LECTURE ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY
May 26, 2020
Biology (sex) vs Rationality (gender)
Gender, in social sciences, refers to the attributes, practices, values and conducts that determines how men and women should behave, in other words, the way societies perceive both ends. Easy right? Well not really, as it is a term that is constantly confused with sex and has even become antiquated when we understand that more than two genders can exist.
​
This and other concepts were discussed in the online conference presented by María Victoria Luque and Álvaro Sorzoni, in an effort to educate our team about the different aspects that individuals can experience in relation to their personal identification, sexual preference and behavior.
​
The lecture began with a differentiation between gender and sex, that is separating biology, from social behavior and reason, which is what makes every person unique. We explored other genders outside binary cultures, such as non-binary gender, bigender and “gender fluids”. We examined the difference between the terms “transgender”, “transvestite” and “transsexual”, as well as a very interesting discussion about medicine and how limited is towards gender reassignment.
We focused on understanding gender roles, that is, a concept based on history on how men and women should behave (their emotions, jobs, clothing, hobbies, etc.) and gender expression, the way individuals decide to show themselves to society.
​
Sexual orientation was also an important conversation of the lecture, as it is a term that is incorrectly mixed with gender. Once again, the focus was held on the idea that societies are not only run by heterosexuals and homosexuals, but in fact we can find other inclinations, such as bisexuals, pansexuals, asexuals and demisexuals.
​
Finally, but not less important, we conversed about the discrimination that exists towards transgenders and people that do not follow a heterosexual orientation. We discussed the difficulties that these individuals face, the improvements that we have experienced in the last decades and the measurements that each one of us can take to reverse this condition of intolerance.
​
It was a conference delivered with professionalism and dedication, and contemplated with great respect by our teammates, upon a topic that is not usually taught in our everyday life. If you wish to learn more, you can watch our educational video that resumes the main terms discussed in our talk.
