Gender.

Gender is the socially-constructed characteristics of being male or female.

In short, it refers to society's division of humanity into two distinctive categories based on sex.

Gender serves as a guide on how males and females think and act about themselves; the ways they interact with others; and how they perform their various roles in society.

While sex chiefly centers on biological differences, gender is the culturally-learned difference between men and women.

Hormonal distinctions as well as diverse levels of sexual arousal segregate men from women as these indicators provide clues on one's maleness or femaleness.

These are sex differences.

On the contrary, the level of masculinity and ferminity varies from one culture to another especially on how society dictates one's productive and reproductive roles or gender roles.

For instance, in the Judeo-Christian world, men are perceived to be superior than women; thus they are ascribed more vigorous occupational roles like plowing the field or doing menial jobs as opposed to women who are relegated to homemaking and child-rearing.

There is a popular notion that gender deals only with differences, wherein society constructs masculine and feminine people.

However, in reality, it is how society confers power on each of these sexes that leads to the development of a sense of empowerment and sensitivity.

Overall, gender also operates as a dimension of inequality.

This is especially true in relation to the division of labor where each society ascribes gender stereotype to particular job domain.

In the past, architecture and engineering as well as banking and finance were male domains.

Fashion and interior design and cooking were female turfs.

In recent years, however, overlapping of domains have occurred.

The best chefs in the world are now men and the best bankers are women.

What seemed to be inequalities then are now cushioned by more gender-friendly and gender-sensitive working environment.

Nonetheless, this development is not conclusive.

Some indigenous communities,resisting social change, continue to cling to traditional stereotypes like the women warriors inhabiting the headwaters of the amazon river in south america, who preserved the strong pattern of female dominance in the community.

Similarly, new guinean highlanders maintains a community of men who are more gossips, artistic, and nurturant towards their children than their wives.