Sexuality and Gender

Judith Lorber (1996) claims that the majority of research today presumes that each person
possesses one sex, one sexuality and one gender that remains consistent through that person's
life. She believes that that kind of view ought to abandoned in favor of deconstruction of
conventional categories of sex, sexuality and gender as it enables the discovery of many
categories embedded in social practices and experiences. She reveals that there are
'revolutionary possibilities' that could emerge as a result of deconstruction of sex and gender.
This new view on conventional knowledge could create legitimacy for new ways of thinking.
The alteration of the supposed natural distinctions of genders on which the social order of
the majority of the societies today is founded could change political discourses that valorize
biological causes, essential heterosexuality, and traditional gender roles in families and
workplaces. (Judith Lorber, ibid)

In theory the distinction between sexes and genders is quite clear cut. Sex is biological
i.e. sex refers to an individual's biological status according to which the individual can be
classified as male or female. There are many signals of biological sex, including sex
chromosomes, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia. This makes the distinction
between male and female obvious. However, gender is not in any way obvious and is quite
social. It can vary according to the individual's feelings, attitudes and behaviors. The
combination of these element positions one individual either within the feminine gender or
masculine gender. These classifications are not in any way connected to sex, at least in theory.
In practice we encounter something called gender-normative i.e. behavior that corresponds to
cultural expectations male equals masculine while female equals femininity. If there is a
deviation from the norm i.e. male equals femininity or the individual may identify as
transsexual or as another transgender category then we are dealing with gender non-
conformity.
Sources:

1. Lorber, J. (1996), Beyond the Binaries: Depolarizing the Categories of Sex, Sexuality, and Gender.
Sociological Inquiry

2. https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/sexuality-definitions.pdf - 04.10. 2015 at 19:56 o'clock