Typically conflated with biological sex, gender – broadly – refers to the social and cultural differences between different people, rather than merely anatomical ones. Much as there are numerous genres within art that are defined by characteristics, gender describes the multitude of characteristics in relation to biological sex (or in opposition to it) and the associated behaviours, identities, social/cultural expectations, constructs and classifications.

While the West has traditionally defined human gender to be limited to ‘male’ and ‘female’, other cultures have had more than two.