People quite often do not understand what is the difference in the terms “gender” and “gender” differences between a man and a woman. Although theoretically it is quite simple: there are features inherent in only one or only another group, but there are those that may belong to both those and others. It is the latter that are related to the genus or gender. We can say that only physiological or biological differences have a persistent attachment to the sexual group. Only they are always and only masculine or feminine.
To better understand this problem, it should be remembered that human beings have many different traits that separate them. This is not only gender, but also race, nationality and other similar things. They make us individual and special, but in many circumstances they can interfere. Gender differences relate to such personal characteristics that depend not only on nature, but also on culture, upbringing, even the economic situation. They greatly affect our life, changing it both for the good and the bad, and can even cause a violation of our rights.
Gender differences are due to socially acquired behavior and represent the expectations of society from a person who belongs to a particular gender. But the process of forming a man or woman is cultural. Just like a race or class, this category comes from the enormous variety of social life and affects relationships with other people. Sex, on the other hand, describes precisely biological affiliation with a group of human beings that have certain physiological characteristics.
Gender differences are a term invented by sociologists who sought to focus precisely on the fact that we are talking about a cultural phenomenon. For example, sexual characteristics include the fact that women give birth to children, and men do not, that mothers can breastfeed, and fathers will need a bottle of milk for this process, which during puberty in boys breaks the voice, and in girls - no. These statements do not surprise anyone, and, as a rule, everyone agrees with them. But if we turn to social roles, then immediately everything will change.
Many people believe that little girls should be quiet and restrained, and boys - stubborn and courageous. But this is not gender, but gender differences. As well as the fact that in the Middle Ages men had the right to inherit, and women did not, that husbands make decisions, and wives are engaged in raising children. These differences are not permanent. They can change over time, depending on the country, accepted traditions and way of life. But they are the reason that in many countries the salary of women is 70% male, and among the latter there are much more parliamentarians, presidents, managers.
Gender differences are often caused by stereotypes prevailing in a given society, that is, generalizations due to which the traits and characteristics inherent in a part of a given group (and not necessarily the larger one) apply to it as a whole. For example, men are often presented as aggressive, courageous, willing to rule. Women, on the contrary, are described as tolerant, weak, passive and emotional. Such stereotypes are used to justify the imbalance of power that exists in the human society between the sexes. Such generalizations deprive people of their dignity and help to discriminate against them.