Student Independent Projects Social Cultural Studies 2015: Blowing Away the Line in the Sand: Perceiving Sex and Gender Complexities

Abstract

Sex and gender are terms that some scholars, the media, and the public frequently use interchangeably although they have very different meanings. This research, with the help of a few scholars such as Bornstein, Butler, Davis, West, and Zimmerman, explores why people continue to use these terms interchangeably even when sometimes they know the difference. In addition to analyzing secondary research I surveyed a sample of post-secondary students from Grenfell Campus, Memorial University and non-post- secondary educated people from my hometown community of Lourdes NL, in order to see if further education alters views about sex and gender categories. I found that further education does indeed alter views about sex and gender differences and, as well, that when people do understand the difference, they do sometimes not want to stand apart from the majority consensus and articulate it.