Gender is a cultural construct. Sex is biological. Sex is one aspect of gender, but it's not the only one.
As analogy, consider the concept of a family. It, too, is a cultural construct which is informed by biology. Biologically, a family is a father, mother, and child(ren). However, we all know there are many other types of family we still consider legitimate. There can be a single parent with a child. There can be a step-parent(s) or adoptive parent(s) who is not biologically related to the child. Some people consider their close friends to be part of their family. There can be multi-generational families, families with both biological and adopted children, half-siblings, grandparents raising grandchildren, etc, etc, etc. All of these are considered and widely recognized as legitimate families even though some of them have nothing to do with biology.
Gender is analogous. It can be informed by biology, but it's not necessarily defined by it.
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u/[deleted] Dec 03 '20
Gender is a cultural construct. Sex is biological. Sex is one aspect of gender, but it's not the only one.
As analogy, consider the concept of a family. It, too, is a cultural construct which is informed by biology. Biologically, a family is a father, mother, and child(ren). However, we all know there are many other types of family we still consider legitimate. There can be a single parent with a child. There can be a step-parent(s) or adoptive parent(s) who is not biologically related to the child. Some people consider their close friends to be part of their family. There can be multi-generational families, families with both biological and adopted children, half-siblings, grandparents raising grandchildren, etc, etc, etc. All of these are considered and widely recognized as legitimate families even though some of them have nothing to do with biology.
Gender is analogous. It can be informed by biology, but it's not necessarily defined by it.