SOCIOL 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Caster Semenya, Secondary Sex Characteristic, Transsexual
Document Summary
Sociology lecture 21: the social construction of gender. Sex is the biological distinction between females and males. Primary sex characteristics: the genitals, organs used for reproduction. Secondary sex characteristics: bodily development apart from the genitals that distinguish mature females from males. Note sex is not always clear-cute: intersex and transexual,specifically those who have undergone surgery and hormone treatment to acquire physical characteristics of another sex. But it is not always so easy to determine one"s sex. For example the south african runner, caster semenya. She is a female runner who on her first win, it was contested and she was forced to take a test to prove she was female. This was because she had a wider chest, more defined muscles, facial features, shoulder to waist ratio, and hair style that matched more with male characteristics. Gender is the meaning that a society attaches to being female and being male.
