What is the best definition of gender?

• A. The socially constructed roles and characteristics by which culture defines male and female.
• B. Biological sex as determined at birth.
• C. A person’s age and generation.
• D. A person’s athletic ability and physical strength.

Answer: (A)

Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, expectations, and identities that a culture assigns to people based on the sense of being male or female. It highlights how what counts as “appropriate” work, dress, or behavior can vary across cultures and over time, and includes how people identify themselves and present themselves in society. This definition stands apart from biological sex, which is about physical and genetic attributes present at birth. The other ideas—age or generation, or athletic ability and strength—do not define how gender is understood or lived in most societies.