Whether we conform to, or resist, gender norms, they play a role in how we see and judge ourselves. They also influence how we perceive others. They impact our behavior whether we are aware of them or not.
But a recent paper claims that beyond just genes on X and Y, a full third of our genome is behaving very differently in men and women. These new data pose challenges for science, medicine and maybe even gender equity. Read more: X, Y and the genetics of sex: Professor Jenny Graves awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science 2017
What does the Biological Approach say about Gender Differences? As is obvious from the name, the biological approach focuses its efforts on explaining what biological differences between men and women result in their differing behaviours.
Most of us are familiar with the genetic differences between men and women. Men have X and Y sex chromosomes, and women have two X chromosomes. We know that genes on these chromosomes may act differently in men and women.
Medical researchers have made a new discovery about how a baby's sex is determined: it's not just about the X-Y chromosomes, but involves a 'regulator' that increases or decreases the activity of genes which decide if we become male or female.
Professor Sinclair said that across the human genome there were about one million enhancers controlling about 22,000 genes. "These enhancers lie on the DNA but outside genes, in regions previously referred to as junk DNA or dark matter," he said.
The study, 'Human Sex Reversal is caused by Duplication or Deletion of Core Enhancers Upstream of SOX9' has been published in the journal Nature Communications. MCRI researcher and Hudson Institute PhD student, Brittany Croft, is the first author. "The sex of a baby is determined by its chromosome make-up at conception.
Lead author of the study, Professor Andrew Sinclair, said that 90 percent of human DNA is made up of so called 'junk DNA or dark matter' which contains no genes but does carry important regulators that increase or decrease gene activity. advertisement. "These regulatory segments of DNA are called enhancers," he said.
High levels of the SOX9 gene are needed for normal testis development. "However, if there is some disruption to SOX9 activity and only low levels are present, a testis will not develop resulting in a baby with a disorder of sex development.". Lead author of the study, Professor Andrew Sinclair, said that 90 percent of human DNA is made up ...
Hormones - The Biological Cause of Gender Differences. Hormones are chemicals in the body that regulate changes in our cells. This includes growth and is as a result very important in explaining our gender differences. You may have heard of the largely male hormone: testosterone and the largely female hormone: oestrogen - and know ...
Hormones play a huge role in gender differences and it is our DNA that dictates our behaviour as men and women. Men and women have different brain structures. Women have evolved to be the carers of children whilst men have evolved to be the providers for their families.
Hampson and Kimura (1988) Women were tested at different times of the month. At the times when their oestrogen and progesterone (female sex hormones) were highest, they performed best at fine motor skills but worst in their visual-spatial tasks compared to other times when the levels of these hormones were lower.
The formation of testicles and ovaries are very important because, as you may already know, they are the key producers for the sex hormones androgens (including testosterone) and oestrogens which, as mentioned in the above section, result in many gender differences.
You may have heard of the largely male hormone: testosterone and the largely female hormone: oestrogen - and know that they have effects in our bodies that lead men and women to act more like, well, men and women. It is well documented that there are differences between the brain structures of men and women.
The above statements are empirical facts and so we know that at its very core the cause of most physical differences in men and women is due to biological differences in DNA. At first, the embryo (the name given to a zygote that has started to develop) has the same sex organs whether or not it has XY or XX chromosomes.
Scientists suggest that these differences cause the difference in the abilities of men and women: Women excel in: Language skills. Fine motor skills (using smaller muscles) Emotional control. Men excel in: Spatial skills. Logical reasoning.
Most affect the reproductive system, which we know to be very different in men and women. For instance, the new study shows that mammary glands have highest frequency of female-biased gene expression, and testis has the highest frequency of male-biased genes.
This epigenetic (“over the gene”) regulation of gene activity allows specialisation of different body tissues. Your liver and your brain share the same genes, but express them differently; one subset of genes is active in the liver, and a different subset of genes is active in the brain.
Most of us are familiar with the genetic differences between men and women. Men have X and Y sex chromosomes, and women have two X chromosomes. We know that genes on these chromosomes may act differently in men and women. But a recent paper claims that beyond just genes on X and Y, a full third of our genome is behaving very differently in men ...
Many are enzymes that drive basic reactions of turning food into flesh and energy. Genes work by making copies of themselves; the base sequence of DNA is copied into RNA molecules that engage with cell machinery to churn out protein. The more RNA a gene makes, the more protein will be produced.
Although the X chromosome is present in both sexes, there are two copies in females and only one in males. The human Y contains only 27 genes. One of these is the sex-determining region Y gene ( SRY ), which kick-starts the pathway that causes a ridge of cells in a 12 week-old embryo to develop into a testis.
We learn how to behave in a masculine or feminine manner through socialization. Males and females from different societies are the same biologically. But different societies have different ideas about how men and women should behave. For example: in some Middle-Eastern societies, it is normal for straight men to walk about town holding hands-–it ...
People who don't fit into either masculine or feminine gender roles often call themselves "gender queer. ". The gender queer believe being masculine or feminine is something we learn living in our particular society-–masculinity and femininity are not determined by our biological sex. Being a male doesn’t make us masculine;
Or we can overly resist gender-conforming behavior . . . Laura fears becoming like her mother. As a typical housewife of her time, Laura’s mother was financially dependent on her husband. She took responsibility for raising the children. She suffered quietly as her husband engaged in a series of affairs.
She learns that ethnicity usually refers to the national background with which a person identifies.
She knows that culture is something that people learn implicitly from the moment they are born. For example, babies are raised to be part of the culture they're born into.
On reflection, Janice also realizes that the ways culture, race, and ethnicity influence people are not monolithic. Some people are profoundly influenced by their racial identity, for example, while others may be more identified with some other aspect of themselves, like ability, sexuality, or socioeconomic status.
As a sociology student, Janice has become very interested in the different factors influencing people's identities and behaviors over time. Lately, Janice has been thinking about culture, race, and ethnicity. She realizes that these three concepts have areas of overlap as well as areas of divergence.
Racially, Janice identifies as white because that is how most people perceive her, but she knows that some people assume she is Latina, too.
Ethnicity usually refers to the national background with which a person identifies. Race is a social construct that's often associated with skin color and other physical features. Though each of these factors is different and unique, each also overlaps with the other in significant ways.
Culture can impact so many different aspects of people's behavior, including how they handle conflict, how they express different feelings through body language, and how they problem-solve.