sex differentiation
Quick Summary
Sex determination is the process by which an organism's sex is established, typically through inherited genes on chromosomes. This influences development by controlling metabolism and hormone production, which in turn trigger the development of sexual glands.1
Societies often classify sex and gender into a binary system of male and female, influenced by culture and religion. This system can discriminate against individuals who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming. While sex refers to biological characteristics like anatomy and chromosomes, gender is often understood as the social and cultural implications of these characteristics.2
Gender roles are culturally defined expectations for behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics associated with masculinity and femininity. These roles can influence occupations, appearance, and family dynamics, though they are increasingly being challenged and evolving. Some cultures recognize more than two genders, existing outside the Western binary system.32
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human developmentTypes of growth data…height-velocity curves for the “typical” boy and girl in Britain in 1965, determined in this way. By “typical” is meant that boy or girl who has the mean (average) birth length, grows always at the mean velocity, has the peak of the adolescent growth spurt at the mean age, and…
Read More…height-velocity curves for the “typical” boy and girl in Britain in 1965, determined in this way. By “typical” is meant that boy or girl who has the mean (average) birth length, grows always at the mean velocity, has the peak of the adolescent growth spurt at the mean age, and…
Read More- human developmentSex dimorphism
Part of the sex difference in pelvic shape antedates puberty. Girls at birth already have a wider pelvic outlet. Thus the adaptation for childbearing is present from an early age. The changes at puberty are concerned more with widening the pelvic inlet and broadening the much more noticeable…
Read MorePart of the sex difference in pelvic shape antedates puberty. Girls at birth already have a wider pelvic outlet. Thus the adaptation for childbearing is present from an early age. The changes at puberty are concerned more with widening the pelvic inlet and broadening the much more noticeable…
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- sexDifferentiation of the sexes
Animals and plants, apart from microscopic kinds of life, consist of enormous numbers of cells coordinated in various ways to form a single organism, and each consists of many different kinds of cells specialized for performing different functions. Certain tissues are…
Read MoreAnimals and plants, apart from microscopic kinds of life, consist of enormous numbers of cells coordinated in various ways to form a single organism, and each consists of many different kinds of cells specialized for performing different functions. Certain tissues are…
Read More - sexSex differences in animals
In many animals, sexual differences are apparent in addition to the primary sex differentiation into males with testes and females with ovaries and apart from the accessory structures and tissues associated with the presence of one kind of sex gland or…
Read MoreIn many animals, sexual differences are apparent in addition to the primary sex differentiation into males with testes and females with ovaries and apart from the accessory structures and tissues associated with the presence of one kind of sex gland or…
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history of the organization of workAge, sex, and classThe most obvious division of labour arose from differences in age and sex. The oldest people in the tribe lacked strength and agility to hunt or forage far afield and so performed more-sedentary tasks. The very youngest members of the tribe were…
Read MoreThe most obvious division of labour arose from differences in age and sex. The oldest people in the tribe lacked strength and agility to hunt or forage far afield and so performed more-sedentary tasks. The very youngest members of the tribe were…
Read More- history of the organization of workWomen in the workforce
For most of written history, agriculture was the chief human occupation, and heavy physical labour was not confined to men. Women performed physically demanding chores such as grinding grain by hand in a stone quern, drawing and carrying water, gathering wood,…
Read MoreFor most of written history, agriculture was the chief human occupation, and heavy physical labour was not confined to men. Women performed physically demanding chores such as grinding grain by hand in a stone quern, drawing and carrying water, gathering wood,…
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African religionsRitual and religious specialists…be important means by which gender is culturally defined. Some cultures maintain that genital surgery removes all vestiges of androgyny, as the anatomical parts correlating with the opposite sex are cut away. Cosmogonic myths justify the surgery as reiterating primordial acts that promoted fecundity; the myths thus define the sacred…
Read More…be important means by which gender is culturally defined. Some cultures maintain that genital surgery removes all vestiges of androgyny, as the anatomical parts correlating with the opposite sex are cut away. Cosmogonic myths justify the surgery as reiterating primordial acts that promoted fecundity; the myths thus define the sacred…
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history of EuropeThe Bronze Age…of body position according to sex was maintained in the earliest Bronze Age in many areas, but at times the orientation was reversed, such as at Branč, in Slovakia, where 81 percent of females were on their left side and 61 percent of males on their right. As the period…
Read More…of body position according to sex was maintained in the earliest Bronze Age in many areas, but at times the orientation was reversed, such as at Branč, in Slovakia, where 81 percent of females were on their left side and 61 percent of males on their right. As the period…
Read More- history of EuropePrestige and status
Throughout the Bronze Age, sex and age were the main components organizing the structures of daily life. Outside the Mediterranean area, there were few differences between the size and plan of most of the structures within individual sites, although the sites within a region often were internally ranked in…
Read MoreThroughout the Bronze Age, sex and age were the main components organizing the structures of daily life. Outside the Mediterranean area, there were few differences between the size and plan of most of the structures within individual sites, although the sites within a region often were internally ranked in…
Read More - history of EuropeSocial upheaval
…home and work by redefining gender roles, so that married men became the family breadwinners (aided, in the working class, by older children) and women were the domestic specialists.
