Gender Differences: Biology and Culture

As opposed to sex (which comprises only the biological aspects of being either female or male), gender includes the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. Gender is defined by one's gender identity or the recognition that one is either male or female based on both biological and psychosocial considerations, and the internalization of this gender concept into one's self-identity. Gender role is largely a product of the way in which one was raised and may not be in conformance with one's gender identity. The development of gender differences is a complicated issue including elements of both nature (biology) and nurture (socialization). Far from being straightforward, research is finding that these two factors are interrelated in complex ways. Much more research is needed before the relationship between the two factors and the influence of the relationship on gender is completely understood.

Keywords Androgyny; Biosocial Theory; Culture; Doing Gender; Gender; Gender Identity; Gender Role; Gender Stereotype; Hermaphrodism; Patriarchy; Sex; Sexual Discrimination; Social Role; Socialization; Society

Sex, Gender & Sexuality > Gender Differences: Biology & Culture

Overview

"Women are the weaker sex and need to be protected." "Big boys don't cry." "Women and men are different but equal, and each has a unique role within society." These are just a few of the beliefs about gender that can be heard in discussions on the roles of women and men in society. It is difficult to parse out the extent to which any of these beliefs is true, and examples of the entire spectrum of attitudes toward gender can be seen in society: Women who stay at home, keep house, raise the children, and are subservient to their husbands can be seen along with those whose mates stay home with the children while they go out to work. In between is a whole array of other approaches to how individuals and societies "do gender," or interpret what it means to be one gender or another through the ongoing social interactions that individuals have with each other.

Gender vs. Sex

There is a difference between gender and sex. In most cases, it is obvious to the casual observer what the sex of another person is: Biological differences typically make it relatively easy to distinguish adults of one sex from the other. In many cases, it is also relatively easy to tell one gender from another: Women tend to dress and act in one way and men tend to dress and act in another. There are, of course, exceptions to each of these rules of thumb. From a psychosocial point of view, individuals may be androgynous, displaying feminine and masculine characteristics or traits. From a biological point of view, intersex individuals are those born with both female and male sex organs. However, these are exceptions to the rule. Sex is biological in nature and determines one's biological destiny, such as the ability to bear or sire children. Gender, on the other hand, helps define one's role within society. Gender — or the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male — is a learned characteristic based on one's gender identity and learned gender role. Gender can be thought of as a society's interpretation of the cultural meaning of one's sex. In fact, the perspective of "doing gender" posits that gender is a construct that is interpreted by members of a society through the ongoing social interactions that individuals have with each other.

Gender Stereotypes

Such notions can easily give rise to gender stereotypes, or culturally defined patterns of expected attitudes and behavior that are considered appropriate for one gender but not the other. Gender stereotypes tend to be simplistic and based not on the characteristics or aptitudes of the individual, but on over-generalized perceptions of one gender or the other. For example, although the traditional gender stereotype might be that women stay home and clean the house and raise the family while men go out and work, the fact that many women in today's society are successful physicians, scientists, lawyers, business owners, and executives (among other jobs traditionally thought to be "male") demonstrates that it is the abilities and aptitudes of the individual — not her/his gender or sex — that should prescribe the parameters in which s/he can work.

The Basis of Gender

In some ways, gender roles are biologically based. For example, physiologically, it is women who must gestate and bear the young of the species. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is the woman who must take care of the child after it is born, as is demonstrated by stay-at-home fathers who nurture the child while the mother returns to work in a reversal of traditional typical Western gender roles. Although gender has a biological foundation in the physiological differences between females and males, the way that gender is interpreted differs from culture to culture and, in some ways, from individual to individual. For example, although some societies are patriarchal in nature in which the male is the head of the family, descent is traced through the father's side of the family, and men have power over women, others are matriarchal with women holding these roles instead of men.

Nature vs. Nurture

Scientists have long been divided over the relative influences and contributions of nature (i.e., heredity and constitutional factors) and nurture (i.e., sociocultural and environmental factors) in the human development and the degree to which these sets of factors affect his/her eventual personality, abilities, and other characteristics. Part of this issue comprises ongoing questions concerning the extent to which individuals in society ascribe to one gender or another due to biological imperatives such as their sex or to psychosocial factors such as the way that they were raised. One of the assumptions that some people make regarding gender is that because human females in general tend to be not as strong as the male of the species, women are "inferior" in other ways as well. However, scientists have found no gender-based differences in general intelligence between the genders. This does not mean, of course, that every female is as smart as every male or vice versa, but that general intelligence and other mental traits tend to be normally distributed within each group. There is no scientific reason to believe that women and men (as genders) differ from each other on intelligence.

