave, or assaulted’” (Polleta,

2018). Due to the agitation that these people go through, advocates such as Gabaldón highly

suggest that state-issued documents need a crucial change in gender options. Death certificates,

passports, and other legal paperwork could aid in the recognition of non-binary gendered people

and dignify their lives entirely.

The main confusion that society has installed about gender is that it is misperceived as a

word that is very similar to sex. While female and male are the two classes that define sex, they

relate with the categorizations of those in gender but can be played around with. For instance, a

female can dress in a girly fashion and express more female gestures and was born with female

genitalia, but she may like girls and still feel like she is a girl. Another example is when a male

dresses like a boy, expresses female behavior and preferences, may have an attraction towards

males, and internally feel that he is supposed to be a girl. The two scenarios described are not

common genders that are seen, but there are people that feel and are this way.
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One can argue that our use of vocabulary changes over time. Gender might be a word that

can be altered, as is the phrase “American dream.” Society has applied a concrete decision of the

norms as a citizen and what the traditional genders are played out as. However, as words change,

so do people. The plasticity of a human to obeying society’s rules are the individual’s choice of

freedom, and there are those that take advantage of that freedom. That freedom is what allows

genders to be shaped and give the term its accurate meaning that was given when it was first

used.

Gender has changed over time and is slowly revealing the true definition as more genders

are exhibited by unique individuals. The past has enforced this concept that an individual is

either a female and ready to be used for sexual purposes or a male who has the freedom to be

whomever they want and can use the female whenever they want. As the years pass by, history is

marked by changes that people create to indicate that we do not have to conform to society’s

wants. The individuality of a person creates the diverse world that we are now. Analyzing one’s

self is important in gender identity and can impact a person’s daily life.
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Annotated Bibliography

Chee, A. (2018, February 26). ‘The Boys in the Band’ cast reads queer poetry. The New

York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/t-

magazine/matt-bomer-zachary-quinto-boys-in-the-band-queer-poetry.html

Alexander Chee simply informed his readers that “The Boys in the Band” will have an

interesting return after 50 years. He had been pondering about the idea of “gay

liberation,” since the “The Boys in the Band” was an entirely intentional play with gay

actors placed on stage. Gay actor Jim Parsons and gay director Joe Mantello will create

the revival of the play. In Chee’s article, he displays a few of the actors of the play

reading queer poems from authors that he believes prove a real and deep meaning to their

poems.

Although Chee did not necessarily ask for the actors’ opinions, all gay actors and director

mentioned in this article show that they would be able to speak in first person about their

beliefs on being gay. Many of the actors are Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award

winning and have proved their expertise in acting throughout their careers. The poems

that these actors read were from various authors were analyzed thoroughly, and it was

discovered that these poets reached a deeper symbolism in their poems. As Chee

described, some people only go as far as to mention a topic, but others truly dig through

the meaning with the use of powerful words.

Chee spoke with James Baldwin about his perspective on this topic. Baldwin declared

that people associate sexual identity and gender identity, and it was believed that there

would not be any importance or judgement about this. Instead, Baldwin realized that

there are oodles of terms to identify one’s gender. He, as a small child, did not even know
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under which category he had fit in then. Now, he feels that he can connect with about five

of those classes. This goes to show the changes of gender identity throughout time.

Polleta, M. (2018, February 15). Third gender option sought for Arizona driver licenses.

Azcentral. Retrieved February 5, 2018 from

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/legislature/2018/02/15/third-gender-

option-sought-arizona-drivers-licenses/333681002/

Maria Pollet introduced two lawmakers that are in favor of creating an Arizona driver’s

license with three gender options. Pollet displays the lawmakers’ strong opinions about

suggesting a third gender option, indicating that the importance of a third option is crucial

to show that Arizona is creating change for the better. They emphasized that the

opportunity to voice their appropriate gender identity will be beneficial for many areas

such as health and should be included in many legal documents like death certificates. In

comparison to a few states like California and Washington, Pollet informed the reader

that Arizona should join them in this great idea.

The author of the article spoke with important people in the government, at the state

level. This shows that whatever the lawmakers discussed with Maria Pollet, it will affect

the state that we live in as they have a great amount of insight of the state laws. Their

opinions are boldly exhibited, but of course, they do not want to become excited before

the law about adding a third gender option to the Arizona driver’s license does pass.

Other than voicing their opinions, both lawmakers discussed the facts about this potential

law.

