"Gender is the cultural definition of behavior defined as appropriate to the sexes in a given society at a given time. Gender is a set of cultural roles. It is a costume, a mask, a straitjacket in which men and women dance their unequal dance. Unfortunately, the term is used both in academic discourse and in the media as interchangeable with 'sex.' In fact, its widespread public use probably is due to it sounding a bit more 'refined' than the plain word 'sex' with its 'nasty' connotations. Such usage is unfortunate, because it hides and mystifies the difference between the biological given--sex --and the culturally created--gender. Feminists above all others should want to point up that difference and should therefore be careful to use the appropriate words."--Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 238.