Gender is one of the most basic status characteristics. People feel uncomfortable with uncertainty about another person’s gender. This is rooted in the gender binary, the classification of people into either the category male of female.

What are gender roles and stereotypes?

The emphasis on gender in societies is codified with gender roles, this is a set of norms or culturally defined expectations to define how people of one gender should behave. A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people that differs those people from others. Heterosexuality is an important part of gender roles and stereotypes.

Gender roles are a product of culture. Intersectionality is the approach where the meaning and consequences of the use of multiple categories for difference, identity and disadvantage. Effects of gender should not be considered in isolation, but the category woman should be accompanied by the categories that also apply in this woman, such as ethnicity, social class, religion and sexual orientation. People then may be part of both a privileged and disadvantaged group.

• African Americans: there are two factors that are significant in the cultural heritage of African Americans, one is their past of slavery and second is the racial suppression that followed. This leaves African Americans with mixed stereotypes. There is the Jezebel, who is immoral and promiscuous. Then, there is the “fat mammy” who is fat and asexual. Numerous stereotypes have been added by the hip-hop culture. Gold-diggers who use sex to get rewards for men, and gangster bitches who survive on sex in hostile environments to feel good. Black men have been stereotyped as highly sexual and dangerous. The discrimination based this stereotype causes stress.
• Latinos are the largest minority in the US. The concept of acculturation refers to the process of incorporation of beliefs and customs of a new culture. This is what happened to people in the Latino culture in the United States who still have their Hispanic heritage, mixed with Anglo components. The roles are characterised by machismo and marianismo. Young Latino women believe they must choose between being a good girl or a flirt girl.
• Asian Americans were once recruited as workers and are now faced with racism. They share the emphasis on the importance of education with the white American middle class but place more value on family. The stereotype for men is that they lack sexuality, and for women as an erotic sex toy.
• American Indians have egalitarian gender roles compared to those of white cultures during the same period. The native Americans already had a term besides the traditional genders and called it two-spirit. They also recognised the manly hearted woman, who was aggressive and exceptionally independent. They often got the role of warrior woman. They could participate in male-activities while living and dressing as a woman.

People often behave according to their (gender)role. This is caused by the phenomenon of socialization, which is the way in which society conveys norms and expectations of behaviour. One example is that children are awarded with behaviour that fits their gender. Socialization continues in adulthood, where the norms of socialization extend from finding an appropriate job to sexuality. There are multiple sources responsible for socialization: parents, the media and peers.

What are psychological gender differences?

One major psychological difference between men and women is aggressiveness. Males are more aggressive than females. Also, males and females differ in their way of communication. Self-disclosure in friendships happens more often in girls than boys. The norms about self-disclosure are changing, whereas traditional roles favoured emotional expression, but emotional avoidance in boys there is now a change that good communication and equal self-disclosure should come from both genders. The understanding of nonverbal behaviour of others is called decoding nonverbal cues. This has implication for sexuality when men and women both have different communication styles.

What are gender differences in sexuality?

There are some differences between men and women regarding sexuality. However, the differences do not outweigh the similarities. Also, gender differences may be altered by culture.

• Masturbation is the largest difference in sexuality between men and women. Fewer women masturbate and begin at a later age.
• Attitudes about casual sex also differ between genders. Especially about the one-night stand where there is no emotional connection between partners. Women tend to be disapproving, while men ten to approve those interactions.
• Use of pornography is considerably more among men than women.
• Arousal to erotica also happens more often in men than women. In research, measurements are taken using the penile strain gauge, which is a physiological measure of arousal in men. The photoplethysmography is the female equivalent. Both instruments measure vasocongestion in the genitals. Research done by Heiman (1975) gave insight in the difference in arousal to erotica. Participants heard a tape with erotic, romantic or exotic-romantic content. Males and females responded most strongly to explicit heterosexual sex and women even more strongly. There was no response to the romantic tape. Women found the female-oriented tape most arousing. Women were not always able to report their arousal in self-rating. Heiman found that both males and females respond the same to erotic material. However, later fMRI studies discovered that only men have an increased activity in the hypothalamus, which is important for the release of testosterone.
• Orgasm consistency is better for men than women, even during masturbation.
• Sex drive is stronger in men, men think more often about sex and have more variations in their sexual fantasies.

Why do these differences in sexuality exist?

Women masturbate less than men, they disapprove casual sex and have a lesser orgasm consistency. Men use more porn and have a greater sex drive. There are several explanations for these differences.

