It popped up in a recent thread, so I thought I'd clarify things. There's this fucking retarded idea in Western society these days that people are whatever gender they feel like. That idea is stupid. It is a belief which is completely at odds with reality. Here is the reality: English terms: 26 definitions of gender: http://onelook.com/?w=gender&ls=a 33 definitions of sex: http://onelook.com/?w=sex&ls=a Definitions from biology sites: More detailed information: Abnormalities: Political Correctness: Political correctness is a modern intellectual scourge, a plague of dumbing down language and thought. It has a vast number of people convinced that they should change the words they use so they don't offend other people, and this actually results in them convincing themselves of the shit they they say in order to avoid any potential ostracism. For example, if a guy cuts his penis off and calls himself a woman, politically correct folks will ignore all the information above from genome research institutions and universities and such, and will refer to that guy as a woman. Why? Because, supposedly, he feels like a woman. Forget about all those pesky facts and science. If someone feels like something, their preference must replace reality; reality is of secondary importance, to be discarded at a whim, as long as people don't offend each other and just feel all hunky-dory about things. And finally: That should cover it. Arnold Schwarzenegger putting on a dress and saying "I feel like a voo-mun!" does not make him a woman. Having pieces of your body cut off, and then taking drugs, does not make you a woman. Gender is determined by your chromosomes. The contrary belief, that people are whatever they feel like, is quite simply wrong. It's a lie, and if you profess to have such a belief, you are lying to yourself, and lying to others. This is just one more example of the type of self-delusion common in our society these days, which people adopt because they think making up such stupid crap is somehow right or moral.
I disagree. There's some good behavioral and neuroscientific data that suggests gender is produced in the brain in a few CNS nuclei and is determined during brain development - which is greatly effected by hormonal exposure. That's the science, Michael
OK, I'll ask in an easy way. We can easily and reproducibly run experiments whereby we breed male rats with the behavior of female rats and female rats that behave just as male rats - along with the accompanying changes in brain structure and activity. Simply by changing the hormone types, timing and levels the developing rat brain receives. Would you describe these experiments as a change in rat sex or gender?
In the first link: 26 definitions of gender In the first linked definition: Sexual identity, especially in relation to society or culture. So, I'd say the gender experiment showed the rats had a change in their gender. Most neuroscientists would agree with that wording I'm sure. Anther very interesting study on sex and gender found that males who acted the most violently against male homosexuality were also the ones with the greatest statistically significant penile erection response when shown pictures of nude men. Something some people may want to think about. :shrug:
The following four people have testicular feminization. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Testicular feminization syndrome: Now more appropriately called the complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, this is a genetic disorder that makes XY fetuses insensitive (unresponsive) to androgens (male hormones). Instead, they are born looking externally like normal girls. Internally, there is a short blind-pouch vagina and no uterus, fallopian tubes or ovaries. There are testes in the abdomen or the inguinal canal. The complete androgen insensitivity syndrome is usually detected at puberty when a girl should but does not begin to menstruate. Many of the girls with the syndrome have no pubic or axillary (armpit) hair. They have luxuriant scalp hair without temporal (male-pattern) balding. They are sterile and cannot bear children. They are at high risk for osteoporosis and so should take estrogen replacement therapy. Note the highlighted text from the Medical Dictionary.
There is no genetic test that can categorically determine sex. XX can have male appearance, XY can be female automatically . There is xx,xxy,xyy,yyy,xxx,xxxx,xxyy,xyyy,yy,xy and a few lovable mutations in between.
I can only suggest you folks read the supplied information from various universities and the USA's National Human Genome Research Institute, above.
adam, try reading your own links The definition of GENDER is anything and everything relating to a male or female roll WHICH IS NOT BIOLOGICALLY HARDWIRED. ie its all the cultural stuff like "mum stays home with the kids and cooks dinner while dad goes out to work", corse now dad might stay home with the kids while MUM goes out to work hense its not hardwired. its all the "cultural norms" we expect from people of a certain sex Sex is the biology, the XY or XX, of couse then you can have XX males and XY females where nature went wrong (or XXY XXX ect) For orleader who asked why its trangender rather than transexual at a guess i would say its because its more accurate. In order to be transexual one would have to actually change there biology (vagina insted of penus ect) however to be transgender you dont actually HAVE to have changed your sex, you only have to conformed to the cultural norms which are expected from the OTHER sex (most ovious, men wearing dresses and untill fairly recently women wearing pants)
i disagree with 1 statement in this quote. That is that this is not commen usage. I wonder when this was written because its not just at uni where "gender" and "sex" are differentually defined. Even in current antidiscrimination laws "gender" AND "sex" are stated sepratly, furthermore sex is used on all goverment forms that i have seen and the media also seperate sex and gender
i agree. gender doesn't need to be behavioral. that mentality is a product of society, not genetics, regardless of what a person's physical traits are. i think it's a shame. why can't we let people just be themselves, without trying to shove them into some mold?
I agree with the later half, that we should let people just be themselves in terms of gender, however, I didn't get the first part: gender doesn't need to be behavioral. that mentality is a product of society, not genetics, regardless of what a person's physical traits are. I don't understand what you are saying here. I'll say this much, gender is product of the brain and the brain is easily influenced by information - both chemical and societal.
i just think that gender is purely biological and physical, and not even dependent on masculinity or femininity, as there are very masculine females, and feminine males, and we all reside on a wide spectrum as far as that is concerned. but gender isn't a spectrum. you're either one, the other, both, or neither. and i think that society causes a lot of problems, trying to shove people into roles based on gender, and now more than ever, coupled with masculinity vs femininity. you know like, if you're a masculine female or a feminine male, then society dictates that you must be gay, just so you can be pigeon-holed and labeled, and everybody feels comfortable and familiar with your identity. i think it's bullshit. you know, you have to walk a certain way, talk a certain way, dress a certain way, perform a certain role, whether it's sexual, or an occupation. why can't people just be who they are without society dictating? parents dictating? perfect example...a child is born a hermaphrodite, and so the parents are plagued with some decision as to whether to raise the child as a girl or a boy. why? the child is neither. why not just raise the child according to who the child is and what the child likes? is it really that big of a deal, what color to paint the fucking nursery? what clothes the child should wear? bows or ribbons in the hair? it's stupid.
