Poll: There are only 2 genders....right?

[Politrukk]

So lately I've been coming across all types of discussions on the internet.

Supposedly at the moment I'm supposed to accept that there are like what 64 gender types?

I'm sorry to say people but I think that's ridiculous.

You can be a man
You can be a crossdressing man
But you're still in your essence a man that's just biology.
You didn't grow a new reproductive organ or create new hormones that justify you being a new gender.

BUT WAIT

You were born a man, but you feel like a woman.
What does that make you then?

Well if you have a sexchange.
That makes you a woman.

If not... that makes you a man who feels like a woman but doesn't dress that way nor willing to change his gender.


Same goes the other way around ofcourse.


This is my opinion obviously, but what do you guys think?

And can someone even explain to me what in the world qualifies something to be a new gender outside of biology?

 

[JoJo]

Biologically, there are only two sexes and a few rare individuals who come out somewhere in between. Gender is cultural though and while traditionally there are only two genders in Western society, other societies have a third, such as the Hijra [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia)] of South Asia. So I'd say it depends on your culture, personally if people want to identify as a third gender then it's none of my business.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Yes, from what I understand, on a genetic chromosome level, there are two sexes. And I think the occasional genetic in-between, but overall there are two sexes.

Gender is different though. That's masculine/feminine rather than male/female.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

To me it's as simple as biology, but there's no harm in humoring people and accepting they can identify with whatever they feel like.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

So lately I've been coming across all types of discussions on the internet.

Supposedly at the moment I'm supposed to accept that there are like what 64 gender types?

I'm sorry to say people but I think that's ridiculous.

You can be a man
You can be a crossdressing man
But you're still in your essence a man that's just biology.
You didn't grow a new reproductive organ or create new hormones that justify you being a new gender.

BUT WAIT

You were born a man, but you feel like a woman.
What does that make you then?

Well if you have a sexchange.
That makes you a woman.

If not... that makes you a man who feels like a woman but doesn't dress that way nor willing to change his gender.


Same goes the other way around ofcourse.


This is my opinion obviously, but what do you guys think?

And can someone even explain to me what in the world qualifies something to be a new gender outside of biology?

If you're talking about transgender people it's a little more complicated. Transgender chiefly about transition from the gender that's causing your dysphoria, to the one you identify as. Also transgender people aren't ever going to biologically the sex they identify as, unless bio-medical science makes a quantum leap foreword in that respect.

Biologically, there are only two sexes and a few rare individuals who come out somewhere in between. Gender is cultural though and while traditionally there are only two genders in Western society, other societies have a third, such as the Hijra [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia)] of South Asia. So I'd say it depends on your culture, personally if people want to identify as a third gender then it's none of my business.

That's essentially accurate, also the last bit is superbly practical.

Yes, from what I understand, on a genetic chromosome level, there are two sexes. And I think the occasional genetic in-between, but overall there are two sexes.

Gender is different though. That's masculine/feminine rather than male/female.

Again that's a fairly dead on.

To me it's as simple as biology, but there's no harm in humoring people and accepting they can identify with whatever they feel like.

Not even close. Gender as a technical term refers to identity, biologically using sex is more accurate term.

 

[Silvanus]

Supposedly at the moment I'm supposed to accept that there are like what 64 gender types?

Wherezis from? Is this referring to the Facebook thing? If so, a number of the options weren't actually distinct genders, really.

 

[Parasondox]

Well this is going to turn out good, isn't it? Like covering yourself in honey and hoping for a bear NOT to attack you.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

To me it's as simple as biology, but there's no harm in humoring people and accepting they can identify with whatever they feel like.

Not even close. Gender as a technical term refers to identity, biologically using sex is more accurate term.

I meant exactly what I said, o judger of closeness: to me they're one and the same, but I believe in humoring people.

 

[Olas]

Wow, the poll is a perfect even split as of my vote.

People here are saying that sex is a biology thing, while gender is a cultural thing, but it's still a cultural thing based on biology. The concepts of masculinity and femininity weren't just arbitrarily drawn out of thin air and just so happened to align closely with our biology. Ya, I guess you could invent additional genders if you want, but they wouldn't be rooted in actually human physiology the way the first two are.

 

[tilmoph]

Supposedly at the moment I'm supposed to accept that there are like what 64 gender types?

Wherezis from? Is this referring to the Facebook thing? If so, a number of the options weren't actually distinct genders, really.

I have come across "star" listed as a gender identity option before. Then again, it was just one minor site and had "wizardboy" and about fifteen things I don't think are words listed as gender options, so I don't know if this is a widespread thing or just a web outpost of crazy.

To the op's question; depends how broadly or narrowly we consider gender as a concept. If man and woman have very precise and narrow definitions and expected behaviors, then we need more than two to cover all the different types of people. If the two are rather broad, then we really don't; they can just follow biological sex. Since the roles won't be narrow or terribly restrictive, any number of possible trait combinations and behaviors can set comfortably within the man or woman supercategories.

