Sex and Gender in Biomedical Research : Current Use of the Terms Sex and Gender
The meanings of "sex" and "gender" vary widely among disciplines and authors. In the social sciences and the humanities, "gender" typically is used to describe differences between females and males that cannot be attributed solely to biological or physiological factors because those differences are also influenced by cultural, social, and historical contexts. Anthropologists determine sex by analyzing skeletal remains and gender roles by studying artifacts.
In other contexts, including in biomedical literature and the popular press, the terms often are used interchangeably. In health-related Government guidelines and regulations, the interchangeable use of sex and gender is also common. For example, the 1993 NIH Revitalization Act refers to sex differences in the inclusion policy regarding women and minorities in Phase III clinical trials. In 1998, the final FDA rule titled Investigational New Drug Applications2 requires that applications for approval of new drugs contain effectiveness and safety data for important demographic subgroups, specifically for gender, age, and racial subgroups.
Synonymous use of the terms tends to cause ambiguity and confusion not only among scientists but also among policy makers, Government agencies, and the general public.
Traditionally, gender has been used primarily to refer to the grammatical categories of masculine, feminine, and neuter, but in recent years the word has become well established in its use to refer to sex-based categories, as in phrases such as "gender gap" and "the politics of gender." This usage is supported by the practice of many anthropologists, who reserve sex for reference to biological categories, while using gender to refer to social or cultural categories. According to this rule, one would say that the effectiveness of the medication appears to depend on the sex (not gender) of the patient, but that in peasant societies, gender (not sex) roles are likely to be more clearly defined. This distinction is useful in principle, but it is by no means widely observed, and considerable variation in usage occurs at all levels (American Heritage Dictionary).