As the newspaper article was directly from Arizona, this affects Arizonans in its entirety,

whether they really cared about this issue or not. Furthermore, this source goes to show
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that changes are still being created for those who do not fall under the categories of male

and female when asked about their gender. With the current outlook of the Arizona

driver’s license, many people are still offended by the idea of only being categorized as

female or male. Due to the lawmakers mentioned in the article, their voices are being

heard, and this will form a more gender accepting idea if three options are displayed, not

just two genders.

[TEDx Talks]. (2013, May 3). Understanding the Complexities of Gender: Sam Killermann

at TEDxUofIChicago. [Video File]. Retrieved March 2, 2018 from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcPXtqdKjE

Sam Killerman, a comedic speaker in It’s Pronounced Metrosexual, discussed what

gender is. He moved on to say that while gender is thought to be the same as biological

sex, gender expression, and sexual orientation, it is not. Killerman described that the two

genders that we classify people as, that being male or female, is not an accurate

representation to the seven billion people on this earth. Sam continued to express that

since each one of us has a unique personality, each one can have a distinct gender.

Killerman informed his audience what gender truly means and hints with a bit of

persuasion that we need to be more open to the gender types that one can classify as.

This resource is a convincing source because Sam Killerman has credibility. Killerman is

a social justice advocate who focuses on gender and sexuality. He is a comedian for the

show It’s Pronounced Metrosexual which argued a few of the ideas that he spoke about

during the TEDx Talk. He is passionate about this topic and has a lot of knowledge about

it as he goes in depth. Sam Killerman does a great job attempting to relate to his audience

and using comedy to connect to his listeners on such an edgy subject.

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Gender and sex should not be mistaken. Sex is more precise by observing the physical

attributes of one’s biological existence and focuses on two types: male and female.

Gender, on the other hand, has more than just two categories and distinguishes what a

person thinks and feels in their head and how they identify themselves. Gender is more

obscure and erratic. It can be safe to associate gender with personality. This term has

been utilized throughout history which does not always mean what an author writes.

Now, gender has been accustomed to the views of society and tradition, and this is not

necessarily the correct definition.

Yancy, G. (2018, February 26). James Bond is a wimp. The New York Times. Retrieved

March 3, 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/opinion/drucilla-cornell-

misogyny-sex-

gender.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=keypress&region

=FixedLeft&pgtype=article

George Yancy invited Drucilla Cornell, a feminist philosopher for an interview. While

their main idea about the interview was discussing how James Bond, played by Sean

Connery in the 1964 film, Goldfinger, used women as a representation of a simple piece

of meat to have fun with, this goes to show that women have been disregarded of their

values as human beings. Cornell informs Yancy, backing herself up with examples of

books that she had read before, that women have not been respected and are rather seen

as an object with no feelings, motives, or care.

In this interview, George Yancy uses a credible primary source. A professional in the

studies of women and a philosopher in this field give Drucilla Cornell credibility that she

is an expert and that she knows what she is talking about. Not only has she studied this
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subject with a passion but she is also a social science professor in Rugters University and

has written many books. She is well updated on the current events that have revolved

around this topic and discusses the #Me Too Movement with the interviewee.

Throughout the discussion, Crucilla emphasized that the image that women have had

from men, implying that gender has been a troublesome history. Women are seen as if

they are not considered humans, that they are only to stand there and look pretty. Our

society and culture has shaped this gender generalization of women appearing to be

inferior than men, but there are so many people that have different personalities and not

all women are this way of using their body for other’s pleasure.
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References

Bland, K. (2012, May 5). Becoming Max: Confronting gender identity disorder. Azcentral.

Retrieved March 22, 2018 from

http://archive.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/20120505gender-

identity-disorder-max.html

Chee, A. (2018, February 26). ‘The Boys in the Band’ cast reads queer poetry. The New

York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/t-

magazine/matt-bomer-zachary-quinto-boys-in-the-band-queer-poetry.html

Polleta, M. (2018, February 15). Third gender option sought for Arizona driver licenses.

Azcentral. Retrieved February 5, 2018 from

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/legislature/2018/02/15/third-gender-

option-sought-arizona-drivers-licenses/333681002/

[TEDx Talks]. (2013, May 3). Understanding the Complexities of Gender: Sam Killermann

at TEDxUofIChicago. [Video File]. Retrieved March 2, 2018 from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcPXtqdKjE

Yancy, G. (2018, February 26). James Bond is a wimp. The New York Times. Retrieved

March 3, 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/opinion/drucilla-cornell-

misogyny-sex-

gender.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=keypress&region

=FixedLeft&pgtype=article