sex role

n. The behaviors and patterns of activities in which those identified as men and women in a given culture may engage that are directly related to biological differences and the process of reproduction, as opposed to gender role, which refers to the gender-specific behaviors prescribed by their culture. Among humans there is clearly some interaction between biological sex and sex role, although many cultures have alternative forms of sex identities in which individuals of one biological sex enact many of the roles characteristic of or assigned to the other sex.