Sex and Gender Introduction Every creature in the world is divided as male and female from the birth itself. It is a biological division. Any human being is not able to take a decision on his or her sex. An embryo is created as a result of fertilization of an ovum with a sperm. A woman at a conceivable age ejects XX type ovum. A male’s sperm is of two types, XX and XY. When an XX sperm fertilises an ovum a female embryo is created. When an XY sperm fertilises an ovum a male embryo is created. The status given by society to a male and a female based on this biological difference based on sex is called gender. It must be noted here that genetic mutations can lead to transgender features in people that make the distinct biological difference between women and men blurred. Objective To understand the difference between sex and gender. Duration 1 hour Activity 1 • Distribute blank cards (3” x 4”) and pens among all participants. • Instruct participants to write two special characteristics of a Rose in the cards given. • Instruct participants to read what was written and place these cards on a flipchart. • Colour, shape, smoothness of petals, fragrance, and the thorny nature of stems may be characteristics given by nature while beauty, using as the symbol of victory, love and respect may be the characteristics given by the society. • Explain these characteristics separately and clarify the fact that characteristics given by nature cannot be changed and the characteristics attributed by us may be changed from person to person and society to soci ety. For example while the rose flower may be the most favourite flower of one person another person may consider the lotus flower as his favourite flower. 19