Sex - Basic Aspects of Human Sexuality
A Practical Classification of Sexual Characteristics

For the practical purposes of everyday life, one can distinguish between three kinds of sexual characteristics:

1. The primary sexual characteristics are the external sex organs. They are already present at birth and thus make it possible to determine whether a newborn child is a girl or a boy.

2. The secondary sexual characteristics are those physical features that develop during puberty and which further accentuate the anatomical difference between females and males.

3. The tertiary sexual characteristics are those psychological and social qualities that are nurtured in one sex and discouraged in the other (e.g. charm and sweetness in women, fighting spirit in men). The primary and secondary sexual characteristics are biologically determined, and they constitute a person's femaleness or maleness. The tertiary sexual characteristics are culturally determined, and they constitute a person's femininity or masculinity.

The primary and secondary sexual characteristics refer to a person's femaleness or maleness (i.e. the physical character typical of one or the other sex); the tertiary characteristics refer to the person's femininity or masculinity (i.e. the psycho-social character typical of one or the other sex). The primary and secondary characteristics are biologically determined; the tertiary characteristics also have a bioligical basis, but are largely determined by cultural factors.