"Gender includes the social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man, woman, or other gender identity."
Learn about the difference between gender and sex, how they intersect, and how they impact individuals and society.
Gender and Sex: Fundamentally, understanding gender and sex is vital in comprehending the basis of feminism. Sex refers to the biological differences between males and females while gender refers to the societal constructs of femininity and masculinity.
The History of Feminism: To comprehend feminism, it is essential to look at the movement's history, including significant events, figures, and theories that have propelled the fight for gender equality.
Patriarchy: Patriarchy refers to a societal system where men occupy most positions of power, thereby perpetuating gender inequality.
Socialization: Socialization is the process by which individuals learn cultural norms, behaviors, and values in society. For instance, girls are taught to exhibit more nurturing, emotional traits while boys are encouraged to be masculine and tough.
Intersectionality: Intersectionality refers to the interconnected nature of various social identities such as gender, race, class, and sexuality. The concept reflects the reality that individuals experience oppression differently based on their social statuses.
Gender Roles and Stereotypes: Gender roles and stereotypes refer to the societal expectations and assumptions about men and women's behaviors, characteristics, and roles.
Feminist Theories: Feminist theories are comprehensive frameworks that attempt to explain gender inequality and potential solutions to the issue. They include liberal feminism, radical feminism, postmodern feminism, and others.
Women's Rights: Women's rights refer to the legal and social rights and privileges granted to women in various societies worldwide.
LGBTQIA+ Rights: Understanding the rights and experiences of individuals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and other non-heteronormative identities is critical in understanding gender and sex.
Sexism and Misogyny: Sexism and misogyny refer to the systemic discrimination, marginalization, and oppression of girls and women.
Rape Culture: Rape culture is a societal pattern where sexual assault, rape, and other forms of sexual violence are normalized or excused, perpetuating gender inequality.
Violence against Women: Violence against women refers to the physical, sexual or psychological maltreatment of women by individuals or societal systems, such as domestic violence, FGM or forced marriages.
Beauty standards: Beauty standards can be a significant obstacle to women's empowerment. It refers to physical appearance norms that are perpetuated by the media, society, and other cultural pillars.
Masculinity: Understanding traditional masculinity norms, their evolution, and impact on gender inequality is essential in feminist studies.
Women in Politics: Political participation and representation of women in government and leadership positions play a crucial role in addressing gender inequality.
Reproductive Rights: Reproductive rights refer to the legal and social rights and freedoms to decide whether or not to have children, as well as access to safe and legal abortion and contraception.
Pay Gap: There is a significant pay gap between men and women, which perpetuates gender inequality. This gap refers to the difference in average earnings between men and women performing similar work.
Feminist Movements Today: Finally, understanding the present-day feminist movements such as #MeToo, Time's Up, and Black Lives Matters, is crucial to understanding and advocating for gender equality.
Female: Refers to a person who identifies as female, or biologically has female reproductive organs.
Male: Refers to a person who identifies as male, or biologically has male reproductive organs.
Non-binary: Refers to a person whose gender identity is not exclusively male or female, and who may identify as both, neither, or something else entirely.
Transgender: Refers to a person whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.
Intersex: Refers to a person who is born with physical sex characteristics that do not fit typical binary male or female categories.
Two-spirit: A term used in some Indigenous cultures to describe individuals who identify as having both male and female spirits within them.
Genderqueer: Refers to a person whose gender identity is outside of the binary categories of male and female.
Androgynous: Refers to a person who presents with both masculine and feminine physical and/or behavioral characteristics.
Agender: Refers to a person who does not identify with any gender.
Bigender: Refers to a person who identifies as having two gender identities.
Demigender: Refers to a person whose gender identity is partially, but not completely, aligned with a particular gender.
Genderfluid: Refers to a person whose gender identity changes over time, or who identifies as having more than one gender at different times.
"Most cultures use a gender binary, in which gender is divided into two categories, and people are considered part of one or the other (boys/men and girls/women)"
"Those who are outside these groups may fall under the umbrella term non-binary."
"Some societies have specific genders besides 'man' and 'woman', such as the hijras of South Asia; these are often referred to as third genders."
"Most scholars agree that gender is a central characteristic for social organization."
"In the mid-20th century, a terminological distinction in modern English (known as the sex and gender distinction) between biological sex and gender began to develop."
"Psychology, sexology, and feminism contributed to the development of the sex and gender distinction."
"Feminist theory embraced the concept of a distinction between biological sex and the social construct of gender."
"Most contemporary social scientists in western countries, behavioral scientists and biologists, many legal systems and government bodies, and intergovernmental agencies such as the WHO make a distinction between gender and sex."
"The social sciences have a branch devoted to gender studies."
"Psychology, sociology, sexology, and neuroscience are interested in the subject."
"The social sciences sometimes approach gender as a social construct, and gender studies particularly do."
"Research in the natural sciences investigates whether biological differences in females and males influence the development of gender in humans."
"Biopsychosocial approaches to gender include biological, psychological, and social/cultural aspects."
"Before the mid-20th century, it was uncommon to use the word gender to refer to anything but grammatical categories."
"Most scholars agree that gender is a central characteristic for social organization."
"Some societies have specific genders besides 'man' and 'woman', such as the hijras of South Asia; these are often referred to as third genders."
"Gender includes the social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man, woman, or other gender identity."
"Psychology, sociology, sexology, and neuroscience are interested in the subject."
"Feminist theory embraced the concept of a distinction between biological sex and the social construct of gender."