1. 1
Sex and Gender
Cynthia K. Shinabarger Reed

2. 2
Break out groups
• Who is more likely to get lost?
• Who is more able to describe a room
accurately with their eyes closed?
• Who cheats more in relationships?
• Who are better drivers?

3. 3
• Who remembers arguments with their
significant other more?
• Who is more aggressive?
• Who has the larger brain?
• Who makes less eye contact

4. 4
• Who is more susceptible to depression?
• In people aged 40-59 which gender was more likely to
state dissatisfaction with their sex life?
• Who has the most variation in personality? (This is
across species)
• Who has more difficulty returning to homeostasis after
a stressful event?

5. Studies Suggest Males Have More
Personality
• ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2009) — “Males have more
pronounced personalities than females across a range
of species -- from humans to house sparrows --
according to new research.”
• They also have more predictable behavior.
5

6. • “…Neuroscientists consistently found
differences between the men's stressed-out
brains and the women's.
• Men responded with increased blood flow to
the right prefrontal cortex, responsible for
"fight or flight."
• Women had increased blood flow to the limbic
system, which is also associated with a more
nurturing and friendly response. Women tend
and befriend.
6

7. 7
Introduction
• Sex:
– The biological classification based on
genetic composition, anatomy, & hormones.
• Gender
– The psychological & social phenomena
associated with being feminine or masculine
as these concepts are defined in a given
culture.

8. 8
• Hermaphrodites:
– Both ovarian & testicular tissues.
– Example:
– Lynn Edward Harris, born Lynn Elizabeth Harris, 09/13/50,
California
– November 8th, 1973 at age 23 Harris was diagnosed
• undescended, sub-sized ovotestes
• Due to ambiguously-formed genitalia at birth [stunted
penis; divided scrotum; and vagina], assigned "female" by
both parents and pediatrician, was raised as such and
continued living in said social gender role until age 29
(1979) --- six years after the disclosure of this fixed,
irreversible, yet-evolving biological state.

9. 9
Pseudohermaphrodite
• Pseudohermaphrodites:
– Possess two gonads of the same kind, but
their external genitalia and secondary sex
characteristics do not match their
chromosomal makeup.

10. 10
A Female Pseudohermaphrodite
• Genetic female.
• External sex organs have
been masculinized and
look like a penis.
• May occur if the mother
takes the hormone
progesterone to prevent
a miscarriage
• Usually caused by an
overproduction of
certain hormones.

11. 11
Male Pseudohermaphrodite
• Genetic male.
• External sex organs fail to develop
normally.
• Intersex males may have testes and a
female-like vulva, or a very small penis.

12. 12
Genetic Determinants of Sex
• Genetic inheritance is the most basic
determinant of whether an individual is
male or female.
• 23rd pair of chromosomes determines a
person's sex.
• Male: X & Y chromosome
• Female 2 X chromosomes.

13. 13
Genetic Determinate
• Early in development, human embryos
have an undifferentiated, or all-purpose,
gonad (sex gland) that can become either
a testis or an ovary.
• The presence of a Y chromosome directs
this undifferentiated gonad to develop
into a testis.

14. 14
Chromosome and Gene-
Linked Abnormalities
• Occur at conception & can have major
implications for later development.

15. 15
Klinefelter's Syndrome
• (XXY)
• Males only
• Smaller-than-normal genitals
• Enlarged breasts
• Poor muscular development
• May be mentally retarded
• 75% percent are not identified
• 1 in 500 males

16. 16

17. 17

18. 18
Klinefelter's Syndrome
• Testosterone shots, patches or gels
started shortly before or during puberty.
• May have symptoms similar to women in
menopause
– Hot flashes
– Increased irritability
– Inability to concentrate
– Depression.
– Most cannot father children.

19. 19
Turners Syndrome
• Females
• 1 X chromosome, normal XX
• 1 in 2,500 female births.
• Approximately 98% of pregnancies with
Turner's Syndrome abort spontaneously
• Short stature
• Webbed neck
• May have abnormal body proportions,
markedly shortened lower extremities.
• Height range is between 4’5” to 4’8”

20. 20
Turners Syndrome Cont.
• Prominent ears
• Broad chest
• Eyelid folds
• Estrogen needed in order to menstruate
develop breasts
• Can not reproduce

21. 21

22. 22
Males (the weaker sex)
• More vulnerable to developmental disorders
& certain fatal diseases.
• Greater chance of experiencing
developmental difficulties:
– Reading problems
– Delayed speech
– Environmental health problems
• Cancer resulting from exposure to a toxic substances
• Physical diseases

23. 23
Males
• Why are males more vulnerable?
• Possible causes:
– Biological factors
– Social roles
– Differing stressors men & women face
– Gender differences
• In behavioral risk factors
• In personality

24. 24
Males vs. Females Gender
Differences
• Sex differences in temperament appear as early
as 6 months in hundreds of experiments.
– Experiment (Rutgers University): Babies seated in
front of a screen they are given a string to pull to
change the picture in front of them.
– Babies learn quickly how to change the pictures.
The experimenters turn off the switch so the babies
can no longer change the pictures
• Boys keep pulling the string harder and harder
– Boys more stubborn
• Girls stop pulling and cry

25. 25
• Boys bang on things, girls don’t

26. 26
Reading
• Different aptitudes at different speeds
• Boys
• Girls speak coherently about 1 year before a
boy.
• Girls reading and writing lifelong fluency over
boys
• Boys: Learn to read by sight
– Boys out number girls in reading difficulties 3 to 1.
• Girls: Better hearing learn to read and spell by
sound

27. 27
Spatial Ability
• Spatial ability better in boys tested at age 4 (able to
test)
• Grows more pronounced with age
• Many more math talented boys than girls especially at
higher levels of math
– (Tested over a million kids over 20 years)
• Left part of our brain:
– Sequencing
– Language
– Delicate movements of the body
• Right:
– Visual and Spatial abilities
– How we deal with emotions

28. 28
• Men’s speaking systems focused in left
side of the brain
• Process language in the right
hemisphere.

29. 29
Can We Accept The Differences?
• If we accepted the differences what
might change?
– Classrooms
•More active for boys
– Reading?
– Math?
• Why is our culture so hesitant to make
and accept these changes?