Have women been oppressed due to their gender or their sex?

Question

So if I understand sex and gender correctly, sex refers to biological characteristics, whereas gender refers to culturally/socially constructed characteristics. With that in mind, have women been oppressed throughout history due to their sex, gender, both, or neither? Is this even a worthwhile distinction/question to make? I’m curious because 1. We call this kind of discrimination “sexism” even though it seems to be more about gender than sex 2. I’ve heard different feminist groups offer different theories on this, and I am not sure if any are backed up by sociological evidence. 3. I am trying to understand how and when it is useful or not useful to examine sex and gender as separate, rather than meshed concepts, or if both “exist” as more than an academic concept. This is my first post here so I apologize if I missed something as to format.

Answer 1

Theories of Gender are recent. The fact that we are now aware that society socially constructs our differences, is just the extent and evolution of the discipline (sociology, anthropology and psychology), as well as the result of feminist movement and its influence.

Gender is a relatively recent word we use to define and describe such discrimination. For an understanding of the genealogy of sex/gender, you should refer to Simone de Beauvoir.

Nowadays, Gender Theory literature is huge: among the most important contributors you should read Judith Butler. Sex and gender are complementary and the correct use of the term depends on what you want to point out: biology, social construction or choice?