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

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Topic Proposal

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.
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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 Arizonians 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 Rugter’s 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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