Sex, Gender and Androgyny

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about sex, gender and androgyny, focusing in particular on: (i) the biological nature of the term ‘sex’, based on chromosomes and gene expression, compared to gender, which is an internal perception of the self; (ii) gender dysphoria, as a result of an individual’s sex and gender not being in accordance; (iii) gender stereotypes, including women being the gender which cares for children and shows more compassion; (iv) Robert Stoller’s coining of the term ‘gender identity’ in 1964; (v) androgyny, as a descriptive term for someone who displays both masculine and feminine traits; (vi) the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, which is designed to assess a participant’s masculinity, femininity and androgyny.

About the lecturer

Dr Christine McKnight is a sexual health outreach worker at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and lecturer and Cardiff Metropolitan University. Dr McKnight works in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has research interests in fields such as contraceptive taking behaviour and its effects on health. One of Dr McKnight’s recent publications is 'Models of health behaviour predict intention to use long-acting reversible contraception' (2016).