Extremity as boundary or severity?

Text:
However, the characteristics that are claimed to distinguish the sexes are not uniform from one culture to another. Nor are the distinctions necessarily stable across historical epochs within a society. Furthermore, societies vary in the extremity of the distinctions they draw and the rigidity with which these distinctions are enforced.

Does 'the extremity' refer to some 'severity of punishment' or 'farthest limit, boundary, demarcation' between genders? Thank you.