How many genders are there?
- Thread starter Jon
- Start date
Gender isn't a choice. Gender is determined primarily on which sex organs you have (see original post from me).
Sure, without a brain, none of us would function - though, actually, in the case of politicians, I'm not sure that's true. But not being able to function without a brain is not specific to one gender.
Sure, without a brain, none of us would function - though, actually, in the case of politicians, I'm not sure that's true. But not being able to function without a brain is not specific to one gender.
Maybe biggest difference visually, but the brain is one of the most complex things in the universe. The reproductive system is far simpler, by comparison. Just a sausage and two brussel sprouts, verses the intricate network of the mind with an estimated 100 billion neurons.
Yes, the medical profession do categorise that way. Yet at the same time, medicine is becoming increasingly granular, tailoring treatments in a less coarse manner, suiting our own individual biology. New knowledge brings fresh insight. The same applies to the medically applied male who thinks female. This recent discovery has edited our understanding about what it is to be male or female. Female head on a man's body. Sounds like something out of a Frankensteins movie.
Yes, the medical profession do categorise that way. Yet at the same time, medicine is becoming increasingly granular, tailoring treatments in a less coarse manner, suiting our own individual biology. New knowledge brings fresh insight. The same applies to the medically applied male who thinks female. This recent discovery has edited our understanding about what it is to be male or female. Female head on a man's body. Sounds like something out of a Frankensteins movie.
I am reminded of the Woody Allen movie, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask). Near the end of the movie, there is a "mad scientist" type who brags about placing the brain of a Boy Scout in the body of a female Telephone Operator. And the "subject" was Lily Tomlin of the Laugh-In series doing her infamous "Maxine" routine as the nasal, demented telephone operator who was known to have asked, "Have I reached the person to whom I am speaking?"
If we have a definition disagreement, then let's be clear.
AI claims three physical genders - male, female, and hermaphroditic. OK, fine. But gender isn't the person.
The person's behavior and self-perception will come from the brain. And therein lies gender identity. There is NO requirement that the gender identity is the same as the physical gender. (Not a requirement, just commonly the case.) But there is no choice of identity. The ONLY choices are abstinence or auto-erotic (solitary actions) or active sex with a partner. But you don't get the choice of WHICH identity you wear unless you are truly bisexual - and that is rare even among the LGBTQ community.
AI is right, there is always a choice. But that choice is never what people think if they listen to religious types. You can act heterosexual or you can not act heterosexual. But, quoth Yoda, "You can do, or you can not do. There is no try."
AI claims three physical genders - male, female, and hermaphroditic. OK, fine. But gender isn't the person.
The person's behavior and self-perception will come from the brain. And therein lies gender identity. There is NO requirement that the gender identity is the same as the physical gender. (Not a requirement, just commonly the case.) But there is no choice of identity. The ONLY choices are abstinence or auto-erotic (solitary actions) or active sex with a partner. But you don't get the choice of WHICH identity you wear unless you are truly bisexual - and that is rare even among the LGBTQ community.
AI is right, there is always a choice. But that choice is never what people think if they listen to religious types. You can act heterosexual or you can not act heterosexual. But, quoth Yoda, "You can do, or you can not do. There is no try."
What if you are a woman who identifies with being a man, but don't have a certain "implement"? That "implement" forms part of your behaviour too, since it is something that is physical and moves, like our arms, legs and so on. Given that, the behaviour of the man and the woman will be different for that reason, whatever you perceive your gender identity to be.
[Edit: My arms and legs are often flailing about. That doesn't mean every part of me does the same thing.]
[Edit: My arms and legs are often flailing about. That doesn't mean every part of me does the same thing.
]Gender <> Gender Identity
Gender <> sexuality
Gender <> choice
Gender = scientific designation within specifically defined parameters related to reproductive organs based on current and accepted data.
I interpret the activity in this thread to be many points being argued beyond gender. Maybe the question should have been
"What is 'Gender' in today's society, and what iterations do we acknowledge?"
This would allow for us to debate the usage of the term in addition to the definition in a more clear manner.
