Gender as a socio-cultural phenomenon

The aim of the article is to define the content of the concepts of gender and gender culture as socio-cultural phenomena. The method of comparative critical analysis of alternative interpretations of these constructs is used, on the basis of which an integral approach to understanding gender and gender culture is formulated. It is noted that the former characterizes the sociocultural functions of sexes and the system of interpersonal relations between men and women. It includes images that reflect physiological and social differences between the sexes, social and cultural norms of behavior, as well as the system of social interactions between their representatives. The gender culture of society is defined as the system of organization of intersex relations that has developed in the social structure, including the balance of interpersonal interactions, gender standards of masculinity and femininity; norms in the sphere of communication (legal, moral, religious, etc.), stereotypes of behavior of representatives of different sexes. Gender culture of an individual is the consciousness and self-consciousness of the individual in the context of belonging to the male or female sex. In addition, the gender consciousness of an individual is the subject's perception of gender and the relationship between men and women. Gender self-awareness of an individual is gender self-identity, that is, who an individual imagines himself to be, and on the basis of which an individual’s gender behavior is formed. The concepts of gender and gender culture as sociocultural phenomena are methodological tools for studying the specifics and dynamics of specific gender cultures emerging in certain sociocultural public systems.