There are two meanings of the word 'sex' - the activity of sexual interaction; and the biological sex of a person.
Sexual interaction
Biological sex (XX or XY)
Sex is your biological sex (according to chromosomes and secondary sexual characteristics); gender is the role that you perform in a social context.
Judith Butler has pointed out that sex is just as socially constructed as gender.
- Why does our society regard sex/gender as a primary social category? Why not star-sign, or time of day that you were born, or totem animal?
- What about people with chromosome combinations other than XX or XY?
- Why are boys encouraged to develop their muscles, but not girls? These are physical sexual characteristics that are subject to social factors.
Sex, gender and sexuality in contemporary Paganisms
- The focus of contemporary Paganisms on the divine feminine and goddesses has gone hand-in-hand with the rise of feminism.
- Ironically, the “Great Mother Goddess” was an icon for social conservatives like Jacquetta Hawkes
- Both men and women are beginning to appreciate the diversity of deities and archetypes
- Queer theory is also beginning to have an impact on thinking about gender and sexuality
- Pagans celebrate consensual sex between adults. The boundaries are very clear: people should not have sex with someone younger than themselves if they are in an unequal power relationship (e.g. teacher/student, doctor/patient, trainer/trainee, employer/employee) even if they are over the legal age of consent. Consent consists of clearly given consent without any form of coercion, whether physical or mental. No means No.
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