Sex, Gender, Identity, and Diversity

There never seems to be enough time during class to discuss some of the really interesting aspects of genetics, but now with *internet technology* (cue cheesy trumpet fanfare) we can continue the conversation outside of class!

Diversity
One of the reasons why I went into anthropology in the first place was because I've always been fascinated by the conundrum of humanity's great diversity and unity, how we can find connections with each other despite having so many differences. This is, I think, the best place from which to launch into a discussion of one of the most important aspects of our diversity: Sex and Gender.

First, to recap my earlier post on sex: sex is a biological category, while gender is a social construct. How do biologists define male and female? Simple: whoever makes the smaller gametes is male, and whoever makes the larger gametes is female. In complex organisms like mammals, there are all sorts of body parts whose job it is to help the two kinds of gametes meet up, and being mammals ourselves, we're pretty familiar with and usually very interested in these bits of ourselves and others (the first question everyone asks a new mom -"Is it a boy or a girl?"). But because we humans have complex societies as part of our developmental environment, we tend to associate certain modes of behavior (frequently learned behaviors) and dress with one's sex, so it's easily identify our roles in society. Gender is this social identity, which may or may not be based on one's "plumbing", as it were. See my discussion below of societies where having 3 genders is normal.

Biological Diversity: Intersex Conditions
I found this website to be very helpful and interesting:

http://www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex

The ISNA is the "Intersex Society of North America", a group for individuals who anatomically do not fit neatly into the categories of "male" or "female". According to their homepage,
"Our Mission:
The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) is devoted to systemic change to end shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for people born with an anatomy that someone decided is not standard for male or female."

As you probably know, the common thing in Western European-North American culture is that our sexual and gender categories overlap, and male and female are somewhat rigidly defined. Have a penis and testes? You're male. Have a vagina? You're female. But here's the really interesting thing: if there's potential for variability, there will be variability, and plumbing is not immune from this. So yes, there are people born with clitorises that are longer than average, penises that are shorter than average, scrotums that may be divided in such a way as to resemble labia, vaginas but no uteruses, and so on. Development is a complicated thing, after all! Before you were born, you had parts that were precursors for both male and female plumbing. In a sense, we were all "hermaphrodites" at a certain stage of development, because it isn't until 9 weeks after conception that the genitals begin to differentiate.

This is a great topic, but a huge one - I could fill pages with this discussion, but I want to hear from you: what do you folks think?