There are More Than Two Human Sexes

Biological sex, sexual characteristics and gender identity are very different things. Biological sex is what a person is born with, what they cannot change, such as chromosomes. Even if a person does have an anomaly in their chromosomes, it doesn't necessarily mean they are trans or non-binary. A person also couldn't be able to tell if they have a chromosomal anomaly without the diagnosis of a medical professional. Also saying all LGBT people have chromosomal abnormalities is false. People who may have a chromosomal abnormality may identify as cis, and people who have normal chromosomes may identify as trans.

The video discusses sexual characteristics which doesn't have to do with how a person identifies. Biologists really aren't trying to explain gender identity but sexual biology. However, sexually speaking, there aren't an infinite amount of sexual identities. Gender identities may be debatable. But people are either born male, female, or intersex, which is quite rare and most likely not going to be diagnosed if there aren't physical abnormalities at birth.

 

Hawk is correct here.

I really recommend SciShow, SciShow Psych and Journey to the Microcosmos (also from Hank Green and co-workers) for those interested in science. However, it's important to keep in mind that each of these channels and each video have different themes, from different areas.

SciShow is mostly focused on natural sciences. The video linked on the first post is really interesting from a biological point of view, but it can't be used to explain gender and identities, simply because that's not the objective of the video. Gender and gender identities are something discussed in areas like sociology and psychology. Although there is probably some biological factors that come into play in these concepts, biology alone isn't enough to explain gender. Gender is a complex concept, which includes how society perceives men and women (and what the words "man" and "woman" means) and how people perceive themselves.

We can't ignore biology, but we also can't use it to explain concepts and phenomena that go beyond what biology aims to study. With cromossomes and biological processes, we can understand (roughly speaking) what the words male, female and intersex means. However, "intersex" (which is really rare) is different from being "trans". One is a biological phenomena, and the other involves much more than just biology.

That's why saying we have "more than two genders" is completely different than saying we have "more than two sexes". As I said before, I do recommend the channels I mentioned above (including the one from the linked video), but we need to be careful not to mix things up.

 

Arrgh. People are conflating gender and sex. They aren't the same. Gender is a social construct. Sex is not.

Being same-sex attracted is hardwired. Whether it is genetic, something that happens during gestation in pregnancy, or some combination of those factors and some nurture factors that increase the likelihood of the hardwired trait actually expressing is not clear. But it is not a choice, and nobody credible has said that for decades.

Now... when you start getting into a whole bunch of other stuff, like the (nonexistent) discordant separation between romantic and sexual orientation, the notion of "gray asexuality", the rampant misuse of the term 'asexual' (a term which refers to a (rare) hardwired orientation the same as homo and heterosexuality, but has been widely misused) then you're in a completely different realm of mostly evidence- and research-free speculation and assumptions perpetuated by a small-but-vocal group of people with no scientific basis whatsoever.

I am not fluent enough on the issues of biological/psychological interplay in gender role expression, but I do know that virtually every credible mental health organization in the world sees transgender people as experiencing something that isn't a choice, either.

So I don't think anyone is saying that sexual orientation (at least as far as the research extends, and the research is pretty exhaustive and has been for 50+ years) can be changed. But that has nothing to do with gender being separate from sex. This really isn't something that's remotely controversial.

 

You're right, it is biology. But biology isn't a spectrum. A person cannot biologically be anything other than the male or female sex. Gender however, can be a spectrum, and gender identity and sex are not one in the same.
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation-gender/gender-gender-identity

You're right, and that occurs in the brain.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5953012/

 

That's precisely the point here: Generally speaking, intersex is caused by chromossomal anomalies. In most cases, that person isn't "50/50", having either more male characteristics or female characteristics. In many cases, it is possible to have surgeries and treatment so the person can remove most traces of one of the sexes, leaving the predominant one. This has nothing to do with HRT or sexual reassignment surgery as in trans people. Being intersex isn't the same as being trans. It is purely biological, and has little to do with self-identification or being a woman or a man.

