section_path: Etymology and usage/History of the concept/As distinct from sex
section_name: As distinct from sex
paragraph_text: As distinct from sex
  
  In 1945, Madison Bentley defined gender as the "socialized obverse of sex". Simone de Beauvoir 's 1949 book The Second Sex has been interpreted as the beginning of the distinction between sex and gender in feminist theory, although this interpretation is contested by many feminist theorists, including Sara Heinämaa.
  
  Controversial sexologist John Money coined the term gender role, and was the first to use it in print in a scientific trade journal in 1955. In the seminal 1955 paper, he defined it as "all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman."
  
  The modern academic sense of the word, in the context of social roles of men and women, dates at least back to 1945, and was popularized and developed by the feminist movement from the 1970s onwards (see Feminist theory and gender studies below), which theorizes that human nature is essentially epicene and social distinctions based on sex are arbitrarily constructed. In this context, matters pertaining to this theoretical process of social construction were labelled matters of gender.
  
  The popular use of gender simply as an alternative to sex (as a biological category) is also widespread, although attempts are still made to preserve the distinction. The American Heritage Dictionary (2000) uses the following two sentences to illustrate the difference, noting that the distinction "is useful in principle, but it is by no means widely observed, and considerable variation in usage occurs at all levels."
  
  The effectiveness of the medication appears to depend on the sex (not gender) of the patient. In peasant societies, gender (not sex) roles are likely to be more clearly defined.