Theorists once believed that gender identity was influenced solely by the environment in which we are brought up. Today, however, it is widely recognized that there are many more gender similarities than there are gender differences.
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While sex is the biological aspects of being male or female, gender is the social construction by which we define maleness and femaleness. Men and women may think, act, and feel differently because of differences in brain structure and function. These differences, due to chromosomal patterning and hormones, emerge early in utero and affect a range of masculine and feminine behaviors. But, despite these differences, males and females—biologically—are actually very similar. This indicates that gender differences are perpetuated by society and culture.
Male and female embryos are indistinguishable until sex hormones in the fourth and fifth prenatal month start to influence brain wiring. Differences have been found between the male and female brain in the frontal lobes, parietal lobes, hippocampus, amygdala, and the volume of gray matter versus white matter. These physiological differences impact some of the sex differences we see between males and females.
Besides affecting the functioning and development of sex organs, sex hormones also appear to impact behavior. Testosterone, which is produced in greater quantities in males, is believed to effect physical aggression—a behavior regarded as typically male in our society. But culture supports this view by encouraging males to be macho, while females are encouraged to be nurturing, further solidifying this gender difference.
David Uttal states that “we tend to overemphasize gender differences,” which may have to do with the human need to categorize our experiences to make sense of the world. Early in life, when children discover that two gender types exist, they too look for clues to help them discern the group to which they belong.
Gender differences are diminishing as women today increasingly enter professions traditionally occupied by men. The degree to which we conform to gender-role stereotyping ultimately depicts how our world will look.