Gender <> sexuality
Gender <> choice
Gender = scientific designation within specifically defined parameters related to reproductive organs based on current and accepted data.
I interpret the activity in this thread to be many points being argued beyond gender. Maybe the question should have been
"What is 'Gender' in today's society, and what iterations do we acknowledge?"
This would allow for us to debate the usage of the term in addition to the definition in a more clear manner.
AI: Which is why I altered my comments to use the definitions you were trying to use.
Jon: It is always the same for ALL of us. We do the best we can with what we've got. I drive the best I can after having a bout of macular degeneration (which in my case was treatable to head off further damage and help clear up a few speed bumps along the way.) These days, particularly after prostate surgery using the TURP method, if I tried to use the implement in question, the most I could be charged with would be "Assault with a dead weapon." We ALWAYS do what we can with what we've got.
Jon: It is always the same for ALL of us. We do the best we can with what we've got. I drive the best I can after having a bout of macular degeneration (which in my case was treatable to head off further damage and help clear up a few speed bumps along the way.) These days, particularly after prostate surgery using the TURP method, if I tried to use the implement in question, the most I could be charged with would be "Assault with a dead weapon." We ALWAYS do what we can with what we've got.
To my way of thinking there are only 2 genders, male and female. Now, this has got nothing to do with bodily functions and appearance. I'm talking about how people think, feel and behave.
Generally women have a better command of language than men, or let's put it a different way round language is more of a feminine attribute.
Navigation, map reading and generally finding where you are, planning a journey is more of a male attribute. These are just two examples of tens of if not hundreds of different attributes that a person can have.
Take the navigation skill, think of a bell graph, a normal man would be in the middle. In other words most men would be where the Bell curve peaks. If you superimposed the female bell curve on there, then this curve would be slightly to the left, more to the feminine side of the graph. You could say less skilled, at navigation, but you could also say it was more feminine. It's more like it's not important to a woman.
Now if we look at the language, we have the same situation two bell curves, a male bell Curve and a female bell Curve. The left side being more female and the right side being more male. It would work equally well the other way around, this is just the way I think about it. I'm also thinking that these two bell curves together remind me of something. If you take the extreme right man/male orientated person not necessarily a man, by by any means, but you have a person that's up and out there Orienteering all over the country, possibly in the army and/or Boy Scouts. This would not interest me in the slightest. So I tend more to the feminine or I'm probably middle of the road really, an average on navigation.
Regarding language, I think I'm a bit more feminine on the slope of the graph, I like language it fascinates me and I'm always making up new words. So what I'm trying to say is, it's not about men, or about women, every person is a combination of these attributes, in different amounts and this applies to anything you can think of. I've just used the example of language and navigation because these are general stereotypes which everybody understands.
Generally women have a better command of language than men, or let's put it a different way round language is more of a feminine attribute.
Navigation, map reading and generally finding where you are, planning a journey is more of a male attribute. These are just two examples of tens of if not hundreds of different attributes that a person can have.
Take the navigation skill, think of a bell graph, a normal man would be in the middle. In other words most men would be where the Bell curve peaks. If you superimposed the female bell curve on there, then this curve would be slightly to the left, more to the feminine side of the graph. You could say less skilled, at navigation, but you could also say it was more feminine. It's more like it's not important to a woman.
Now if we look at the language, we have the same situation two bell curves, a male bell Curve and a female bell Curve. The left side being more female and the right side being more male. It would work equally well the other way around, this is just the way I think about it. I'm also thinking that these two bell curves together remind me of something. If you take the extreme right man/male orientated person not necessarily a man, by by any means, but you have a person that's up and out there Orienteering all over the country, possibly in the army and/or Boy Scouts. This would not interest me in the slightest. So I tend more to the feminine or I'm probably middle of the road really, an average on navigation.
Regarding language, I think I'm a bit more feminine on the slope of the graph, I like language it fascinates me and I'm always making up new words. So what I'm trying to say is, it's not about men, or about women, every person is a combination of these attributes, in different amounts and this applies to anything you can think of. I've just used the example of language and navigation because these are general stereotypes which everybody understands.