Read More…home and work by redefining gender roles, so that married men became the family breadwinners (aided, in the working class, by older children) and women were the domestic specialists.
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labour economicsStatus…suggests a cause of prevailing differences between men’s and women’s rates of pay. Some women’s work is different in kind from men’s irrespective of the fact that it is done by women; and, where men and women both do work of the same description, some disabilities attaching to women as…
Read More…suggests a cause of prevailing differences between men’s and women’s rates of pay. Some women’s work is different in kind from men’s irrespective of the fact that it is done by women; and, where men and women both do work of the same description, some disabilities attaching to women as…
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Melanesian cultureGender relationsIn some parts of Melanesia, male-female relationships were polarized. In New Guinea a zone of extreme polarization extended from the Papuan coast (Marind-anim and Asmat peoples) along the southern face of the Highlands (Anga speakers and Papuan plateau peoples) and the high central…
Read MoreIn some parts of Melanesia, male-female relationships were polarized. In New Guinea a zone of extreme polarization extended from the Papuan coast (Marind-anim and Asmat peoples) along the southern face of the Highlands (Anga speakers and Papuan plateau peoples) and the high central…
Read More- mental disorderEpidemiology
There are also marked sex differences in the incidence of certain types of mental illness. For instance, anorexia nervosa is more common in girls than in boys; men tend to develop schizophrenia at a younger age than women; depression is more common in women than in men; and many…
Read MoreThere are also marked sex differences in the incidence of certain types of mental illness. For instance, anorexia nervosa is more common in girls than in boys; men tend to develop schizophrenia at a younger age than women; depression is more common in women than in men; and many…
Read More - mental disorderMajor mood disorders
…is about the same for men and women. The onset of the illness often occurs at about age 30, and the illness persists over a long period. The predisposition to develop bipolar disorder is partly genetically inherited. Antipsychotic medications are used for the treatment of acute or psychotic mania. Mood-stabilizing…
Read More…is about the same for men and women. The onset of the illness often occurs at about age 30, and the illness persists over a long period. The predisposition to develop bipolar disorder is partly genetically inherited. Antipsychotic medications are used for the treatment of acute or psychotic mania. Mood-stabilizing…
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stringed instrumentSocial and cultural associations…to, by members of one gender only; in certain instances instrumentalists, whether Greek kitharodists or Arab ʿūd players, were slaves with a low moral reputation. The playing of many stringed instruments by women has been either a low-caste occupation or an accomplishment to be savored in the confines of the…
Read More…to, by members of one gender only; in certain instances instrumentalists, whether Greek kitharodists or Arab ʿūd players, were slaves with a low moral reputation. The playing of many stringed instruments by women has been either a low-caste occupation or an accomplishment to be savored in the confines of the…
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sportsGender and sportsWith few exceptions, modern sports were devised by and for men, with the content, meaning, and significance of the contests reflecting male values, strengths, and interests. The 19th-century institutionalization of modern sports involved changes in personality, body deportment, and social interaction; the…
Read MoreWith few exceptions, modern sports were devised by and for men, with the content, meaning, and significance of the contests reflecting male values, strengths, and interests. The 19th-century institutionalization of modern sports involved changes in personality, body deportment, and social interaction; the…
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