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What is the difference between sex and gender identity?

28 Answers
Last Updated: 06/23/2020 at 4:12pm
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Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
June 7th, 2015 11:01am
Sex refers to what you're biologically born with. This typically refers to male and female sex organs. Male sex organs including the penis, testicles and prostate and female sex organs including the vagina, the clitoris and ovaries (there are more parts to the reproductive system to this). However there is the case of intersex individuals where their sex organs may not completely match up with 'normal' male or female sex organs. It's unfortunately common then for doctors to perform surgeries on intersex babies to assign them to a specific gender by 'correcting' their genitals to match a particular sex. Often it's common for people to associate sex with gender, gender often reflects a person's outward appearance , how they behave and what society expects of them. In today's society it's very common for people to assume a person's gender based on their appearance, and then to go on to assume their sex based on their gender (Which is odd considering people don't go around looking at everyone's genitals) People often think acting tough and masculine, and wearing male clothes means that person has a penis. For example a transman is a person who now identifies as male who was probably assigned female at birth based on their genitalia. Because they identify as male, using male pronouns they present themselves as male and open themselves to the treatment and expectation men receive in society. THey may or may not have gotten surgery to change their sex, if this person were to choose to keep their genitals, they would have female genitals, so on doctors forms they would have to say they were female, because female genitals have different health risks to male ones. Often during surveys or questionnaires or whatever, it's normal to see to word sex used when a person means gender, or gender used when they mean sex. Does a company need to know what pronouns to use and not what genitals you have? Congrats! They would like to know your gender! Does a hospital want to know if you're at risk of getting cervical cancer? They want your sex!
Dovah
July 14th, 2015 3:31pm
Biologically speaking "Sex" is what you're born with. for example, male parts and female parts. However, a gender identity, is the gender you align with. Typically, A male sex, will have a male gender, but in some cases, someone born as a male, may feel like a female on the outside, and identify as such!
sunshineSunset65
June 27th, 2017 4:02pm
Your sex is male or female. It's what they declared you coming out of the womb. Gender identity is something that you feel. It is more of a mind thing. Only you can decide your gender.
Marvmela
January 2nd, 2018 6:18pm
Sex refers to your body parts responsible for reproduction and your secondary sexual feature such as boobs, beard, etc. Your gender identity refers to your psyche: how you see yourself, despite the fact that you are born male or female.
Anonymous
December 22nd, 2017 7:40pm
Sex is related to what your genitalia is, determining whether you possess either, female, or male reproduction parts. Though, gender identity is more of how you feel, or how you present yourself. Some people born with female genitalia, end up relating more to being, or feeling male. Which is a-okay, and it goes the same way for people born with male genitalia, feeling more related to being female. Though, there are more genders, such as agender, bigender, gender queer, demigender, and etc. So to shorten this, sex is based on what parts you're born with, and gender is how you feel/the state of being. Our sex may not be the same as our gender, or our sex may not be one we prefer, which often leads to some changing their sex to match their gender.
tomc18
December 18th, 2017 4:26pm
Gender identity is what you believe you are, for example; male, or non-binary. Sex refers to biological differences.
brightSoul13
November 2nd, 2015 12:33am
Sex is what you are biologically, and gender identity is what you are. You may be a female, but you could be nonbinary, because they're two seperate things.
Aayla
- Expert in LGBTQ+ Issues
July 3rd, 2017 7:53pm
Sex is biological, it's defined by one's genitals. Gender is everything that is associated with the identity of "man or "woman" in a particular society and historical moment. While sex is biological, gender is socially constructed.
TheMegaRaiden
September 22nd, 2016 5:33am
Sex is more the 'gender you are born with' sorta, Gender is when you feel what gender you are, like with the gender similar to your sex (CIS), or you feel more like a guy more than a girl (FTM) (Male to Female if it was the other way around), and there are people where they feel like neither or they switch between genders daily (Nonbinary and Genderfluid). Some may not even feel like a gender, which is Agender. And there can be sorta 'in between' scenarios that I don't know much about myself. But remember, if someone is preferring a gender that's different from their sex, it is not a choice. A lot of people argue that being trans or agender or beyond the gender identity spectrum that "they made it up" or "they're going through a phase or confused", when they are not, it's who they are.
Anonymous
June 23rd, 2020 4:12pm
Biological sex has to do with the sex that someone was assigned at birth, based on genitalia. Their gender identity is how they express themselves and the gender they identify as, which may or may not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. A person's gender identity is also different from their sexual identity. Gender identity has to do with who you are and your sexual identity is who you are attracted to. You can be any gender identity and any sexual identity; they are exclusive from one another. When learning about someone's gender identity, it is important to remember to respect their pronouns.
Anonymous
July 16th, 2018 12:57pm
Your sex is what organs you have. If you have a penis and testicles your sex is male. If you have a vagina and uterus your sex is female. Gender on the other hand is what you CHOOSE to identify as. Gender can change with thought, but sex can only change with surgery
JayNB
November 28th, 2017 10:09pm
Sex is the biological label you where given when you were born, or before you were born. Gender identity is what gender you think of yourself as, Ex: You where a boy at birth, but now you see yourself as in-between, or neither.
