Whose views on sex and gender do you agree with more - those of Jan Morris or those of Leonard Sax?

Our group is in more agreement with Jan Morris' argument that gender is socially constructed, rather than it being attributed to innate factors. Jan Morris also defines sex as physical aspects of the body that are biological in origin, and gender as the psychological, social and cultural differences between males and females.

Even though some believe that the behavioural differences between men and women are a result of biological differences, we feel that the differences in the behaviour of men and women is more greatly attributed towards the development of one's identity through social learning. It is not wrong to say that innate differences of behaviour appear in some form in all cultures. However, these behavioural patterns linked to cultures imply that some sort of status quo had been set by ancestors, hence they are not completely biologically-linked, but rather are linked to cultural values.

Jan Morris brings up the fact that gender socialization begins right from the moment when an infant in born. Through a study whereby 5 mothers interacted with a six-month-old, their responses towards the infant varied with its name - "Beth" was thought to be sweet and have a soft cry, while "Adam" was offered male toys. As such, it can be concluded that our gender has been greatly influenced by our parents from birth.

Also, from Jan Morris' first-hand account after she had undergone a sex change, she realized that society treated her differently, and that she began to adopt a more feminine attitude subconsciously. Although Leonard Sax argues that biological differences does affect the way one behaves, this is hardly applicable in modern day as there are means for one to undergo a sex-change. Moreover, while innate factors do play a part in defining our gender, societal influence over our gender has been so great and subtle that we hardly even notice it. Due to the pressures from society which forms stereotypes of males and females, we tend to behave in such a way that is deemed proper for a male or female.

- Bao Rong, Bryan A., Melissa, Rui Si (09S06J)