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Gender shapes how individuals experience the world, influencing social expectations, opportunities, and interactions. Across cultures, societies define different roles and behaviors for people based on gender. These gender roles are not fixed but rather shaped by cultural norms, historical context, and social institutions such as family, education, religion, and media. Masculinity is often associated with strength, assertiveness, competitiveness, and leadership. Men have traditionally been expected to pursue careers and avoid expressing emotions. Femininity is often associated with nurturing, empathy, cooperation, and emotional sensitivity. Women have traditionally been expected to prioritize domestic responsibilities and caregiving.
Gender roles can vary greatly from culture to culture. In some societies, gender roles are strictly divided, with men expected to be dominant and career-focused while women are expected to be nurturing and family-oriented. In other cultures, gender roles are more fluid, and some societies recognize more than two genders (e.g., Two-Spirit people in some Indigenous cultures or hijras in South Asia).
Gender Dysphoria
For some individuals, the disconnect between their gender identity (their internal sense of being male, female, or another gender) and the sex they were assigned at birth can lead to significant distress. This experience is known as gender dysphoria, a condition recognized by medical and psychological professionals. It can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, or social withdrawal if a person is unable to express their gender identity comfortably. This feeling of discomfort or distress can range from mild to severe and may affect a person’s mental health, daily life, and well-being.
Gender dysphoria is not the same as being transgender. Not all transgender or nonbinary people experience gender dysphoria, but some do. Gender dysphoria specifically refers to the distress that results from the misalignment between one’s sex assigned at birth and gender. Some individuals seek hormone therapy, surgery, or social transition to alleviate dysphoria and align their physical appearance with their gender identity. Gender dysphoria is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), but it is not classified as a mental illness. Instead, the diagnosis exists to help individuals access medical and psychological support.
Gender Expression
Beyond internal gender identity, individuals also express their gender outwardly in various ways. Gender expression refers to the external ways a person presents their gender to the world, including clothing, hairstyle, mannerisms, voice, and behavior. It is how people communicate their gender identity to others, which may or may not align with societal expectations of masculinity or femininity. While gender identity is how a person internally identifies, gender expression is how they outwardly show it. For example, wearing dresses, skirts, or makeup is often associated with feminine expression, while having short hair, wearing suits, or using a deep voice is often linked to masculine expression. Some people express gender androgynously, blending elements of both masculinity and femininity. Key aspects of gender expression include:
- It varies across cultures and time periods: What is considered “masculine” or “feminine” is shaped by social norms, and these norms change over time.
- It can be fluid: A person’s gender expression can change daily or over time, depending on personal preferences or social contexts.
- It does not determine gender identity: someone can have a masculine gender expression and still identify as a woman, or have a feminine expression and identify as a man.
Society often enforces gender norms, expecting people to express their gender in ways that align with their assigned sex at birth. This can lead to gender policing, where individuals face discrimination, bullying, or violence if they do not conform to expectations. Respecting diverse gender expressions helps promote inclusivity, self-expression, and freedom from rigid gender norms.
Doing Gender
Doing gender is a sociological concept that explains how gender is not something we inherently are but something we actively perform in everyday life. This idea, developed by West and Zimmerman (1987), argues that gender is not just a biological or personal identity but a social process—something people “do” through interactions, behaviors, and societal expectations. People can choose to follow or resist gender norms through clothing, speech, gestures, and activities that signal masculinity or femininity. Doing gender happens constantly, in small ways.
Examples: Men may be expected to hold doors open for women, while women may be expected to smile more in social settings.
While doing gender and gender expression are related concepts, they are not the same. Doing gender is a sociological process, whereas gender expression is an individual characteristic. Gender expression is one of the ways in which people “do” gender, but doing gender goes beyond personal choices. It includes social interactions, norms, and institutional expectations that shape how gender is performed. For instance, a father taking on the role of financial provider while the mother is expected to be the primary caregiver provides an example of doing gender, even if neither of these people explicitly chooses these roles. Alternatively, a person wearing dresses, suits, makeup, or having short or long hair to express their gender identity is an example of gender expression, which can also be a part of doing gender.
Biological Determinism versus Social Construction of Gender
Two major perspectives are used to explain gender differences. Biological determinism argues that a person’s genetics and biological characteristics directly determine gender roles and behaviors. According to this view, men are naturally more aggressive due to their higher testosterone levels, while women are naturally more nurturing due to their biological role in childbirth and caregiving. Supporters of this perspective believe that gender differences are rooted in biology rather than social influences. However, critics argue that this explanation ignores the role of culture and socialization in shaping gender roles and behaviors.
The social construction of gender perspective argues that gender is shaped more by social expectations and cultural norms rather than by biology. Gender norms change over time; for example, in Western societies, pink was once considered a boy’s color, but today it is commonly associated with girls. Additionally, different cultures have different gender expectations, demonstrating that gender is not universal or biologically fixed. This perspective emphasizes that while biology plays a role in human development, ideas about gender are largely influenced by society.
