In the 21st century, many cultural conversations revolve around the distinction between sex and gender. The author delineates the two, adhering to the narrative that, as Zuleyka Zevallos states in The Other Sociologist, sex consists of “biological traits that societies use to assign people into the category of either male or female, whether it be through a focus on chromosomes, genitalia or some other physical ascription” while gender is “an understanding of how society shapes our understanding of those biological categories” (Zevallos, Zuleyka. “Sociology of Gender.” The Other Sociologist). Leyh’s message is that the categorization of people into the binary of “male” and “female” is too simplistic. Many characters in Snapdragon think Jacks is male based on “physical ascription,” when neither her sex nor gender align with this.

Gender, according to Zevallos, is a distinct category concerning “how society influences our understandings and perception of differences between masculinity (what society deems appropriate behavior for a ‘man’) and femininity (what society deems appropriate behavior for a ‘woman’)” (Zevallos). Social norms differ based on the histories, cultures, and ideologies of people across place and time. Both gender and the norms, behaviors, and roles associated with it can vary accordingly.