Sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female. Sex or SEX may also refer to:

Biology and behaviour

Animal sexual behaviour Animal sexual behaviour takes many different forms, including within the same species. Common mating or Reproduction, reproductively motivated systems include Monogamous pairing in animals, monogamy, Polygyny in animals, polygyny, Polyandry ...

Copulation (zoology) In zoology, copulation is animal sexual behavior in which a male introduces sperm into the female's body, especially directly into her reproductive tract. This is an aspect of mating. Many animals that live in water use external fertilization, whe ...

Human sexual activity Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) ...

Non-penetrative sex Non-penetrative sex or outercourse is sexual activity that usually does not include sexual penetration. It generally excludes the penetrative aspects of vaginal, anal, or oral sexual activity, but includes various forms of sexual and non-sexua ...

, or sexual outercourse **

Sex drive Libido (; colloquial: sex drive) is a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity. Libido is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act upo ...

, a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity **

Sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetrat ...

, also called copulation or coitus *

Gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

, the distinction between male and female or

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...

and

femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

within an individual's

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

Sex and gender distinction Though the terms ''sex'' and ''gender'' have been used interchangeably since at least the fourteenth century, in contemporary academic literature they usually have distinct meanings. ''Sex'' generally refers to an organism's biological sex, while ...

Human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

Mating type Mating types are the microorganism equivalent to sexes in multicellular lifeforms and are thought to be the ancestor to distinct Sex, sexes. They also occur in macro-organisms such as fungi. Definition Mating types are the microorganism equivalent ...

s, a distinction of gametes, whether in

anisogamous Different forms of anisogamy: A) anisogamy of motile cells, B) egg_cell.html"_;"title="oogamy_(egg_cell">oogamy_(egg_cell_and_sperm_cell),_C)_anisogamy_of_non-motile_cells_(egg_cell_and_spermatia)..html" ;"title="egg_cell_and_sperm_cell.html" ;" ...

isogamous Isogamy is a form of sexual reproduction that involves gametes of the same morphology (indistinguishable in shape and size), found in most unicellular eukaryotes. Because both gametes look alike, they generally cannot be classified as male or fe ...

species * Sexing, the act of discerning the sex of an animal *

Sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote tha ...

, a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, associated with the generation of new individuals, by means of

meiosis Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately resu ...

and

fertilization Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...

Genetic recombination Genetic recombination (also known as genetic reshuffling) is the exchange of genetic material between different organisms which leads to production of offspring with combinations of traits that differ from those found in either parent. In eukaryo ...

, the process of mixing genetic traits solely, occurring both in organisms with sexual or asexual reproduction

Art and entertainment

Film and television

* ''Sex'' (film), a 1920 film by Fred Niblo *'' Sex: The Annabel Chong Story'', a 1999 documentary film * "Sex" (''Kath & Kim'' episode) * ''Sex'' (TV series), an Australian television series

Literature

* ''Sex'' (book), a 1992 book by Madonna and Steven Meisel * ''Sex'' (play), a 1926 play by Mae West

Music

*SEX, pseudonym of American rapper

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

Albums

* ''Sex'' (Elli Kokkinou album), 2005 * ''Sex'' (The Necks album), 1989 * ''Sex'' (The 1975 EP), 2012 * ''Sex'' (Tila Tequila EP), 2007 *''Sex'', by

Telex The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a Public switched telephone network, telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of ...

, 1981 * ''Sex'' (Vintage album), 2009

Songs

* "Sex" (The 1975 song), 2012 * "Sex" (Cheat Codes and Kris Kross Amsterdam song), 2016 * "S.E.X." (Lyfe Jennings song), 2006 * "Sex" (Lenny Kravitz song), 2014 * "Sex" (Mötley Crüe song), 2012 * "Sex" (Oomph! song), 1994 *" Sex (I'm A...)", by Berlin, 1983 *"Sex", by Eden from ''

I Think You Think Too Much of Me ''I Think You Think Too Much of Me'' (stylised as ''i think you think too much of me'') is the second EP by Irish musician EDEN, released on 19 August 2016 through his own label MCMXCV and distributed by Astralwerks. The EP was recorded and pr ...

'', 2016 *"SEX", by Frank Zappa from ''

The Man from Utopia ''The Man from Utopia'' is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1983 by Barking Pumpkin Records. The album is named after a 1950s song, written by Donald and Doris Woods, which Zappa covers as part of "The Man from Utopi ...

'', 1983 *"S.E.X.", by Nickelback from ''

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

'', 2008 *"Sex", by Rammstein from

Untitled Rammstein album The untitled seventh studio album by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, titled ''Rammstein'' on digital platforms and on CD-Text enabled devices, was released on 17 May 2019 through Universal Music. Their first studio album in ten years, ...

, 2019 * "Sexual" (song), by Neiked, featuring Dyo, 2016 *"Sexual", by Die Toten Hosen from ''

Love, Peace & Money ''Love, Peace & Money'' (also ''Love Peace & Money''; Japanese 愛、平和、そして金) is the first English-language album by the German punk band Die Toten Hosen (ディ・トーテン・ホーゼン di tōten hōzen"in katakana; DTH), no ...

'', 1994 *"Sexual (Li Da Di)", by Amber from ''

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

'', 1999

Other uses

Sextans Sextans is a minor celestial equator, equatorial constellation which was introduced in 1687 by Johannes Hevelius. Its name is Latin for the sextant (astronomical), astronomical sextant, an instrument that Hevelius made frequent use of in his ob ...

or Sex, a constellation *

Sex (boutique) Sex (stylised SEX) was a boutique run by Vivienne Westwood and her former partner Malcolm McLaren at 430 King's Road, London between 1974 and 1976. It specialised in clothing that defined the look of the punk movement. Paradise Garage From 196 ...

, in London *

SEX (computing) In computing, the SEX assembly language mnemonic has often been used for the "Sign EXtend" machine instruction found in the Motorola 6809. A computer's or CPU's "sex" can also mean the endianness of the computer architecture used. x86 computers do ...

, an assembly language mnemonic *

Sodium ethyl xanthate Sodium ethyl xanthate (SEX) is an organosulfur compound with the chemical formula . It is a pale yellow powder, which is usually obtained as the dihydrate. Sodium ethyl xanthate is used in the mining industry as a flotation agent. A closely rel ...

, or SEX, a chemical compound used in the mining industry *Sex-, the Latin prefix meaning 6 *

Sex Peak Sex Peak is a summit in Sanders County, Montana, in the United States. It is located within the Kootenai National Forest. It has an elevation of A conversation between a park official and a forester about Sexual intercourse, sex supposedly caused ...

, a mountain in Montana, United States