(November 5, 2014 at 9:44 am)Alice Wrote:Whiles those are valid issues, they are not relevant to human biology. Humans cannot biologically be intersex, although they can have (as mentioned before) serious abnormalities.
Nah, not taking the bait... between the misunderstanding of sex chromosomal pairings (there are many more than XY and XX, but few of them are fertile, and the very existance of the Intersex population should make this clear), and the misunderstandings of gender (there are many more than 'two gender's, and the very existence of the Genderqueer population should make this clear)... I'd be here all week just getting off the ground, when nothing interesting has yet been said.
It is possible for some birds and some other animals to be intersex, the condition produces an adult that is biologically male on one side and biologically female on the other (split vertically left-right). such intersex creatures can be fertile - meaning they can be both the paternal and maternal parent of an offspring. In other creatures sex/gender can be determined environmentally and not genetically, and in some creatures they can change their sex from male to female (or the other way) as an adult in a single sex environment. Again, humans can't do this, and although environmental factors can produce serious abnormalities in development, it can't determine gender. It is biologically impossible for a human to develop both an ovary and a testicle. The human gonads cannot develop separately into the two distinct sexes, as can happen (as mentioned) in birds.
Biologically speaking, a person with a single X chromosome is a female. A person with three X chromosomes is a female. A person with XXY chromosomes is a male.
This is not meant as an attack on your community, just on the exact biological definition of sex/gender.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
