Contrary to popular opinion, the definitions of sex and gender have never been consistent or concise. This fact is especially true throughout different disciplines of science. Prime evidence of the contrasting definitions of sex and gender are illustrated in evolutionary biology and environmental science. According to evolutionary biologists, sex is defined by the gametes produced by an individual, existing in a binary for all sexually reproducing species. (Goymann et al., 2022) However, environmental scientists would disagree with this definition, as it does not account for many species that produce multiple gametes, such as the American Chestnut (Meehan, 1879) which produces “bisexual catkins” that have both pollen (the male plant gamete) and flowers (the female plant gamete). When it comes to gender, discrepancies still occur, even though both sciences approach gender primarily as a social construct that impacts humans. Evolutionary biologists argue that gender roles are a human concept, referencing psychologist John Money’s model of gender. (Goymann et al. 2022). However, environmental scientists are more torn. While environmental scientists agree that the majority of gender’s characteristics are socially constructed by human society, some question if differences in behavior between different sexes of same animal species are not only environmentally determined, but also socially. (Schwartz J. Is gender unique to humans? Sapiens. 2018 November 29. https://www.sapiens.org/culture/gender-identity-nonhuman-animals/). As demonstrated by these examples, even fields as closely related as evolutionary biology and environmental science struggle to agree on definitions for sex and gender. Despite these struggles, they do share many common characteristics: sex is rooted in a physical biological construct of some form, whether it is visible to the human eye or not, while gender is rooted in socialization. These shared traits give me hope that scientists of different fields can come to shared conclusion on the subject eventually, which will hopefully help protect and improve civil rights and healthcare for various communities, especially in times where sex and gender are often major factors in discrimination. The differences in these definitions also intrigues me as an environmental science major, as I want to understand why these fields have such different outlooks on sex and gender.
