David E. Newton - Sex and Gender

Sex and Gender

DNA Technology: A Reference Handbook, second edition
David E. Newton

Modern Sport Ethics: A Reference Handbook, second edition
Angela Lumpkin

Marijuana: A Reference Handbook, second edition
David E. Newton

Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook, second edition
Gregg Lee Carter

The Right to Die: A Reference Handbook
Howard Ball

Student Debt: A Reference Handbook
William Elliott III and Melinda K. Lewis

Food Safety: A Reference Handbook, third edition
Nina E. Redman and Michele Morrone

Human Trrfficking: A Reference Handbook
Alexis A. Aronowitz

Social Media: A Reference Handbook
Kelli S. Burns

Prisons in the United States: A Reference Handbook
Cyndi Banks

Substance Abuse: A Reference Handbook, second edition
David E. Newton

Campus Sexual Assault: A Reference Handbook
Alison E. Hatch

Books in the Contemporary World Issues series address vital issues in todays society such as genetic engineering, pollution, and biodiversity. Written by professional writers, scholars, and nonacademic experts, these books are authoritative, clearly written, up-to-date, and objective. They provide a good starting point for research by high school and college students, scholars, and general readers as well as by legislators, businesspeople, activists, and others.

Each book, carefully organized and easy to use, contains an overview of the subject, a detailed chronology, biographical sketches, facts and data and/or documents and other primary source material, a forum of authoritative perspective essays, annotated lists of print and nonprint resources, and an index.

Readers of books in the Contemporary World Issues series will find the information they need in order to have a better understanding of the social, political, environmental, and economic issues facing the world today.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD ISSUES

A REFERENCE HANDBOOK

David E. Newton

Copyright 2017 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Newton, David E., author.

Title: Sex and gender : a reference handbook / David E. Newton.

Description: Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO, [2017] | Series: Contemporary world issues | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017002214 (print) | LCCN 2017015770 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440854804 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440854798 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Sex role. | Gender identity.

Classification: LCC HQ1075 (ebook) | LCC HQ1075 .N49 2017 (print) | DDC 305.3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017002214

ISBN: 978-1-4408-5479-8
EISBN: 978-1-4408-5480-4

21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available as an eBook.

ABC-CLIO
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC

ABC-CLIO, LLC
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
www.abc-clio.com

This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

Everything begins and ends with sex.
Except when it doesnt.

Few topics in human society are of such basic importance as sex and gender. Indeed, throughout human history, cultures have been organized to a considerable extent on the basis of what it is that defines maleness and femaleness, what the characteristic features of those traits are, and how they can best be utilized in human organizations. This process has always involved, however, a complex mix of the biological traits with which individuals are born (a persons sex) and the social, cultural, economic, political, and other factors by which a society makes use of those traits (his or her gender).

That pattern holds true today. Modern cultures attempt to understand the strengths that males and females can each bring to a society and how their natural traits and abilities can best be put to use in building a strong association that can solve problems of every type in everyday life.

But this process often does not run smoothly, especially when fundamental questions begin to arise because of changing views as to what it means to be a man or a woman in modern culture. These questions sometimes appear in stark form, as when some number of individuals decide and began to act on the realization that their biological sex and social gender are incongruent, and they begin to deal with a host of problems created by transgenderism.

In other cases, issues that have percolated around the edges of society for hundreds of years move to the center stage, where cultures are forced to think about and deal with questions that have never been fully resolved. So the battle against gender inequality that has surged to the front of public attention in the 21st century raises the most basic questions as to what the proper roles of men and women are in society, a question that has simmered largely in the background since the earliest days of civilization.

This book is not able to deal with all of the difficult problems associated with sex and gender in society. The focus here on topics, such as the biology of sexual development, the development of gender roles, transvestism, transgenderism, gender roles, and affectional orientation, reflects our efforts to shine a light on some of the most challenging issues that individuals at all ages must face. But we acknowledge that other issues should, but do not, appear in the book, issues such as asexuality, maternity leave, sexual harassment, and contraception. Space is simply not available for the full range of topics that might be included in a book on sex and gender.

This book is intended as an introduction to the topic of sex and gender and a guide to further research on the topic. The first two chapters deal with a review of the history and background of the two topics ( provides a group of contributors with an opportunity to present their own perspectives on some specific aspect of the topic, with essays on subjects such as gender identity on the web, diet culture and gender expectations, personal experiences in coming out as a gay man and as a transgender person, and gender dysphoria in films.

then offers a chronology of important events in history relating to sex and gender, while a glossary provides essential terms found in the book and likely to be encountered in future research.

Sex and Gender

On May 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education jointly issued a letter to schools and colleges across the nation regarding the use of bathroom facilities by transgender students. Its main point was that

As a condition of receiving Federal funds, a school agrees that it will not exclude, separate, deny benefits to, or otherwise treat differently on the basis of sex any person in its educational programs or activities unless expressly authorized to do so under Title IX or its implementing regulations. The Departments treat a students gender identity as the students sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations. This means that a school must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity. (Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students 2016)