At first glance, it might seem relatively easy to sort out the influences of nature and nurture on the acquisition of gender identity and gender roles. After all, the argument might go, males and females and preprogrammed by the sex organs and hormones to behave in a certain way. Socialization then takes over and determines whether or not these biological predispositions are followed or ignored. However, the interaction between nature and nurture in regard to gender is much more complicated than that. Biosocial theories of gender posit that gender roles are the result of complex interactions between biological and social forces. This interaction helps explain why not every little girl grows up to be a stay-at-home mother or even a mother at all. In one example of a biosocial approach to gender, Udry (2000) hypothesizes that the effect of gender socialization during childhood is constrained by biological processes that produce natural behavior predispositions.

Udry & Biologically Produced Behavior Predispositions

Basing his work on primate research that has been performed with rhesus monkeys, Udry performed a longitudinal study using secondary data and prenatal blood samples that had been collected in the Child Health and Development Study (CHDS) from 1960 through 1969. Udry selected subjects for his study who had mothers with at least two prenatal blood samples in the CHDS study and who had been interviewed themselves at that time. Of 470 daughters who were eligible for participation, 75 percent completed the questionnaire. In addition, subjects completed the Personality Research Form, the Adjective Check List, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Strong Vocational Interest Inventory. Measures of adult gendered behavior included questions in four general factors:

• Importance of home (e.g., ever married to a man, number of live births, importance of career);
• Feminine interests (e.g., feminine appearance factor, likes baby care, score on discriminating factors on Strong);
• Job status (e.g., proportion female in current job and previous job);
• Masculinity-femininity (e.g., feminine and masculine scales on Bem, Adjective Check List, and Personality Research Form).

A 10 ml venous blood sample was also drawn from each subject.

Although produced in males in significantly greater amounts, androgens (male hormones that control the development and maintenance of masculine characteristics) are also produced in females by the adrenal glands and ovaries. One of the factors that may affect androgen levels in females is stress. The results of the study showed that mothers' prenatal hormone levels had an effect on the gendered behavior of their adult daughters. In particular, prenatal androgen exposure from the second trimester (but not the other two trimesters) affected gendered behavior, with women who had experienced greater prenatal exposure to androgens exhibiting more typically masculine or androgynous behavior as adults.

Applications

One of the venues in which Western society has seen great changes in gender roles over the past century is in the workplace. Traditionally, Western society typically assigned men to the role of breadwinner and head of the family while women were assigned the role of homemaker and mother. When women did work, it was historically in support roles: secretaries, sales clerks, and other jobs that did not offer women the same type of upward mobility as did "male" jobs of business owners, executives, and so forth. This changed to a great extent as a result of the women's liberation movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Women came to believe that they could do anything a man could do, and started going into more technical and professional jobs than ever before. However, although some women today are firefighters, police officers, soldiers, and other professions that were traditionally concerned the domain of men, the fact remains that there is still not equity in many workplaces. Although in some cases this may be due to issues of sexual discrimination, in other cases the argument for the subordinate status of women in the workplace is based on biological factors (Messing, Lippel, Demers, & Mergler, 2000). In general, these arguments revolve around three issues.

• First, it is argued in some situations that the physical capacities of women (e.g., their size, shape, and strength) make them less fit for some jobs that are traditionally performed by men.
• The second argument against gender equity in some workplaces is that many of the occupational illnesses experienced by women on the job may not, indeed, be job-related, but be due to their psychological and psychological makeup.
• The third argument that is often proffered to support seemingly discriminatory practices in the workplace is that women's reproductive biology makes them more likely to be unfit to work than men (Messing, Lippel, Demers, & Mergler, 2000, p. 21).

Physical Strength & Fitness

Objectively, many women are unqualified for jobs that require a great deal of physical strength or a larger than average size body (for a woman). For example, to be a firefighter requires that the individual be able to haul and hold heavy fire hoses, carry people from burning buildings, and perform other tasks that many women cannot perform easily. The muscle mass of most women is less than that of most men, which means that they can lift less weight. That said, it must also be remembered that just because the average woman is not as strong as the average man, it does not mean that no woman has the size and strength necessary to do the job of firefighter or other job requiring these characteristics. Similarly, not every man is physically capable of doing these jobs, either. Further, differences in strength between the sexes vary according the particular muscles and the demands under which they are placed rather than according to a general rule.

