Reflections on "Gender & Sexuality" and "A Semantic Note on "Sex" and "Gender""

After reading the 2 articles, our group agrees more with Jan Morris's views on sex and gender than those of Leonard Sax. Firstly, Jan raised a good point about how it is almost impossible to prevent gender socialization, using the "Beth and Adam" example. This presents us with a problem: we cannot know whether gender is truly a social construct (hence requiring it to be seperate from "sex") or an inborn trait (making it closer to "sex" and hence rendering the differentiation pointless) if society's influences cannot be removed. This makes it possible for one to argue both sides of the story - whether "sex" and "gender" can be used interchangeably.

So why do we side with Jan? Leonard Sax's arguments may seem logical at first glance, but upon reflection, we feel that his arguments are vague and unconvincing. He uses a counterexample (variation in sizes of breasts for both male and female) to make a point that when something has large variations it does not necessarily have to be socially constructed. This is a valid point. However, in our opinion, it does not support the argument. Yes, a trait with large variation may not be socially contructed, but that does not mean that it is definitely not socially constructed. In providing the example, Leonard Sax merely shows that there are 2 sides to the story, but does not prove that his side is true. Another point is that when Leonard talks about confusion and ambiguity, shouldn't the correct and less ambiguous choice both be "gender", since he is talking about feminity, which is defined as a social construct? (Leonard assumes that the correct word to use here to be "sex", hence his point about confusion and ambiguity should the "correct" term be used)

In conclusion, we feel that while it remains debatable as to the usage of "sex" and "gender", it would be better to leave them as it is ("sex" refering to the biological factor and "gender" refering to the social constructs of masculinity and feminity), since it is a choice between being a little clearer in most situations and seeming (but may not necessarily be) a little less ambiguous in the odd cases.

Tu Guang, Wenyu, Jasmine, Amanda
09s06H