《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词3500》Unit73:“Sex”这个词怎么了?

　　Unit 73
What Happened to the Word "Sex"?
What ever happened to sex? I had to fill out a government form the other day and it ask for my gender¹, giving town boxes to check, male or female.
It wasn't too many years ago that it would have asked for my sex, male of female.
When did the term "gender" replace "sex" to describe the difference between males and females? And why? The term "gender" has become ubiquitous.
My old college dictionary says that sex is a difference among living beings, as in the male and female sex, while gender is a difference in some languages partially² corresponding to the natural order, in which the names of objects are either of masculine, feminine, or neuter gender.
The most recent American Heritage Dictionary advises that, while gender has traditionally been used to refer to grammatical categories, the word has been used in recent years to refer to sexual identity or sex-based social or cultural categories.
According to Stoller, an early pioneer in gender identity research, "sex" is defined as the sum of physiological³ differences between male and female. In contrast, "gender" is viewed as a strictly⁴ psychological phenomenon and refers to the sum of behavioral or psychological differences between the sexes.
So there is an important difference between sex and gender. The sex of a person is biologically determined⁵. The gender of a person is culturally and socially determined.
The past two decades have produced a wide body of academic literature on gender, along with corresponding university and college departments, centers and courses focusing on the issues of gender identity and gender studies. Textbooks for such courses all agree that gender refers to the roles attached to biological sex; femininity and masculinity in this view are mere⁶ social concepts.
As one correspondent puts it, "Sex refers to a biological statement of fact. Gender is the way one is socialized according to some standard of behavior associated with a role."
"Only women can bear children, but not only women can be mothers."
It is now clear that when the government asked for my gender, there was something more involved than wanting to know my biological sex.
There are only two sexes, but at least six if not eight genders⁷: male, female, lesbian, homosexual or gay, bisexual of both sexes and transgendered of both sexes.
The simple change from "sex" to "gender" on a form hints a change in how we are coming to view our society and how it is being restructured.

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

3 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

4 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网