Everybody talks about gender. The term gender is now part of our vocabulary and globally incorporated in media, academy, law, politics, and society in general. Gender perspective, gender mainstreaming, gender identity, gender and law are now common terms. However, do we know what we refer to when using the term gender? Frequently, simple questions like, What is your gender? or What is your sex? can be difficult to answer when we realize that the term gender is used in the same context as sex to refer to male and female or masculine and feminine.

Gender can also be used to refer to sexual harassment, social sex, cultural oppression, and even as a synonym for woman. Furthermore, for some, gender is a binary, while for others, it reflects fluidity and diversity. These various approaches to the concept of gender appear to complicate its use in law which prefers established normative factual concepts. Therefore, what is the meaning of gender in law? Avoiding the misleading use of gender requires shedding some light on the concept and term and its development within feminism and in law.