In the past few weeks, there has been a plethora of stories in the news associated with the topics of sex, anatomical variances between males and females, and gender, the socially learned expectations and behaviors associated with being male or female. Around the world, one can find examples of aspects of this subject being covered in the news and playing out in people’s lives. Let’s take a few minutes to consider these news stories from a sociological perspective and hopefully gain a better understanding of the breadth of topics that fall under the rubric of sex and gender.
Beginning in the world of sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association found themselves in hot water recently over the abysmal weight room accommodations offered to women athletes playing in the March Madness basketball tournament. While the men received a room full of first-rate equipment, the women got a set of dumbbells and some yoga mats. This blatant sexism, prejudice, devaluation, and discrimination based on an individual’s sex, was called out on social media and quickly corrected. Still, members of the U.S. Congress have called for an investigation into whether the NCAA has violated Title IX, the federal civil rights legislation enacted in the 1970s to eliminate sex-based discrimination in education.
There have been several stories recently about the effort in the U.S. to limit the rights of people who are transgender, someone who identifies with a gender that is different from his or her biological sex. In Arkansas, an Anti-Trans bill approved by the state legislature would make it a crime for doctors to help minors seeking assistance with the transition process. This legislation specifically targets youth who are looking to undergo medical procedures to become the opposite sex or transgender.