PastelRhian
November 27th, 2017 2:39am
Sex is what you are born with based on your hormones and genitals, whereas gender identity is how you identify personally on the gender spectrum, and it doesn't have to correlate with your sex.
fruitCat
October 2nd, 2017 9:54pm
Sex is what you have biologically - genitals, or sometimes people think of it to do with chromosomes. Gender is not the same, and is about how you feel and how you see yourself and, I guess, your place in society. Sometimes it 'matches' your sex, and sometimes it doesn't. Gender is a wide, colourful spectrum of expression and you can fit into different places on it at different times.
Icanwaitforever
August 7th, 2017 8:36am
Biological sex is the way we are born: male or female. And that depends on the chromosomes. Instead, gender identity is the way you feel: for example, even if your sex is male, you can feel and behave like a female.
Anonymous
July 11th, 2017 6:53am
Sex is the anatomy you were born with, physically. Gender identity is how you feel on the inside regarding your gender and what you do or don't identify with despite your physical sex.
avanef
March 20th, 2017 8:25pm
Gender identity is how someone identifies themselves. Where as sex is female and male, like if there's a form online or on a paper and it says "Sex: M" that just says the sex of the person is male, female, ect.
Anonymous
April 8th, 2015 12:45am
Your gender identification is what you prefer to go by and be recognized to be seen as and be called.
Anonymous
September 20th, 2016 2:59am
Sex is based on your biology, mainly chromosomes and physical organs. Gender identity is more of someone's own personal perception of who they are/where they fall on the gender spectrum.
Anonymous
July 18th, 2016 7:31pm
Sex is what bodily features someone is born with. We typically use AMAB (assigned male at birth) and AFAB (assigned female at birth) to describe two sexes. Gender, on the other hand, is constructed by society and by the individual who lives the said gender. Gender doesn't necessarily have to coincide with sex. People who's gender is not in accordance with their sex are called Transgender people. People who believe that their gender is neither binary male nor binary female are called nonbinary people, genderqueer people, etc. An important thing to note is that everyone is valid regardless or sex or gender identity.
Rebecca
December 1st, 2015 5:04pm
A person's sex is their anatomy, so the body parts they have. The two truly recognized sexes in the mainstream world are male and female; however, intersex is more commonly recognized as of lately. Gender identity is a person's internal makeup, and I like to think of it as one's relationship with masculinity and femininity. Someone might identify strongly with one, with both, with none, with something completely different, etc. Those really are just basic explanations to summarize sex and gender identity, and they definitely don't cover everything, but hopefully it gives you a basic understanding as to what these are!
Anonymous
October 31st, 2015 1:40am
Well, I would say "sex" is what you are born with, let's say you are born with male genitals, then your sex would be male. But then that baby grows up to identify as a female, then their gender identity would be female but their sex is male
flowerqueen11
August 18th, 2015 8:35pm
gender identity is incredibly complicated and can fall anywhere along a vast spectrum (or nowhere on the spectrum at all!), and is entirely at the discretion of the individual - no one else can tell you how you identify. biological sex is only relevant when discussing medical matters, but has no relation to gender identity. the sex you are assigned at birth does not indicate your gender identity, and should not be used to make assumptions about someone's gender identity.
Anonymous
August 3rd, 2015 1:02am
This is a tricky one. Usually we would say that sex refers to a person's physical, biological characteristics such as chromosomes and genitalia, while gender identity is the person's sense or idea of their own gender (this may or may not include what their body should look like). But trans people have had their gender identities invalidated so often by people who say something like, "But you're really a [whatever] because your body is [whatever]" that a lot of them now say that their sex is actually the same as their identity, and will get very upset and offended if anyone says it isn't. So basically, they're just words, and they have different definitions depending on who you're talking to.
rose1novocaine
July 21st, 2015 11:21pm
Gender identity is what you feel like,feeling feminine/masculine/both/none (yes you can feel stuff like that) but sex is just your physical body,(what's between your legs or other body parts)
Minami
July 14th, 2015 9:20pm
Your sex as male or female is a biological fact that is the same in any culture (most of the time it's just the what you're assigned from birth). Gender is the way you act/dress/..., it can either be masculine or feminine or something else/in between.
Smilewhenitrains87
May 20th, 2015 5:30am
Sex is your biological sex. What you were born as. Meaning physically what body parts you have. What chromosome is in your DNA. Gender identity is what gender you identify as. Gender stereotypes meaning men are masculine and women are feminine are entirely man made social constructs. Be who you are and don't live your life in a box. You're beautiful just by being true to who you are.
SilverFeather99
April 24th, 2015 3:47am
Your sex is your birth gender but your gender identity is what you believe yourself to be. I hope this helped.