From: Jocelyn Brown (jocelynb@mindspring.com)
Date: Thu Apr 22 1999 - 20:10:05 MDT
>>How else would it be determined? Even if a person is transgendered, where
>>the mental sex doesn't agree with the hardware, it is still a biological
>>issue, since all mental processes are ultimately biological.
Transgenderism
>>is simply two aspects of biology in disagreement with each other.
>>
>>Jocelyn Brown
>>jocelynb@mindspring.com
>If you're arguing that there are two options here (male gender or female
>gender), you need to look at some cultures that have more than two genders.
I was speaking of gender when it comes to primary sexual characteristics,
i.e. male and female. Yes, I know that hermaprhodites exist, both naturally
and otherwise, and we can count them in as a third. Other than that, that's
it for genders as far as I know. That is _not_ to say that there are only
two or three gender roles. But if you can show me a culture with more
physical genders than what I mentioned, I would love to see it.
>Gender is a cultural construct that entails far more than biological sex or
>sexual preference, and we're expected to conform to certain rules that
apply
>to the gender (i.e. males are ridiculed for wearing dresses).
I certainly agree that culture influences behavior, but there have been
numerous studies done where female children were raised with the specific
purpose of influencing them into male gender roles and vice-versa. What was
found was that overall girls developed female characteristics such as
superior verbal communication skills and males developed male
characteristics such as playing cowboys and Indians. I am not suggesting
that anybody should have to conform to social standards; personally, I could
care less if a man wants to wear a dress. However, when it comes to
biological tendancies, some are more "male" and some are more "female", such
as spacial perception and navigating by landmarks. These tendencies are not
cultural constructs; they developed to perpetuate the survival of the human
race.
Jocelyn Brown
jocelynb@mindspring.com
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"I am a part of all that I have met." "A man is only as good as
what he loves."
-- Lord Alfred Tennyson -- Saul Bellow
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