Sex or gender? A feminist debate for nurses

In this exploration of the history of the sex/gender debate within feminist literature, I argue that the meanings of both words are socially constructed and hence the words can be interchanged. This poststructuralist view is based on the work of Foucault. The implications of an understanding of femaleness and maleness as socially constructed historical categories, and not natural givens, are explored. Our ideas about sexual constructs affect our views of ourselves and others, and hence this debate impacts on nursing practice and research, and the lives of those people for whom we care.