Gender is only a sex or a wider concept?

Such concepts as gender, gender and gender psychology are now widely heard. So what is gender? This concept is much broader than the simple identity of an individual to a particular sex. The biological sex of the subject is not subject to change throughout his life (except for cases of surgical intervention). Gender is, rather, a psychological characteristic that has properties to change in the course of development of society, as well as different in different cultures and communities.

Definition

So what is gender? The definition of this concept is to describe the entire behavioral complex, which characterizes the subject as a man or as a woman. It should be noted that the physiological aspects here play a secondary role. First of all, gender is a socially conditioned model of a person that determines his position in society. The concept of gender includes a set of cultural and social norms, prescribed by a person to society, depending on the physiological sex. In other words, gender is what features a person should have as a man or as a woman. Thus, gender roles are determined by the characteristics of the society in which a person lives. It should also be noted that a biological man may not at all have a gender identity with men, as well as a woman.

The problem of gender identity

How does the gender formation of a person take place in a society, how does it assimilate the sex-role characteristics, what problems arise, if this does not happen? Formation or design of sexual identification of the subject throughout his life - this is the problem of gender as a social concept. In the process of becoming a person goes through a number of stages of designing gender identity. The first is the actual gender identity. The subject is aware of his biological belonging to a certain sex, is aware of his body. At the second stage, the social roles that are inherent to sex in a given society are taught and accepted. And, finally, at the third stage, the structure of the gender of the personality is completed; A person perceives himself as part of a social structure, builds appropriate relations between the sexes. Thus, gender is an integral part of the functioning of society, it builds certain relationships, creates a system of social stereotypes, and so on.

The concept of gender in the public view

Surely many people have heard such statements as "a real man should ...", "a woman should be ...", etc. This is a system of social stereotypes regarding gender identity. In the modern world of women 's emancipation, the establishment of gender equality, the destruction of the institution of marriage and family, people are disoriented, he does not know what roles are inherent in a certain gender. There is a confusion, the rejection by many people of the roles prescribed by the archaic society. Thus, in the modern world, gender is a rather vague concept that, over time, must undoubtedly change to the demands of society.