From a young age, children learn the basics: the letters of the alphabet, the standard colors on the color wheel, happy from sad and girl from boy . As a result of this distinction between boy and girl, many socialization events often occur throughout a child's life. Whether conscious or unconscious, the interactions a child has with other individuals, and even with their environment, pose new and reinforcing indications that their sex is culturally linked to specific gender characteristics. That being said, it is important to realize that many fail to accept the idea that biological sex is completely independent of gender identity. A multitude of gender roles are socialized in thousands of cultures around the world, often without establishing an open dialogue for members of the population. One point that remains true is the fact that there are differences between an individual's sex and gender, and often these dynamics can manifest into social issues, such as female genital mutilation. sex is invariably linked to specific gender characteristics, as if these qualities were encoded in the X and Y chromosomes. The inability to view gender characteristics as distinct from biological sex is rooted in the fact that from birth, a child is socialized into the gender role that is associated with their biological sex. Of course, these gender roles may differ from culture to culture, but what remains constant is the early process of socializing a child into a restrictive gender role depending on whether they are male or female. Crespi (2014) expands on this phenomenon by explaining that gender polarization has segmented men and women...... middle of document ......That being said, it is important to note that even s While there are apparent social benefits to FGM, there are no health benefits associated with the practice. In fact, FGM causes serious health complications. Shock, hemorrhage and even death are common consequences of excision. Even if the child's genital scars heal and the procedure is successful, FGM can still cause serious psychological harm to the girl once she grows up. Unfortunately, female genital mutilation has become ingrained in the lives of millions of women and part of their cultural gender identity. FGM is a problem in thousands of societies today because it forces women to mutilate their bodies in order to be accepted into a society that strictly regulates their cultural gender. As for their male counterparts, they are not held to the same expectations.