So, with the title of this post I presumably got your attention!! Unless you have been living under a rock, you are likely aware of the controversy in women's boxing at the Paris Olympic Games. A Facebook friend has linked a couple of articles that had some factual errors, but when I tried to make some comments for clarification, I was accused of spreading misinformation, and was basically told to buzz of and stop commenting. So I did. However, I felt the need to more clearly state my understanding of the classification and determination of sex in humans. This mini-essay is basically a portion of a lecture that I give in a university-level Human Genetics class that I have taught numerous time.
The definition of sex has three basic components - chromosomal, gonadal, and phenotypic [basically secondary sex characteristics]
CHROMOSOMAL SEX
Human chromosomes come in pairs, and there are two sex chromosomes, X and Y. Humans have 46 chromosomes, 23 pairs [22 non-sex chromosome pairs and 1 sex chromosome pair. For all 23 pairs, you received one from your mother and one from your father. Females have 2 X chromosomes and males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. The standard nomenclature for most people would be 46XX females and 46XY for males. Thus, the number of options for sex chromosomes is two, either X or Y, which makes the choice binary. There is no third sex chromosome, nor is there some sort of spectrum of sex chromosome choices. However, that being said, there can certainly be differences in the number and structure of the two sex chromosomes. There are individuals that have only one X chromosome [interestingly there are no individuals with only a Y chromosome]. and the 45XO individuals have Turners Syndrome with significant abnormalities. There are instances of 47XXX with no apparent abnormalities. These individuals develop as females because of the absence of the Y chromosome. Another example of abnormal numbers of sex chromosomes is Kleinfelter's Syndrome with 47XXY or sometimes 48 XXXY. They develop as males, but with characteristic abnormalities. There are some males that are 47XYY but are apparently not significantly different the 46XY males. There also some uncommon sex chromosomal abnormalities such as the 46XX46XY chimeras. There are also examples of mutations on the Y chromosome that inactivates/deletes the gene most responsible for development as a male. Thus, it is possible to have a 46XY karyotype but develop as a female, albeit with abnormalities. To iterate, chromosomal sex is binary [just 2 choices] but in a small percentage of individuals, there are abnormalities of the sex chromosomes.
GONADAL SEX
Like chromosomal sex, gonadal sex is binary - there are two choices, ovaries or testes. There is no third gonad nor is there a spectrum of gonads. In over 99 percent of individuals, gonad development matches the chromosomal sex - XX embryos develop ovaries and the female reproductive structures, and XY develop testes and male reproductive structures. Once again, a very small percentage of individuals can develop ambiguous gonads, or as mentioned above, gonads that do not correlate to the chromosomal sex. To reiterate, gonadal sex is a binary choice.
PHENOTYPIC SEX
Here is where variability comes into play. Whereas chromosomal sex and gonadal sex are immutable, phenotypic sex [secondary sex characteristics] is not only variable, but it can be changed. If one examines the phenotypes of either males or females, it's obvious that there truly is a spectrum Indeed there are some phenotypes that do not fit as either male or female. Since hormones play a fundamental role in development of secondary characteristics, it makes sense that such characteristics can be manipulated by hormones, as well as by surgery, drugs, and also possibly nutrition and environment. For example, Caitlyn Jenner clearly has female secondary sex characteristics. However. her chromosomal sex remains the same and she will never develop ovaries. Similarly Elliot Page now has male secondary sex characteristics, but his sex chromosomes are unchanged, and he will never develop testes. Thus, phenotypic sex is definitely not binary. It could possibly considered bimodal with lots of variation around the mods and considerable overlap between the two distributions. For me, spectrum doesn't quite describe the variability, mainly because I either think of the light spectrum or some sort of continuum between two extremes.
Commentary - many people conflate gender with sex, when they usually mean phenotypic sex. Both are variable and can be changed or manipulated, and even abused. Another problem - some secondary sex characteristics continue to develop during adolescence and post-puberty. This is particularly relevant in sports because of the well-documented physical and physiological differences between males and females.
15 comments:
To clarify, it wasn't any of my Facebook friends who were less than collegial. It was other commenters who I don't know from Adam or Eve
Clue us in so we can read all about it. For example, links to the articles, etc.
It's this way. People are biologically male or female. Male or female are people's sex, not their gender. People don't have genders. Words have genders. Word genders are masculine or feminine nouns and pronouns. "She" and "he" are genders. "His" and "her" are genders. That's because language is a "social construct". A person's sex is not a "social construct". Some people want you to conflate gender with sex. They want you to believe saying so makes it so. Such people are demented and have evil intent. Other people actually believe saying so makes it so, for reasons you won't understand yet. Stay away from them. Especially them. There. I'm glad we had this little talk.
Transgenderism is a psychotic ideology stemming from worship of the creature as opposed to worship of its creator. This satanic ideology believes the most sacred aspects of the creature are its feelings and emotions. Those must be protected at all costs lest the creature feel excluded and diminished. If the creature feels it is a member of the opposite sex, a physical and biological impossibility by the way, that delusion must be believed and accepted by all others. If not, the non-believer is guilty of grievous sin and should be marginalized by society. Be insane or be left out.
Clarification of the “men competing as women” issue. At least it cleared it up for me.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/08/science_brings_nuance_to_the_problem_of_bio_male_athletes.html
Dingleberry - you were doing quite well until you hit the demented and evil part :-) What the are is hard left ideologically rigid wokesters, and are just as much science deniers as those on the hard right.
So Lou, your loose stools perhaps partly explain the BS coming out the other end! Your Christofacist perspective hardly deserves a response. Do you know any transgender people? For many, it is a liberating experience, and quite a few retain their Christian faith. I'll admit that there are transgender activists that should just shut their mouths and treat others as they would like to be treated.
Dear Shitter - the American Thinker article is excellent, and aligns with and expands upon what I have written. Thanks for the link!
Douglas E, every word of my post was plagiarized from the Woodpile Report, whose author died years ago, thus I take zero blame for any problems with it. Lol!
Am not thinking my opinion is “Christofacist.” If a man with a dick puts on a wig and lipstick and claims to be a woman, then liberal society says I’m supposed to go along with the delusion and pretend the guy is a woman. If I don’t go along with it, then I am showing hostility and disrespect for the person and should be ostracized. I think Caitlin Jenner is still Bruce Jenner and is still a man. Society can think whatever they want of me for that. As far as transgenders retaining their Christian faith, most Christians aren’t Christian by Biblical definition and I would place transgenders in that category. The Bible teaches Lord and Savior, but most people love the saved part but ignore the Lord part. They do whatever they want and ignore Biblical commands.
I think that you prove DE's point. You get to decide who's in and who's out by picking and choosing which parts of your scriptures trump other parts. Mathew 25 pretty much defines how folks will be judged according to words ascribed to Jesus.
Well put, Anonymous. I take it then from Matthew 25 that everyone who pays taxes will go to heaven, for the tax dollars we pay are used to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, etc., just like Jesus says we need to do to get to heaven. For those who don't pay taxes, you can drop off a few cans of beans at the food pantry and donate some old clothes to a rescue mission.
I like the Matthew 25 part about “outer darkness” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” and “eternal fire” and “eternal punishment.” Mwaa-ha-ha-ha-ha…
Good point Klure but a bit off. Taxes are coerced and thus not necessarily the intent of the payer. Many people don't support endless wars and a military behemoth but a good portion of their taxes go for such madness.
Satan, right up your alley! 😁
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