The issue of physical characteristics necessary to be a firefighter has gone all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada. The precedent-setting case concerned a female forest firefighter who had previously been told by her supervisor that her performance was satisfactory for three years. However, when she was required to take a new physical fitness test of strength and aerobic fitness, she was able to meet the strength standards, but failed the 11-minute run to test aerobic fitness by 49 seconds. She was subsequently laid off by the government. She was able to win her appeal based on the argument that the requirement was discriminatory because the aerobic fitness test was not directly related to the job or to the specific tasks of the job. In addition, the test was more likely to exclude women than men.

Employment law can be a complicated thing. Although it might make sense to hire only the "best" person for the job regardless of sex, the reality is that other things need to be taken into account in making this decision. First, many jobs set minimum standards that a person needs to meet in order to be able to adequately do the job. For example, the job of warehouse worker might have a requirement that a person be able to lift 50 pounds to a height of 7 feet. If the warehouse routinely receives 50 pound items that need to be placed on shelves at that height, this might be a bona fide requirement of the job. If, however, the warehouse only receives such items occasionally, this may not be considered a bona fide requirement for the job. In addition, if the worker never needs to be able to lift anything heavier than 50 pounds or higher than 7 feet, it does not matter whether or not someone can lift heavier items to greater heights: Meeting the minimum standard suffices. Further, most employment law requires that an organization make reasonable accommodations for an individual so that s/he can meet the requirements of the job. In the example of the warehouse employee, this might mean that a shorter person could use a step stool in order to be able to reach the higher shelf. In the example of the 2.5 km running test for aerobic fitness discussed above, the test did not meet the requirement of being job related. The 2.5 km distance and concomitant 11 minute limit were randomly determined and not related to such job-requirements as the radius of forest fires or the speed at which they travel. Therefore, the test was determined not to be a bona fide requirement of the job (Supreme Court orders female firefighter rehired, 1999, Sept. 9).

Susceptibility to Occupational Illness

It has been repeatedly observed that although women tend to live longer than men and enjoy similar years of good health, women tend to report more illnesses than do men and take more advantage of health care services (Messing, Lippel, Demers, & Mergler, 2000). Further, although women tend to have significantly fewer accidents on the job than do men, they do tend to have more occupational illnesses such as chemical poisoning, cancer resulting from exposure to toxic substances, and musculoskeletal problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome and back problems. This has been used by some employers to discriminate against women in the workplace based on the assumption that they will be absent more often than male workers.

A number of hypotheses have been posited to explain these differences in occupational illness.

• The first of these is that occupational illnesses are psychologically-based and that women are more likely to report them.
• The second hypothesis is that these are, in fact, real illnesses and that women are more prone to developing them because of their biological make-up (e.g., hormones).
• A third hypothesis also grants that the illnesses are real, but posits that they are related to the work that women do in their homes rather than the work that they do on the job.
• Another hypothesis is that the illnesses are real and related to the working conditions that women encounter on their jobs (Messing, Lippel, Demers, & Mergler, 2000, p. 29).
• A final category of hypotheses posits that the increased occurrence of job-related illness is the result of an interaction between biological specificity and paid or unpaid working conditions.

At this time, research does not point to one of these hypotheses being superior to the other. The difficulty lies in the fact that the working conditions and job requirements vary widely for men and women and it is difficult to sort out their effects.

Fitness & Reproduction

As opposed to arguments that can be made about the differences in size and strength and their relationship with fitness for the job being relative, the differences between the sexes that are due to the nature of their reproductive systems are not. Although some organizations today offer paternity leave in addition to maternity leave, when given the opportunity to return to work early so that their husbands can stay home and bond with the new baby, most women still prefer to stay home themselves (Peters, 2005). Further, although some women may work up until the time that they go into labor, this tends to be the exception rather than the rule.

Although many women are able to continue to work well into their pregnancy, some work environments can negatively impact a fetus, particularly in the early part of the pregnancy when major organs are being established. However, it is not only in the early stages of pregnancy that damage from the external environment can occur: Miscarriage, low birth weight, malformation, or prematurity can be risks from toxic environments throughout a pregnancy. Further, it is not only toxic environments that have been found to have a negative effect on female reproduction. Factors such as extremes in temperature, shift work, heavy work, fast work speed, and irregular schedules can all affect fertility, menstrual regularity or pain, and fetal development.