• There is the chance that some of the reported gender-differences are not true, but that people report what is expected, based on gender norms. The bogus pipeline method was used to investigate this possibility. The researchers used the bogus pipeline condition, where students were hooked to a fake polygraph, the anonymous condition and the exposure threat condition. People in the bogus pipeline condition gave the most honest answers and it turned out the number of sexual partners for women was slightly higher than for men.
• Biological factors are separated into differences in anatomy and hormones. Differences in anatomy arise from the biological fact that the man has a penis. He can look at his sexual organs and see whether he is aroused. This is not possible for women as her sexual organs are hidden. This could be the cause for women exploring their sexuality less. Hormonal differences are also related to sexual behaviour. Women have lower testosterone levels than men, which could partially explain their lower sex drive.
• Cultural factors are the restrictions placed on female sexuality. The double standard is the best example and means that the same sexual behaviour is evaluated differently in men and women. Also, gender roles and marital -and family roles are cultural forces that contribute to differences in sexuality between men and women. Finally, body image issues influence the females sexual functioning. Women who are dissatisfied with their bodies report lower levels of sexual desire.
• Other factors include pregnancy, which can be a highly undesirable consequence of sex. Another factor could be the ineffective techniques of stimulating a woman, the most common technique (coitus) is not the best way for stimulation. The inexperience of a woman with masturbation can cause an erotic dependence on a man. This could possibly be solved with giving girls more information about masturbation.

What are gender differences in adults?

Most research about sexuality is done with young-adults and college students. However, this gives a very narrow view on gender differences between partners. This is because the sexual awakening of a woman is later then for men so for instance, they might start masturbation at a later age. The expression of sex is also different, with men it starts with body-centred sex and later it becomes person-centred sex. For women, this is the other way around.

What is transgender?

The term transgender refers more to a gender identity than a sexual deviation. Transgender is a name for people whose gender does not match their assigned gender at birth. Some people do not have any gender that appears in their genitals. This is called genderqueer, or non-binary. Another group is the transsexuals, their gender identification does not match the gender they are assigned to. For example, a person born with a female body, but a male personality. A male-to-female transsexual (MTF) is the name for a transwoman. A female-to-male transsexual (FTM) is a transman. The term trans however, is broader and includes people who identify as transsexual, cross-dressing, gender nonconforming, gender fluid, gender queer, transgender and other gender-variant persons. Individuals that are not transgender are categorised as cisgender. Gender dysphoria is the psychological distress that is caused by a mix-match between identity and gender. It can exist during childhood but does not always persist until adultery, only about twenty percent does. When gender dysphoria exists in adolescence the change of persistence into adulthood is much higher.

What are experiences of trans people?

There is a homophobia and gay prejudice about transsexuals. The terms transphobia and anti-trans prejudice describe the attitudes and behaviours towards trans people. Transphobia is the irrational and strong fear for trans people. Anti-trans prejudice is a combination of the negative attitudes and behaviours on trans individuals. Discrimination against trans people is high, they experience injustice at every turn because they are called by gender-binary pronouns even though they do not feel these fit their gender identity. Trans people who are gynephilic are sexually attracted to women, if someone is androphilic the sexual attraction is to men.

What are medical and surgical transition processes for trans people?

There are several procedures available for people to change their binary gender identity. One of them is therapy so their body matches their identity, this is gender-conforming therapy. Other options are often medical, but a referral and assessment by a mental health professional is needed. The treatments can be accumulated with voice -and communication therapy, supportive therapy for peers to reduce stress and facial hair removal for males. The following medical treatments exist:

• Hormone therapy to accomplish pubertal suppression is used to give a person time to make a well-informed decision about the transformation. They are reversible if the choice not to make the transition is made. Also, if the transition is made, the process is simpler.

• Hormone therapy to feminize or masculinize the body is only partially reversible and applied on adolescents and adults that are already capable of deciding. It can lead to the growth of facial hair, the clitoris and breasts.

• Chest surgery is the removal or augmentation of breasts.

• Genital surgery for MTF are:

  • Penectomy: removal of the penis

  • Orchiectomy: the removal of the testes

  • Vaginoplasty: the creation of a vagina from the skin of the penis

  • Clitoroplasty: the creation of a clitoris.

• Genital surgery for FTM can include:

  • The removal of the uterus: hysterectomy

  • The removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries

  • Metoidioplasty or phalloplasty: creating a small penis

  • Insertion of artificial testes

Metoidioplasty entails releasing the clitoris, which enlarges into a small penis through hormone therapy.

What are the causes of gender variance?

Gender variance has often been researched using transsexuals. Some argue that the process starts before birth. There are genes associated with transsexualism that are different for MTFs and FTMs. They are more likely to have a mutation in the androgen receptor gene. Not all MTFs carry this mutation. The exact causes are still unknown.