– Ananya Khurana

Most of us have been raised with pretty simplistic ideas about sex and gender; namely, that there are two sexes, male and female, and that they align with two genders, man and woman. But with the increased visibility of transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people, many are
beginning to understand that the categories of sex and gender are far more complicated. Nor can the two terms be used interchangeably.
While sex is the biological classification, done on the basis of chromosomes, anatomy or sex characteristics that differentiate a male from a female, gender is the societal classification, that ascribes certain sociological roles to a man and a woman respectively.
However, as the society develops and people become more vocal about their true identities and aspirations, we realise that such a classification can invalidate the identities of people such as the transgenders.
This being said, it is important to understand the difference between sex and gender. And it is also important to understand that gender and sex aren’t an either/or scenario. They, as a whole, are a spectrum.
There are multiple people, who through typical classification will not fit into either category. This does that mean that they will cease to exist, that their identity is false. We need to understand that it’s time that we broaden this categorisation into a wider spectrum, representing beautiful and different people. It’s time that we embrace one and all.