Big ideas on Gender inequalities

Gender is not the same as sex (biological characteristics of men and women) but is a socially constructed definition of men and women, therefore sex is something we are born with and gender is something we learn. Gender roles are often determined by culture, with both men and women taught appropriate norms and behaviour, reflecting society and relationships, which have been built up over thousands of years. These roles have often been legitimised by laws. Over 150 countries have at least one law that is discriminatory towards women. For an individual, their gender is experienced as an identity (a deeply held, internal sense of self) and also as an ‘expression’ (how they present their gender in the world and how society, culture, community, and family perceive, interact with, and try to shape our gender).