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Masculinity and Femininity

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Femaleness; Gender; Maleness

Definition

Masculinity and femininity refer to an individual’s gender in terms of maleness and femaleness, respectively. Gender roles are those socially ascribed normative behaviors with respect to a given gender. Biological sex refers to an individual’s reproductive organs as being male or female.

Introduction

Issues surrounding sex and gender roles as they relate to sexuality are among the most divisive across scholarly disciplines. If one adheres strictly to the definitions, sex is biological and defines individuals based on their reproductive anatomy into male and female, while gender refers to one’s maleness (masculinity) and femaleness (femininity). Gender roles are those societally constructed normative behaviors ascribed to a given gender that, in turn, are attached to a particular biological sex. For those with backgrounds in social theory, biology may have little to do with how cultural norms color the blank canvas that becomes adult...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, 4072, QLD, Australia

    Barnaby J. W. Dixson

Authors
  1. Barnaby J. W. Dixson
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Correspondence to Barnaby J. W. Dixson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland

    Christopher Watkins

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Dixson, B.J.W. (2016). Masculinity and Femininity. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3389-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3389-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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