The responses to this w/u missed the point of the discussion of gender; i.e. gender is defined as those aspects of sexual identity which are socially determined. When we discover that a sexually differentiated behavior is biologically determined, then it means that it is part of a person's sex, but it does not mean that there is no such thing as socially-determined gender.
No one is disputing that the sexes are distinct biologically, but sociologists have shown that many behaviors
we associate with sex vary from culture
, and they are therefore culturally determined. Furthermore, statements like, "Boys are better at math," may be biologically true on a general basis, but it does not follow that every boy
is automatically better than every girl
Gender also places value
on the sex differences, which biology does not, obviously. To continue the math example, it may be true that biology has given the male brain an advantage in mathematical and spatial intelligence, but the value we place on male forms of thinking over female forms of thinking is societal, and caught up with gender. Everyone is encouraging girls to excel
in math and science
, but very few people seem to be concerned that boys aren't so interested in foreign languages
. When studying the sexual division of labor, Mead
found that although which tasks are allocated to which sex varies from culture to culture, the constant is that tasks allocated to men are viewed as more important and more crucial to the functioning of the community. In a culture in which the men do the fishing
, for example, it is esteemed as a difficult and essential skill, but where women are the fishers, it's a menial
and boring task.