Sexuality And Gender Essay

Over the years, many different theories and ideas have arisen regarding sexuality and gender. For a long time, there has been a societal debate over the impact of nature and nurture on an individual’s sex and gender. It can be argued that ‘biology is fate’ in regards to this but there are, however, many other influencing factors that can shape and dilute this ‘fate.’ Social norms, upbringing and the culture one lives in can heavily impact how and with who one identifies themselves. Sex and gender are subjective matters that cannot be generalized as a common ‘fate,’ but rather depend entirely on each individual’s experience.
Sexuality is defined as the biological traits from which society deduces whether an individual is male or female (Stoller, …show more content…
It has been argued that gender is a combination of gender identity (belonging to a specific sexual category – male, female, ambiguous), gender role (interests, attitudes and behaviors assigned and promoted by society and parents) and sexual orientation (Stoller, 1964). Different aspects of gender, such as gender identity and sexual orientation, are ones that tend to be ingrained from birth and in that sense can be regarded as a ‘fate.’ Gender assignment involves consideration of both physiological and biological attributes determined by nature, followed by determination of gender role involving aspects such as clothing, movement and occupation (Laurie, …show more content…
It can be concluded, from previous studies and cross-cultural examinations, that the biology of sex and gender is to an extent a ‘fate.’ Every individual is born with certain genitalia and a certain feeling of who they are and what sex and gender they identify with. This ‘fate,’ however, is incredibly malleable and easily influenced by the social norms, upbringing, culture and general society in which we