LGBTQA+ From A to Z

What is the difference between sex and gender?

What is the difference between sex and gender?

Sex refers to someone's biological identity as a male or female - characterized by having male or female genitalia i.e. a penis or a vagina.

Gender is the socially constructed roles and behaviors attributed to males and females.

Society plays a large part in defining "acceptable" male and female roles, though many of us feel that we don't fit fully into either of these definitions.

A personal feeling of maleness, femaleness, or being somewhere in between is known as our gender identity.

Here is a useful way to think about gender:Your physical body - as well as your genitals this includes your reproductive system, your chromosomes and characteristics like breasts or facial hairYour gender identity - how you feel in relation to being a man or a womanYour gender expression - how you show your gender. This could be characteristics, clothing, behavior, or interests

For some people however their physical body, gender identity and gender expression do not all match, and it raises a lot of questions. The gender role that society expects them to fit into based on their birth sex doesn't always match their gender identity.

sources:

https://young.scot/get-informed/national/understanding-gender-identity