Conclusion

The determination of one's gender is a complicated thing, involving both nature and nurture. Biologically, one's sex organs and concomitant sex hormones determine her/his biological sex. This, in turn, often affects the way that the individual is socialized so that s/he learns to behave in accordance with the gender expectations of society. Gender can be affected in many more ways other than nature or nurture including the environment within the mother's womb to the extent to which one is encouraged to either conform or breakout of gender stereotypes. In addition, the obvious biological differences between females and males have led some people to make assumptions about the capabilities of individuals based on their sex. However, job requirements need to be demonstrably related to the job and developed so not to discriminate between women and men on factors that are not bona fide job requirements.

Terms & Concepts

Androgyny: The presence of both feminine and masculine characteristics or traits in one individual.

Biosocial Theory: Any theory in the behavioral or social sciences which posits that behavior is the result of a complex interaction between biological and social forces.

Culture: A complex system of meaning and behavior that is socially transmitted and that defines a common way of life for a group or society. Culture includes the totality of behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and other products of human work and thought of the society or group.

"Doing Gender": A theoretical perspective on gender which posits that gender is a construct that is interpreted by members of a society through the ongoing social interactions that individuals have with each other.

Gender: Psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. Gender is defined by one's gender identity and learned gender role.

Gender Identity: The recognition that one is either male or female based on both biological and psychosocial considerations, and the internalization of this gender concept into one's self-identity.

Gender Role: Separate patterns of personality traits, mannerisms, interests, attitudes, and behaviors that are regarded as "male" and "female" by one's culture. Gender role is largely a product of the way in which one was socialized and may not be in conformance with one's gender identity.

Gender Stereotype: A culturally defined pattern of expected attitudes and behaviors that are considered appropriate for one gender but not the other. Gender stereotypes tend to be simplistic and based not on the characteristics or aptitudes of the individual, but on over generalized perceptions of one gender or the other.

Intersexuality: A condition of ambiguous sexual identity. Formerly referred to as a hermaphrodite, an intersexual individual possesses both female and male sex organs.

Patriarchy: A social system (e.g., society or group) in which the male is the head of the family, descent is traced through the father's side of the family, and men have power over women.

Sex: The biological aspects of being either female or male. Genetically, females are identified by having two X chromosomes and males by having an X and a Y chromosome. In addition, sex can typically be determined from either primary or secondary sexual characteristics. Primary sexual characteristics comprise the female or male reproductive organs (i.e., the vagina, ovaries, and uterus for females and the penis, testes, and scrotum for males). Secondary sexual characteristics comprise the superficial differences between the sexes that occur with puberty (e.g., breast development and hip broadening for women and facial hair and voice deepening for men).

Sexual Discrimination: The differential treatment of individuals based on their sex. Although sexual discrimination can occur against either sex, in most cases in today's society it occurs against women. Sexual discrimination can be exhibited in such actions as lower wages being given to one sex for the same work when performed by the other sex, discounting of the characteristics or attributes of one sex in comparison with the other, or unfair hiring or promotion policies that are biased against one sex.

Social Role: A set of expectations placed on members of a group of people with a given social position or status within society.

Socialization: The process by which individuals learn to differentiate between what the society regards as acceptable versus unacceptable behavior and act in a manner that is appropriate for the needs of the society.

Society: A distinct group of people who live within the same territory, share a common culture and way of life, and are relatively independent from people outside the group. Society includes systems of social interactions that govern both culture and social organization.

Bibliography

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Suggested Reading

Cole, E. R., Jayaratne, T. E., Cecchi, L. A., Feldbaum, M., & Petty, E. M. (2007). Viva la difference? Genetic explanations for perceived gender differences in nurturance. Sex Roles, 57(3/4), 211-222. Retrieved August 25, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=26053828&site=ehost-live

Miville, M.L. (2013). Multicultural gender roles: Applications for mental health and education. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Nazroo, J. Y, Edwards, A. C., & Brown, G. W. (1998). Gender differences in the prevalence of depression: Artifact, alternative disorders, biology or roles? Sociology of Health and Illness, 20, 312-330. Retrieved August 25, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=3253999&site=ehost-live

Polavieja, J. G. (2012). Socially embedded investments: explaining gender differences in job-specific skills. American Journal of Sociology, 118, 592–634. Retrieved December 3, 2014 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=84988184

Wilcox, W.B., & Kline, K.K. (2013). Gender and parenthood: Biological and social scientific perspectives. New York: Columbia University Press.

Wolfe, A. (1994). The gender question. New Republic, 210, 27-34. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9405277778&site=ehost-live