Reply to What it means to be a woman or a man

Forum Index » Off-Topic

Reply to "What it means to be a woman or a man"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm a biologist.

Gender means which set of chromosomes you have. Some humans are born with missing or extra sex chromosomes, which lead to the disease syndromes of Klinefelter and Turner. Some have clinical presentations that do not neatly fit into the standard XY or XX (the subject of the movie Conclave).

The sexual preferences that humans develop regarding their partners, and the sexual identities they create for themselves, are an expression of their human brains that have yet to be linked with a genetic or molecular profile.

In my view, you can be a man if you are chromosomally a man and if you embrace that identity. Same for a woman. But if your body is somewhere between the two, or if your body is one set of chromosomes but your brain embraces another identity, then basic respect for the human involved entails accepting their chosen identity.

As for social behaviors, hey, there are all kinds out there. You don't need to be a strong authoritarian provider if you're a man, or a weak submissive caregiver if you're a woman. 
You can live whatever life you want with the people you want.

[/quote]

fwiw I thought sex means the chromosomes along with physical development and actual hormone response/sensitivity so male, female, and various intersex conditions.

But regardless of terms, I think OP is asking what the identity itself (what the brain does) regards as maleness or femaleness. I *think* for trans people (and for intersex people who chose a gender they consider their identity) there is a concept of what the gender they identify with means, not just selecting a box. But I don't know for sure, maybe for some it is nothing more than an aversion to their own sex characteristics (which is why conservatives think it is a mental illness just like anorexia which I do not accept). Like presentation in terms of clothes, makeup and jewelry for a trans female--how much is a desire to embody a gender model the brain has and how much is to make sure other people regard them as that gender?

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics