Is Gender Really a Social Construct?

To answer the question we must define gender, and that’s easier said than done

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

What is gender?

Does gender exist on a spectrum? Or is it binary?

Can gender be changed?

How is it different, or is it different, from biological sex? And while we’re on the subject, what is biological sex?

After reading so many responses to the Matt Walsh documentary, What is a Woman, and writing a post on it myself, I noticed that confusion over the concept of womanhood was equally matched by people’s confusion (my own included) over the definition of gender and it’s associated terms.

So the following is my best attempt at making some sense of it all, starting with my understanding of the problem.

The Gender Umbrella: Confusion of Loosely Defined, Interchangeable Terms

Let’s look at the following concepts:

Biological sex

Gender

Gender identity

Gender roles or norms (societal and/or biological)

Temperament (the degree to which one is masculine or feminine)