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[[Image:The_Riddle_of_Gender_2.jpg|right|frame|<center>ISBN 978-0-385-72197-4</center>]]

[[Image:The_Riddle_of_Gender_2.jpg|right|frame|<center>ISBN 978-0-385-72197-4</center>]]

'''Gender''' identity is referred to as "an individual's self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological [[sex]]."[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9036351 Gender Identity]. Although ''gender'' is commonly used interchangeably with ''[[sex]]'', within the [[social sciences]] it often refers to specifically [[Sociology|social]] differences, known as ''gender roles'' in the [[Biology|biological]] sciences. Historically, [[feminism]] has posited that many gender roles are socially constructed, and lack a clear biological explanation. People whose gender identity feels incongruent with their physical bodies may call themselves ''[[transgender]]'' or ''[[genderqueer]]''.

'''Gender''' identity is referred to as "an individual's self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological [[sex]]."[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9036351 Gender Identity]. Although ''gender'' is commonly used interchangeably with ''[[sex]]'', within the [[Social Sciences]] it often refers to specifically [[Sociology|social]] differences, known as ''gender roles'' in the [[Biology|biological]] sciences. Historically, [[feminism]] has posited that many gender roles are socially constructed, and lack a clear biological explanation. People whose gender identity feels incongruent with their physical bodies may call themselves ''[[transgender]]'' or ''[[genderqueer]]''.

Many languages have a system of grammatical gender, a type of noun class system — nouns may be classified as ''masculine'' or ''feminine'' (for example Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and French) and may also have a ''neuter'' grammatical gender (for example [[Sanskrit]], German, Polish, and the Scandinavian languages). In such languages, this is essentially a convention, which may have little or no connection to the meaning of the words. Likewise, a wide variety of phenomena have characteristics termed ''gender'', by analogy with [[male]] and [[female]] bodies or due to societal norms.

Many languages have a system of grammatical gender, a type of noun class system — nouns may be classified as ''masculine'' or ''feminine'' (for example Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and French) and may also have a ''neuter'' grammatical gender (for example [[Sanskrit]], German, Polish, and the Scandinavian languages). In such languages, this is essentially a convention, which may have little or no connection to the meaning of the words. Likewise, a wide variety of phenomena have characteristics termed ''gender'', by analogy with [[male]] and [[female]] bodies or due to societal norms.