Examining the social construction of gender has been central to anthropological inquiries since the 1930s. Early ethnographic studies were instrumental in debunking gender essentialism and challenging the hegemony of western constructs about 'masculinity' and 'femininity'. Since the 1930s, critical Anthropological theories and ethnographies have through cross-cultural comparison, demonstrated the great variation in expressions of individual sexuality/ies, the dynamics and confines behind the construction of gender roles and the cultural meaning and expression of gender categories across the globe. This subject will address the ongoing exploration of and challenges to the sex (biology) vs. gender (culture) dichotomy and contemporary cultural, social and political transformation (manipulation) of these categories.