The Words Gender + Sex – They Can’t Be Used as Synonyms?

Thursday I wrote a story about whether you want or wanted to know if your child was going to be a boy or a girl when having an ultrasound, but it turned into something else. 

The thread under this post on the Moose Facebook fan page turned into a conversation about the words sex and gender and their meanings.

According to Wikipedia, the word "sex" is about the physical parts to the body but "gender" is about who you are and how you feel in terms of characteristics and identity.  It goes deeper than that but "gender" is social and "sex" is physical.

First of all I applaud you for schooling me on the difference between the words. Maybe it's my age, or misunderstanding of the word, but I thought the two words, "sex" and "gender" in this context could be used as synonyms. Interchangeable, so-to-speak.

More simply put, here is the difference presented by the World Health Organization. 

You have to give me this, it is a very big topic with lots of discussion.

Sorry if my misuse of the word offended anyone.

For the story that sparked the conversation, just click the button below.