Two of the most commonly confused concepts in everyday language are sex and gender. Most often, the confusion is a belief that these terms mean the same thing, but they do not. Sex refers to a biological designation based on the presence of sexual characteristics associated with “maleness” or “femaleness.” Gender, on the other hand, is not biological. It is a social construct of identity, and it is often defined by an individual. A person’s gender may be man, woman or non-binary, such as gender-fluid. It may refer to femininity or masculinity, and it may change over time.
Deeper dive
When speaking about sex, a person’s sexual characteristics — primarily female or male reproductive organs — most often correspond with chromosomal sex determination. That is, a person with XX chromosomes typically would have female sexual organs and characteristics and would be designated as the female sex, whereas a person with XY chromosomes would have male sexual characteristics and organs and be designated the male sex. However, sex designation becomes more complex with other sexual chromosomal combinations, such as XYY or XXY. Individuals with these chromosomal combinations, typically called intersex, may still receive an assigned male or female sex based on the most prominent or dominant sexual characteristics.
Gender, on the other hand, is not related to a person’s sexual characteristics or necessarily any other physical characteristics. Again, it is a social construct of identity, usually defined by an individual. (A community or society at large may attempt to assign a gender to an individual who rejects that gender label, but the ultimate determination of an individual’s gender should ethically be defined only by that person.) “Male” and “female” are also terms used with gender, but many other gender identities exist as well, whether informally or formally recognized.
The distinction between sex and gender is particularly important for journalists to understand because many researchers do not appropriately distinguish between them in their research studies. A study may use the term “gender” when the researchers actually intended “sex,” or vice versa. If a conscientious journalist is aware of the distinction, they can hopefully recognize when a study misuses the term and/or ask the researchers whether it was actually gender or sex that was recorded.
Another reason journalists must understand gender and sex is to ensure they use appropriate identifiers and pronouns when discussing an individual, especially if that individual’s presenting gender does not conform to traditionally understood or recognized gender labels. The safest way to ensure you are properly identifying a person is to ask them which pronouns they prefer. These preferred pronouns should supersede any publication style guide rules as a matter of human dignity.