The Conception of ‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’ as Background to Inequities Faced by Women

Abstract

This paper takes a social constructionist perspective to explain how dominant constructions of ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ built upon deeply embedded substructure of gender differences and the expected roles of women in the public sphere and in private domain in nearly all societies. The paper aims at exploring the argument that sex, like gender, is a socially constructed concept. It examines the construction of sex and gender from various perspectives including the feminist perspectives and those opposing arguments from the biological determinist point of view. Next, the paper discusses an aspect of the normative construction of sex/gender as proposed by the post-structuralist school of thought and finally examines some cultural implications of the conventional understanding of sex. The paper concludes that sex is strongly influenced by social       factors, ideas and other socio-cultural contexts including the norms, values and beliefs embedded in different societies, along with some traditional practices.