To all you wise mumsnetters out there,
I know I'm not really the right demographic for this board, (I'm 15), but I've really enjoyed lurking and reading posts here, and I was interested to see what people on here might think about this. My science teacher just sent round this email which mixed up sex and gender and then said that sex was a spectrum, and conflated intersex with transgender. I'm gender critical myself, and I disagreed with a lot of it, and found it rather odd. I've pasted it below, with the links they sent.
As we approach half term midway through this month of LGBT+ History month, you might like to read some of the materials below on the biology of sex and gender. We think it’s important to recognise that, whilst biology textbooks teach about sex in a fairly binary way, X and Y chromosomes are by no means the only factors that determine biological gender. It’s also important to note the damage that a binary concept of gender can have on the physical and mental health of those who don’t identify as male or female, or as their assigned gender. The following links might give you some interesting scientific material that presents the concept of gender in a much more recognised spectrum. To quote the final article in this list, which summarises it so well:
“Science tells us that gender is certainly not binary; it may not even be a linear spectrum. Like many other facets of identity, it can operate on a broad range of levels and operate outside of many definitions. And it also appears that gender may not be as static as we assume. At the forefront of this, transgender identity is complex – it’s unlikely we’ll ever be able to attribute it to one neat, contained set of causes, and there is still much to be learned.”
Articles
Sex Redefined: The Idea of 2 Sexes Is Overly Simplistic - Scientific American
Sex isn't binary, and we should stop acting like it is (massivesci.com)
Sex redefined : Nature News & Comment
When Sex and Gender Collide - Scientific American
Between the (Gender) Lines: the Science of Transgender Identity - Science in the News (harvard.edu)
Podcasts
BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Sex, gender and sport - the Caster Semenya case and the latest Denisovan discovery
We hope these provide an interesting source of material for you to extend your understanding of this important topic.
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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions
My school science department is confusing sex with gender
124 replies
beatrice14 · 14/02/2021 18:30
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