How Do Scientists Understand Sex, Gender and Gender Identity? A Social Psychology Podcast Episode.

One of the biggest criticisms against transgender individuals that I hear is that “science” says there are only two genders and a lot of transphobic people rely on “science” to back up their transphobic views. However, the reality is that science clearly shows us that there are more than two genders and there are big differences between sex, gender and gender identity. These are important distinctions to make because as aspiring and qualified psychologists, we are scientists first and foremost. Therefore, the way that we operationalise these terms is important in our clinical work and research. As a result, in this social psychology podcast episode, you’ll learn how do scientists operationalise sex, gender and gender identity. You’ll learn what is sex, gender and gender identity and most importantly, why science says there are more than two genders. If you enjoy learning about gender, social psychology and clinical psychology then this will be a great episode for you.

Today’s psychology podcast episode has been sponsored by Developmental Psychology: A Guide To Developmental and Child Psychology. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.

What Do Scientists Say About Biological Sex?

Firstly, in this podcast episode, I want to talk about what is biological sex as defined by psychologists. Since according to the American Psychological Association (2012), our sex is rooted in our biology and our sex is determined by observable biological criteria. Such as, our internal reproductive organs, our gonads, external genitals and our sex chromosomes. As well as most people are classified as either being biologically male or female at birth and I say “most people” because intersex people are real (APA, 2012). Intersex people are individuals who have an atypical combination of biological features. For example, intersex people might have a penis and a vigia.

If we apply this to myself, I am a biological male because I have all the typical male reproductive organs and genetically I’m a male. Yet I just because my biological sex is male because I was assigned it at birth, doesn’t mean that I am a man or boy.

How Do Scientists Say About Gender?

Building upon this, our gender is related but it is very distinctly different from our biological sex. Instead of being rooted in our biology, our gender is rooted in our culture. Since the American Psychological Association (2012) defines gender as the behaviours, feelings and attitudes that a given culture associates with our biological sex. This leads us to gender conformity where people abide by their culturally derived gender roles. For example, it is a commonly held belief that women should be the caretakers of society, they should be at home, looking after the family, doing the cooking and making sure that the home is perfect. Then for men, it is a commonly held belief that men should be the breadwinners for the family, they should protect and provide for their woman and the rest of their family. Then gender non-conformity and resisting these gender roles can have significant social consequences. Some of these are good and some of these are bad for individuals depending on the circumstances that they live in.

Again, looking at myself, as a non-binary person, I like a mixture of these gender roles and I certainly resist the gender roles assigned for men. I don’t see a problem with women going out and being the provider of the family and earning more money than men. I don’t have a problem with men being stay-at-home dads and looking after the home and family. I don’t fit into the gender roles designed exclusively for men or women. I’m a mixture of both and I like them.

I like being me.

What Do Scientists Say About Gender Identity?

Whereas our gender identity is different to our gender and our biological sex, because our gender identity refers to how we understand and experience our own gender. According to the American Psychological Association (2012), gender identity involves our psychological sense of being male, female or neither and people who identify as transgender feel that their gender identity doesn’t match with the gender they were assigned at birth or their biological sex. As well as there are people do feel like they don’t fit into either male or female gender categories (Molerio and Pinto, 2015).

Our gender expression is how we live out our gender identities in everyday life, in terms of how we behave, dress and express ourselves (APA, 2012; Drescher, 2014).

Personally, even though, I don’t identify as a man and I reject the label quite firmly because I’m non-binary. My gender expression is still rather masculine besides me wearing a woman’s bracelet, watch and necklace. Because I like masculine clothing and whilst I am trying to grow out my hair so I have it long and more feminine. My father’s male genetics are a massive pain in this aspect of my social transition. Anyway, this goes to show that the way how I live out and express my gender identity is my own, it makes me happy and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.

In addition, in western culture, the “male” and “female” gender identities are the most common and they form a dualistic or binary way of thinking about gender that typically informs the identity options that people feel are available to them (Prentice and Carranza, 2002). And of course, regardless of your biological sex, you can closely follow the gender roles assigned to men and women by talking, dressing and being interested in activities that are traditionally reserved for people with male or female gender identities. I know women who follow the gender roles of men and I know men who follow the gender roles traditionally given to women. It makes them happy, it works for them and their relationships and it doesn’t harm anyone.

Nonetheless, there are people who think “outside the box” when it comes to gender and construct identities for themselves that go beyond the male-female binary and this works for them. It allows them to be free, happy and it protects their mental health. It doesn’t harm society, it doesn’t hurt the person or their relationships and it doesn’t hurt anyone.

No one at all.

Some examples of these non-binary gender identity not only include myself. But my partner is a beautiful combination of masculinity and femininity. They act femininely and they can look like a cisgender woman or man depending on the clothes they wear or how they want to present on a given day. Then my best friend wants to become more transfeminine and they want someone to not be able to tell what gender they are just by looking at them because this will stop the gender dysphoria and distress they experience. Whereas another one of my housemates is transmasculine, so they want to look more like a boy and that’s their gender expression. Yet their gender identity is fluid so some days they feel more masculine and other days they feel more feminine and that’s okay.

It is all about whatever makes people feel comfortable, happy and relaxed.

Social Psychology Conclusion

At the end of the day and this psychology podcast episode, it doesn’t matter if society approves of these gender identities or not, the science is very clear that there are more than two genders. In fact, there are as many gender identities as there are people psychologically forming identities. There might be a longstanding tradition in Western culture proposing there are only two genders and Western culture might only recognise “male” and female” identities but this is not what the science says.

We need to stop mixing up gender identity and biological sex because our sex might be limited by our biology but our gender identity. Now, dear listener or reader, that truly is only limited by your imagination.

And there is a real beauty, a real interest and something really wonderful about that.

A chance where great, amazing people can just be themselves, be free and be happy.

Don’t we all deserve that? I think so, do you?

I really hope you enjoyed today’s social psychology podcast episode.

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Social Psychology References and Further Reading

American Psychological Association. (2012). Guidelines for psychological practice with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. American Psychologist, 67(1), 10-42. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024659

Diamond, M. (2002). Sex and gender are different: Sexual identity and gender identity are different. Clinical child psychology and psychiatry, 7(3), 320-334.

Drescher, J. (2014). Treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients. In R. E. Hales, S. C. Yudofsky, & L. W. Roberts (Eds.), The American Psychiatric Publishing textbook of psychiatry (6th ed., pp. 1293-1318). American Psychiatric Publishing.

DuBois, L. Z., & Shattuck‐Heidorn, H. (2021). Challenging the binary: Gender/sex and the bio‐logics of normalcy. American Journal of Human Biology, 33(5), e23623.

Moleiro, C., & Pinto, N. (2015). Sexual orientation and gender identity: Review of concepts, controversies and their relation to psychopathology classification systems. Frontiers in Psychology, 6.

Prentice, D. A., & Carranza, E. (2002). What women should be, shouldn't be, are allowed to be, and don't have to be: The contents of prescriptive gender stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26(4), 269-281. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.t01-1-00066

Tasker, F., & Wren, B. (2002). Sexual identity and gender identity: understanding difference. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7(3), 315-319.

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