What is the truth of sex genders?

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  • Chrissi
    FFR Player
    • Mar 2004
    • 3019

    #16
    Re: What is the truth of sex genders?

    Originally posted by Kilroy_x
    Right, and society is an effect tracable purely to biology, so if we're mincing hairs here...



    Sure, I apologize, I wasn't aware of how the word was being used. Nevertheless, in a more abstract manner biology remains the root and sole cause of gender.
    You're the only one "mincing hairs" here. Gender and sex are completely different things. In western culture we're taught that they are the same, but they are not, and this is fact. To view them as inescapably identical is to hold this very closed-minded concept. Gender is a spectrum, not a binary thing. You COULD argue that sex is binary, but it's not really either. And don't give me any chromosome crap. XX=female and XY=male are not the only two options - they are just the most common.

    Originally posted by chickendude
    The only difference between the genders is sex, and societal implications caused by sex.

    Ignoring sex, there is really no difference between males and females sociologically.
    In some areas, yes. In other areas, no. You cannot say gender is tied to sex - it just tends to be, for us in the west, and in other countries as well. But not all places are like this. There is plenty of gender variation running amok.

    Depending how long/whether you lived in India, and where you lived, you might remember the hijras.... (yes I know their condition is poor, but...) they are considered to be a third gender, though their sex is usually male. There are other societies with "third gender" constructs as well, mainly natives "two-spirited" people.

    I'd just like to give some of you something to think about. If you think sex is tied to gender, think about this one: a very effeminate man. Now, in the west, we like to call these men "weird" or "gay" or "unnatural" or, depending how manly you are, "a threat to my own masculinity". But if this effeminate man fulfills all of our society's expected female gender roles, how can you call him a person of the male gender? Just because he has a penis? In some other cultures this sort of person would be considered a woman, or a person of a separate gender.

    Gender is a combined effort of what society and ourselves consider our role to be. Gender is very hard to put a finger on if you aren't using biology - which you shouldn't be, because they are not alike. When a baby is born, does it have a gender? I'd say it does, to the extent that when the parents see that it has a certain genitalia, they will treat the baby differently. What's the big question when a baby's born (if you haven't yet determined it with ultrasound)? "Is it a girl or a boy?" We place so much emphasis on which sex the baby is that we forget that it does not determine the child's gender, apart from how we treat the child. Sometimes, treating a child as a certain gender can cause them to believe they are of that gender. But other times, the child "knows" this doesn't feel right, and seeks to define their own gender identity. Thus, it is a combined effort on the part of the self and society.
    Last edited by Chrissi; 04-7-2007, 08:27 AM.
    C is for Charisma, it's why people think I'm great! I make my friends all laugh and smile and never want to hate!

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    • Kilroy_x
      Little Chief Hare
      • Mar 2005
      • 783

      #17
      Re: What is the truth of sex genders?

      Originally posted by jamuko
      Kilroy, I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at with calling it purely biological... obviously society is largely an environmental system, practically unrelated to biology other than the fact that it sprung from biological creatures, but that's making quite a generalization. Grouping the two together makes any argument of nature vs. nurture pointless.
      The point is that it makes arguments over nature vs. nurture pointless, because nurture is a function of nature. The generalization holds because there are no other pecrceivable factors in how human beings operate other than their biological nature and their cognitive processes, which are part of their biological nature, simply the most maleable part.

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      • Kilroy_x
        Little Chief Hare
        • Mar 2005
        • 783

        #18
        Re: What is the truth of sex genders?

        Originally posted by Chrissi
        You're the only one "mincing hairs" here.
        Perhaps you are using a non-standard definition of the term mincing hairs...

        Gender and sex are completely different things.
        According to the new definition, yes. I'm not sure how this is relevent as I've already stated I was using the word in a different way.

        In western culture we're taught that they are the same, but they are not, and this is fact. To view them as inescapably identical is to hold this very closed-minded concept.
        k.

        Gender is a spectrum, not a binary thing. You COULD argue that sex is binary, but it's not really either. And don't give me any chromosome crap. XX=female and XY=male are not the only two options - they are just the most common.
        Yeah, ok. Thanks for going off on me about things I already know on the basis that I misused a word.

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        • Lamoc
          FFR Player
          • Nov 2006
          • 551

          #19
          Re: What is the truth of sex genders?

          Originally posted by jamuko
          Wait... both "races"? XD I'm sorry, but I had to laugh at that.

          Kilroy, I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at with calling it purely biological... obviously society is largely an environmental system, practically unrelated to biology other than the fact that it sprung from biological creatures, but that's making quite a generalization. Grouping the two together makes any argument of nature vs. nurture pointless.
          Haha, yeah I call'em races. If you say sexs then the immature kids are like "omg sex?!"

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          • wilker
            FFR Player
            • Apr 2007
            • 3

            #20
            Re: What is the truth of sex genders?

            I might jsut be an idiot here, but aren't there more differences twixt males and females' physiology than their distinct reproductive organs? For example, male bodies produce testosterone and female bodies produce estrogen, these hormones affect how the body thinks, feel and developes?

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            • Lamoc
              FFR Player
              • Nov 2006
              • 551

              #21
              Re: What is the truth of sex genders?

              hermaphrodites

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