Pathway - Gender and Sexuality Studies

Definition of gender

noun

• 1 [mass noun] the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones)
   
  The word gender has been used since the 14th century as a grammatical term, referring to classes of noun designated as masculine, feminine, or neuter in some languages. The sense ‘the state of being male or female’ has also been used since the 14th century, but this did not become common until the mid 20th century. Although the words gender and sex both have the sense ‘the state of being male or female’, they are typically used in slightly different ways: sex tends to refer to biological differences, while gender refers to cultural or social ones.
   
    Oxford Dictionaries online

What's New?