Why do people think there are just two genders? To me it seems so obvious that can't be the case.

Binary gender shit makes no sense to me. hmm..

jemagirl (imported) wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:46 pm Why do people think there are just two genders? To me it seems so obvious that can't be the case.

jemagirl,

I'd say it's probably because *biologically*, there are only two genders that are considered 'necessary for reproduction'; the male provides the sperm to fertilize the egg from the female, and thus, we view anything that falls outside those two categories as an 'aberration'.

But that's *strictly* a matter of reproductive biology.

Socialogically, the problem has arisen because as a society, over the thousands of years of human civilization, we've hard-coded the dictates of biology into the fabric of the social order. Even the *knowledge* of transgenderism, hermaphroditism, etc., has, until recent times, been fairly arcane at best.

Nobody really *imagined* that a man could be surgically transformed into a woman until Christine Jorgensen in 1952, and when it became public knowledge, it was *shocking*! Today, even if it's not 100% accepted by the public, it's common enough that it's not all that big of a deal now, which is a good sign.

Changing the mindset is *much* more difficult than changing the gonads...

(This is the same reason that same-sex marriage has encountered so much opposition, needless to say)

That's probably as good of an answer as any, anyway...

-YPA

I believe gender is dominated by a duality, but is not exclusively binary. Most would commonly fall into either a male or female gender, but there is a large grey area of "non-definition" where many people would fall under.

I'd have to say that most of the opposition to genders other than "Male" and "Female" is based upon religious beliefs. i.e. "God created Man and Woman."

The question reminds me of an old limerick I got from a book of risque limericks by Isaac Asimov.

On Saturn the sexes are three

Which is awkward, I think you'll agree

To engage in Con Brio

You must have a trio

And it even takes two for a pee.

Transward

YourPhriendlyAuthor (imported) wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:44 pm Socialogically, the problem has arisen because as a society, over the thousands of years of human civilization, we've hard-coded the dictates of biology into the fabric of the social order. Even the *knowledge* of transgenderism, hermaphroditism, etc., has, until recent times, been fairly arcane at best.

GRS is relatively new but the idea of more than two genders is quite old. I don't agree with the notion that anything in our culture is hardcoded.

Interesting to note whether we are talking about a pure binary (only two sexes) or a spectrum allowing third sexes between the two poles, we are talking about only two poles. Thailand, Native American, Polynesian and other societies have third sexes, but they are a blending of male and female roles. It would take a powerful imagination to conceive of a sex, and what its reproductive role would be outside of the male-female dimension.

Transward

There are three genders:

"Innies"

"Outies"

and Republicans.

And its up to you to decide what goes where, and when.

jemagirl (imported) wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:14 pm GRS is relatively new but the idea of more than two genders is quite old. I don't agree with the notion that anything in our culture is hardcoded.

jemagirl,

True, the concept of more than two genders *is* quite old.

At the same time, though, with the prevalence of the Judeo-Christian religions in Western culture - *especially* the rabid fundamentalist sects - something like transgenderism has been lumped in with all the 'unholy' things and taboos until recently, which meant that it was more 'underground' than socially acceptable.

Remember, in the Judeo-Christian mindset (especially the fundies), sex is *only* to be used for procreation. In *that* mindset, where does a person whose body is the wrong gender fit? Unfortunately, nowhere.

The term 'hard-coded' in reference to the social order might not be *entirely* correct, but at the same time, we have to admit that the effect of religion in society is *highly* pervasive! Religious standards have dictated social standards almost since civilization began, which is the *important* point here.

The bottom line here is that *healthy* human sexuality has to encompass *all* genders, not *just* the traditional man/woman duality.

-YPA