Let's Talk About Sex − Not Gender

Goymann, Wolfgang; Brumm, Henrik

doi:10.1002/bies.201800030

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Qualitative analyses from structured interviews with US-based researchers 55 found that while researchers indicated they had a good knowledge of SABV they incorrectly used the terms sex and gender when discussing their views, indicating a lack of knowledge. The misuse of the terms sex and gender has also been noted in grant submissions as well as in the biological literature 56 – 58 . Gender is a psychosocial construct that includes gender identity and societal expectations for roles and behaviour based on gender identity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of neuroscience and psychiatry papers published from 2009 and 2019 outlines opportunities for increasing discovery of sex differences

et al. 2022

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Sex differences exist in many neurological and psychiatric diseases, but these have not always been addressed adequately in research. In order to address this, it is necessary to consider how sex is incorporated into the design (e.g. using a balanced design) and into the analyses (e.g. using sex as a covariate) in the published literature. We surveyed papers published in 2009 and 2019 across six journals in neuroscience and psychiatry. In this sample, we find a 30% increase in the percentage of papers reporting studies that included both sexes in 2019 compared with 2009. Despite this increase, in 2019 only 19% of papers in the sample reported using an optimal design for discovery of possible sex differences, and only 5% of the papers reported studies that analysed sex as a discovery variable. We conclude that progress to date has not been sufficient to address the importance of sex differences in research for discovery and therapeutic potential for neurological and psychiatric disease.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of neuroscience and psychiatry papers published from 2009 and 2019 outlines opportunities for increasing discovery of sex differences

et al. 2022

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“…It does, hence, refer to how people perceive themselves, with or without a mismatch between this assessment and their biological sex. Because we have no way of knowing whether animals have any notion of gender, and no way of questioning them about it, [ 7 ] gender is uniquely human and the term should therefore not be used to refer to non‐human animals.…”

Section: Sex and Gender In Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 8 ] Likewise, the socio‐cultural, and thus anthropocentric, construct of gender cannot be applied to non‐human organisms. [ 7 ] There is a red line that separates humans with their unique combination of biological sex and gender from non‐human animals and plants, which only have two distinct sexes – both of which are either expressed in the same or in different individuals. As much as the concept of biological sex remains central to recognize the diversity of life, it is also crucial for those interested in a profound understanding of the nature of gender in humans.…”

Section: Conclusion: Denying Biological Sex Erodes Scientific Progres...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there is no need to deny the biological concept of sex to endorse the rights of gender‐diverse people, because biological sex and gender are two entirely separate issues. [ 7,8 ] The gist of the problem seems to be that the definitions of sex and gender and their relationship are not generally appreciated, promoting the spread of flawed notions among readers of high‐impact journals. Especially in biomedicine, many people are simply unaware of how evolutionary biologists define sex as biological sex.…”

Section: Introduction: Inclusive Social Environments and Established ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biological sex is binary, even though there is a rainbow of sex roles

2022

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Biomedical and social scientists are increasingly calling the biological sex into question, arguing that sex is a graded spectrum rather than a binary trait. Leading science journals have been adopting this relativist view, thereby opposing fundamental biological facts. While we fully endorse efforts to create a more inclusive environment for gender‐diverse people, this does not require denying biological sex. On the contrary, the rejection of biological sex seems to be based on a lack of knowledge about evolution and it champions species chauvinism, inasmuch as it imposes human identity notions on millions of other species. We argue that the biological definition of the sexes remains central to recognising the diversity of life. Humans with their unique combination of biological sex and gender are different from non‐human animals and plants in this respect. Denying the concept of biological sex, for whatever cause, ultimately erodes scientific progress and may open the flood gates to “alternative truths.”

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“…We use the term gender when referring to humans because of the influence of cultural norms on differences in behavior across men and women, and we use the term sex when referring more broadly to mammals. In fact, because gender is defined as the perceived sex (Money et al, 1955) or some other perceived identity related to sex, and we have no way of knowing whether and how animals may perceive themselves, the application of the gender concept in animals is inappropriate (Goymann and Brumm, 2018). Our focus on sex and gender differences is not meant to obscure the comparatively much larger variation for most behaviors observed within sexes and genders (Archer, 2019;Hyde et al, 2019), nor is it meant to argue that sex and gender are necessarily binary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evolutionary Explanation for the Female Leadership Paradox

et al. 2021

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Social influence is distributed unequally between males and females in many mammalian societies. In human societies, gender inequality is particularly evident in access to leadership positions. Understanding why women historically and cross-culturally have tended to be under-represented as leaders within human groups and organizations represents a paradox because we lack evidence that women leaders consistently perform worse than men. We also know that women exercise overt influence in collective group-decisions within small-scale human societies, and that female leadership is pervasive in particular contexts across non-human mammalian societies. Here, we offer a transdisciplinary perspective on this female leadership paradox. Synthesis of social science and biological literatures suggests that females and males, on average, differ in why and how they compete for access to political leadership in mixed-gender groups. These differences are influenced by sexual selection and are moderated by socioecological variation across development and, particularly in human societies, by culturally transmitted norms and institutions. The interplay of these forces contributes to the emergence of female leaders within and across species. Furthermore, females may regularly exercise influence on group decisions in less conspicuous ways and different domains than males, and these underappreciated forms of leadership require more study. We offer a comprehensive framework for studying inequality between females and males in access to leadership positions, and we discuss the implications of this approach for understanding the female leadership paradox and for redressing gender inequality in leadership in humans.

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Let's Talk About Sex − Not Gender

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

An analysis of neuroscience and psychiatry papers published from 2009 and 2019 outlines opportunities for increasing discovery of sex differences

An analysis of neuroscience and psychiatry papers published from 2009 and 2019 outlines opportunities for increasing discovery of sex differences

Biological sex is binary, even though there is a rainbow of sex roles

An Evolutionary Explanation for the Female Leadership Paradox

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