Is our gender determined by nature or nurture?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Is our gender determined by nature or nurture?
Position‹3 of 3: Gender is determined by both nature and nurture
Argument: Biosocial Theory of Gender

Gender is impacted by both socialization, and biological sex

The argument

Biosocial gender theory accepts suggestions made in biochemical gender theory, such as the role hormones play in shaping personality, however also accepts that socialization plays large role in the construction of gender. Socialization is the dominant role in shaping gender within bio-social gender theory.

Context

Biosocial Theory was created by Money and Earhardt in 1972, suggesting that gender roles are not entirely innate, nor are they exclusively a result of socialization.

Premises

[P1]Biosocial gender theory accepts the biochemical view that hormones help shape personality, while also holding that socialization plays a large role in constructing gender. [P2] Within this theory socialization is the dominant force, so gender emerges from biological and social influences working together. [C] Therefore, on the biosocial theory, gender is determined by both nature and nurture.

Counter-arguments

The counter argument is to refute the biological impact implicit within biosocial theory, and to argue the role of biology is so minimal in molding gender, that for all pragmatic purposes it can be regarded as inconsequential. Therefore any behavioral differences among genders are classed as socially constructed. In refutation of existing contradictory scientific evidence, it is argued that to remove existing cultural and societal programming during academic research is very difficult, and existing efforts have unsuccessfully removed such bias.

Rejecting the premises

Measuring the specific impact both biological and societal factors play on gender is unfeasible due to the inability to accurately separate societal factors during development.