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Politics and Gender

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  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Gender expression; Gender identity; Gendered institutions; Gendered leadership; Gendered policy

Definitions

Gender: the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex.

Introduction: What Is Gender?

What is gender and what does it have to do with politics? Definitions of gender and gender identity have changed drastically over time and continue to be disputed. Traditional conceptualizations define gender as “the state of being male or female.” More nuanced definitions suggest that gender is more accurately “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex” (Merriam-Webster). There is now widespread consensus that gender, like race, is a social construct – meaning that it is an idea that was created through cultural and societal practices, rather than a reality constructed by nature. Gender is distinct from sex, the latter of which refers to one’s biological anatomy, such as chromosomes, gonads, reproductive...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Kendall D. Funk

Authors
  1. Kendall D. Funk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kendall D. Funk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Funk, K.D. (2016). Politics and Gender. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2447-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2447-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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