Now biology is a spectrum? Thoughts please

30 replies

addictedtocereal · 31/03/2017 13:42

An acquaintance on FB recently posted an article from Nature.com suggesting that biological sex is more of a spectrum. The article is from 2015 and the closing paragraph is as follows:

"So if the law requires that a person is male or female, should that sex be assigned by anatomy, hormones, cells or chromosomes, and what should be done if they clash? “My feeling is that since there is not one biological parameter that takes over every other parameter, at the end of the day, gender identity seems to be the most reasonable parameter,” says Vilain [ Eric Vilain, a clinician and the director of the Center for Gender-Based Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles.] In other words, if you want to know whether someone is male or female, it may be best just to ask."

Here's a link to the full article:

http://www.nature.com/news/sex-redefined-1.16943

On a first read it seems to me the more complicated cases are very much in the minority but would be interested in people's thoughts on this.

OP posts:

Moussemoose · 31/03/2017 14:33

"Nature loves diversity, society hates it" Milton Diamond

Most science and maths is not as clear cut as lay people believe it to be.

iismum · 31/03/2017 14:26

It completely ignores the fact that the problems women face occur not because they identify as female but because they are identified as female. It's undeniable (surely?) that in the vast majority of cases, it's really easy for people to guess (even though this could occasionally be wrong) what sex people are - and if people think you are female then they treat you as female - which means anything from 'with bias' to 'homicidally'.

Lalsy · 31/03/2017 14:25

The article is by a freelance journalist. People with intersex have repeatedly asked for their condition not to be conflated and appropriated (google AIS). Intersex and mosaicism are biological conditions, nothing to do with gender identity (whatever that is).

ChocChocPorridge · 31/03/2017 14:21

My feeling is that since there is not one biological parameter that takes over every other parameter, at the end of the day, gender identity seems to be the most reasonable parameter

This is a ridiculous statement in my opinion - why does gender identity seem a reasonable parameter? Unless it's definable, it's not reasonable at all, and I've yet to see an objective definition. Plus of course, most people I speak to don't even have a 'gender identity'

Most people fall into one of two camps. People who don't have some kind of disorder. Humans are bipedal, the fact that some people have fewer or greater than 2 legs, doesn't change that.

badabing36 · 31/03/2017 14:05

I've heard something like this before in a podcast, can't remember which one now. But it's really interesting. I don't think people are ready to make our society more gender neutral though, unfortunately.

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