Gender Definitions

I have always thought that my definition of male and female was solely based on biological factors. I am realizing, with the help of Professor Halberstam and this class, that there are many, many social factors that I have managed to confuse with the biological factors when creating my definitions. Society has planted many ideas in our head that we now assume to be true. When attempting to analyze and define the two genders, I found that I could not separate fact from social influence. I am sure many people have the same issue. I did conclude that, to me, gender is composed of a spectrum. Some people are closer to extremes of their gender and others are a more balanced mix of the two. Besides the biological, a spectrum of genders allows for social influences to factor in as well.