I’ve often thought of Gender and Gender Roles as two very different and distinct things. I thought of Gender as one’s sex, and one’s body was anatomically, either male, female or indeterminant. Gender Roles were for me, cultural constructions. In some eras of history perhaps, most everyone adhered to the roles culture had assigned, and it was the odd person who lived outside these understood norms. However, since about the second world war, gender roles have been changing and for many in American culture, do not seem as rigid as they once were. P.G.P.’s call this into further question and suggest that Gender itself may be a construction or open to interpretation.