 

[Nailzzz]

I would be reluctant to really take the concept of gender too seriously. As far as I am aware the term was created by some hack doctor who attempted to legitimize the concept using child abuse and lies. The fact that so many supposed academics grabbed onto the idea's and hung on for dear life, rather than distance themselves from it over the fail state outcomes of the results of his experiments, if not even for moral reasons, is something I find really troubling.

 

[L. Declis]

There are 2.

While there are other ones that exist medically, they are so few and far between that they need not be taken into account, like the chances of you winning the lottery.

While I've taken to rolling my eyes whenever someone begins to argue for mayonnaise as a gender simply to avoid fights, there are two and there are exceptions that prove the rule.

I certainly don't take people's word anymore on the internet; in the age of Tumblr and everyone claiming to be asexual and trans-asian and otherkin, I simply now ask for the old internet adage: "pics or it didn't happen".

 

[Politrukk]

Biologically, there are only two sexes and a few rare individuals who come out somewhere in between. Gender is cultural though and while traditionally there are only two genders in Western society, other societies have a third, such as the Hijra [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia)] of South Asia. So I'd say it depends on your culture, personally if people want to identify as a third gender then it's none of my business.

Hmm I've been brought up to belief that Sex=Gender

Gender "roles" are something different because of the added adjective.

Obviously language evolves overtime but I still don't quite see how you can be something "new".



I mean there are people out there claiming they are "genderfluid" which basically translates to "today I'm a boy tomorrow i'm a girl" which just seems quite arbitrary to me and everything in essence still refers back to the original definition which to me seems equal to sex.


I don't quite see the point of telling the doctor that let's make it ludicrous :
You are otherkin.

He's there for a health checkup, you fall into one of three categories, man, woman, one who's modified their body to correspond with either of those sexes.


And that's sort of where it ends and that third option isn't even a new gender/sex just a disclaimer for the doctor.


But I suppose I see your point.

Well this is going to turn out good, isn't it? Like covering yourself in honey and hoping for a bear NOT to attack you.

Well it's all been polite so far, let us keep it that way.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Sex isn't the same as gender. Your sex is what you're assigned at birth, your gender is how you feel.

Neither are as simple as people seem to want to boil them down to, not even sex.

Intersex disorders are a thing and they aren't as rare as they seem. The rarist are around 1:2000, while the most common is 1:66

Info [http://www.isna.org/faq/frequency]

 

[Wasted]

Biologically for humans there are only two sexes, male and female. Not all animals share only two sexes. Hermaphrodites are so rare that they do not have an effect to the human population as a whole compared to other species.

In regards to sexual preference, it is generally accepted in the mental health community that it looks more like a sexuality spectrum with completely straight and completely gay at the extremes. Most people do not fall into the extremes.
http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-hhscale.html

 

[Scarim Coral]

Biological stand point, yes due to chromosomes. Female being XX and male XY. (I remember seeing this tumblr post of a stupid person writing F you in some medical form asking the person is male and female as if it was some kind of a protest since it's there for medial reasons.)

Social stand point then no for obvious reasons.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Gender and sex are not the same thing, according to my tribe, there were at least 4 genders recognized, but more were accepted to exist. According to the brain scans there are many levels of the spectrum between male and female and people are not considered to necessarily be in one category or the other. Many culture s globally have long recognized multiple genders, I think the west just needs to catch up.
"On nearly every continent, and for all of recorded history, thriving cultures have recognized, revered, and integrated more than two genders.Terms such as "transgender" and "gay" are strictly new constructs that assume three things: that there are only two sexes (male/female), as many as two sexualities (gay/straight), and only two genders (man/woman).

Yet hundreds of distinct societies around the globe have their own long-established traditions for third, fourth, fifth, or more genders."
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/two-spirits/map.html

http://members.tripod.com/~berdache_two/twospirit.htm

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Biological stand point, yes due to chromosomes. Female being XX and male XY.

If you define sex like that, where do you put the people who don't fit and the people with Klinefelter syndrome?

 

[The Lunatic]

Uh! It's hard to say.

I think it's fair to say there are two Primary genders.

Most people's gender is influenced by sex, as such they fall into "Man" or "Woman".

However, inter-sex people do indeed exist. So, I think it's fair to say that there's certainly an "Other" category.

These are an extremely small number of people.

Beyond that, there's people who claim to be other genders, and frankly, I only really find myself capable of giving them a bit of a an eye-roll.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Biological stand point, yes due to chromosomes. Female being XX and male XY.

If you define sex like that, where do you put the people who don't fit and the people with Klinefelter syndrome?

Like I said, a biological standpoint which I'm not since I had to google the chromosomes as I clearly forgot about it when I learned it from High School and I haven't heard of Klinefelter syndrome until you quote me.