How come I have a penis though I have a female but, female hands, a female neck, female eye lashes? Are chromosomes only responsible for creating the genitals? Biology extends far beyond sexual organs. In the video you heard of men who much later in life discovered they had ovaries. So what about subtle things like physique or tone of voice and a body that produces testosterone differently to another due to chromosomal differences?[/QUOTE]

What exactly do you define as female hands or eye lashes?

Yes, people may be more or less delicate/brute, for example. We have a wide variety of characteristics that are determined biologically. However, being intersex is rare, and having some characteristics usually associated with the other gender doesn't necessarily mean you are intersex.

Also how could the development of the brain not be influenced by chromosomes?

Being LGBTQA+ is not a choice it is biology.[/QUOTE]

Yes, and we are not saying being LGBTQA+ is a choice. We also haven't said that biology can't play a part in all of this (it most likely does). However, you seem to be confusing gender and sex.

When we are talking about pure biology, sex and chromossomes, most people are born either XX or XY. There are variations, yes, but they are quite rare and frequently are accompanied by health difficulties. Examples are syndromes like Klinefelter (XXY), Turner (X) and even extreme variations like the XXXXY syndrome.

Now, I'm not saying people are either men or women. That's precisely the point: When we change the subject to gender, identity and societal norms, then we are talking about concepts like being a man, woman or another gender. Biology may play a role on this, but it is far from enough to explain these concepts and processes. To understand the fenomena involved on being cis or trans, we need to consider psychology, sociology, and cultural expectations and differences. Biology alone isn't enough, simply because it doesn't aim to explain identity and other concepts that are essential here.

A person may be intersex and trans. But that doesn't mean every intersex people is trans, or that every trans person is intersex. These are two unrelated concepts.

You aren't wrong when you say we suffer constant prejudice (and many intersex people also suffer because of this), and I completely agree that science and knowledge are very, very strong "weapons" in our fight against violence and ignorance.

It is perfectly possible to defend LGBTQA+ people by looking what science has to say about it, and you are right when you say it's not a choice. No credible research points in that direction. However, if we want to teach people about science, then we need to do it right, and we can't just ignore "details and technicalities".

Science has many different fields, and we can't ignore part of them and consider just biology. It isn't enough to explain the complexity of what it means to be LGBTQA+. I'm not saying biology is to be partially ignored or that we should just consider other areas. However, biology aims to study life and it's dynamics. It doesn't aim to study society, thoughts and mental processes that go beyond the chemistry in our brains and behavior that go beyond what our hormones dictate.

On the contrary, if we resume things to just biology, we risk ignoring concepts that are essential for trans people. You can't explain identity through biology only.

If you want to educate people about science as a way to fight prejudice, you have my complete support. But we have to do it right, without confusion. Science is on our side, and we don't need to distort it, mix concepts or ignore other important fields in order to defend LGBTQA+ people. If we do it, it is easy for a bigot with minimum study and ill intentions to distort things and deconstruct our arguments.

Biology is an important part of science. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful part of it. However, science is much more than just biology. And humans, cis or trans, hetero or gay/bi/lesbian, intersexual or not, are extremely complex. We need biology to understand this complexity. But we also need psychology, sociology and other fields. Not everything is about chromossomes, and something not being about them doesn't mean it is a choice.

The video is extremely interesting, but biological sex and gender are two different concepts. They are both important, but they explain different phenomena that are connected to different science fields, and we can't simply say it they are the same thing.

 

No problem. I'm glad to know you took the time to read it and didn't take this the wrong way.

Humans are really complex, and, sure, gender and sexual preference are really complicated and hard to resume to just this or that. However, we need to be careful to not fall on the extremes. Some people ignore biology completely, while others think we can use it to explain everything, disregarging other fields that are essential to understand the dynamics of behavior and relationships in humans.

Like I said before, SciShow is awesome. We just need to pay attention while we are interpreting what is being said in the videos, to avoid misconceptions and confusion.

No problem!