Several writers on the topics of sex and gender assert that there are more than two sexes, and more
than two genders. Anne Fausto-Sterling suggests there are at least five sexes
and Joan Roughgarden claims there are as many as seven genders.1, 2 Both
of these conclusions are wrong because, in the case of sex, it is only within
combinations of male and female characteristics that extra sexes can be
interpreted to exist. Also, the traits used to define genders are drawn from
masculine and feminine qualities which intermix differently in every
individual. Someone
born with ambiguous genitalia, for example, should not be seen as being of an additional
sex, but rather as a combination of male and female. Also, because no
individuals are exclusively either masculine or feminine, any mixture of the
two cannot indicate a new gender. In
every sexually reproducing species there are gradations of sex ranging from
female to male, and degrees of gender ranging from feminine to masculine. The ranges
of qualities between two extremes are not equally comparable to the limits that
define them, therefore degrees of sex and gender cannot represent distinct
sexes and genders in themselves.
Ronnie de Sousa asserts that gender is a
variable that cannot be confined to the categories of masculine and feminine.3
He is right about the variability of gender, but in order to be defined, the
variables are nonetheless dependent upon the masculine and feminine qualities
from which they are drawn. Support for the argument that there is a mixing of
two sexes in each body and two genders in each psyche can be taken from Sigmund
Freud’s observations of the occurrence of anatomical and psychic
hermaphroditism in all human organisms.4 The case of intersex individual,
Lynn Edward Harris, demonstrates how the gender traits of masculinity and
femininity can interact and yet remain independent from one another within a
single body. Criteria for what should constitute distinct sexes and genders must
be established in order to refute claims that additional sexes exist beyond the
limits of male and female, and that genders have being outside of masculinity
and femininity. First of all, however, the terms “sex” and “gender” must be
defined.
As a category applied to organisms, the term
“sex” has been used for much longer than the word “gender”. There is scientific
agreement that “sex” indicates either of two main categories, namely male and
female, into which many species are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions. Gender, however, is more difficult
to classify, in that it only came into common use in reference to organisms in
the late twentieth century, and there is not such universal agreement on its
definition as exists for sex. The Oxford English dictionary defines gender as “the state of being male
or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences
rather than biological ones)”, but Merriam-Webster says more concisely that gender represents “the behavioural, cultural, or
psychological traits typically associated with one sex”.5, 6 It will be argued here
that gender traits collectively expressed in human behaviour have more of an
influence on culture than vice-versa. Culture affects how gender is perceived
and interpreted, but only superficially. While culture is a social environment
that our psyche reacts to, each individual’s own sexual biology is more of a
stimulus on how one’s psyche reacts to gender. Therefore, it can be said that sex stands for our biological state
of sexual being while gender represents our psychological state of sexual
being. Culture may direct some gender roles associated with
biological sex, but there are super-cultural agreements as to what the common gender
traits are. Masculine qualities, such as aggression and defiance, as listed by
Freud, would find their feminine counterparts for him in passivity and
obedience.7
Although feminine and masculine properties are associated with the female and
male sexes, respectively, they are not fixed to them. Some gender qualities can
be linked to levels of testosterone within the bodies of either sex, and when
these levels are high they influence the expression of masculine
characteristics. When testosterone levels are low there is a diminishment of
masculine traits, in the absence of which, corresponding feminine gender properties
tend to surface. A study by Paul J. Zak, et al. found that an artificial
increase in testosterone caused men to display increased selfishness.8 Josephs and Mehta discovered that men who refused to back down in
competitions showed higher testosterone levels.9 Mazur and Booth, in
researching various independent studies into the effects of testosterone,
concluded that high testosterone levels correspond to aggression only when it
serves dominance, whereas lower levels can accompany aggression when it is
needed for self defence.10 Nick Neave, et al. found a connection
between higher testosterone levels and spatial perceptivity, while lower levels
corresponded to a talent for landmark recognition that is often associated with
females.11 The amount of testosterone present in either sex can vary
individually, circumstantially and over time. When females are sexually aroused
their testosterone levels rise and when males are in love, or taking on the
nurturing role of fatherhood, their testosterone levels diminish.12,
13 As
males reach and pass middle age the presence of testosterone in their bodies goes
down, while the occurrence of estrogen rises.14 Attempts have been made
to prove that females lose estrogen and gain testosterone as they age, but most studies show that when they begin to
lose estrogen, they also lose testosterone. The result is that as females lose
estrogen and males gain it, men and women truly come closer to gender equality.
Joan Roughgarden argues that gender
should be categorized according to sexual appearance and behaviour. In giving
examples of species she interprets as having more than two genders, she cites,
for instance, the bluehead wrasse, a coral reef fish, as being a three gendered
species, in which females that transform into males begin to squirt sperm as
opposed to eggs.15 Roughgarden also describes the phenomenon of domesticated pigs on the islands of
Vanuatu, which breeders claim have seven genders ranging from the most
obviously female genitalia to typically male sexual organs, with the in-between
breeds carrying various intersex characteristics.16 Another example she uses to support her claim
of extra genders is that of the Tanzanian female spotted hyena. This creature
has genitalia nearly identical on the outside to that of its male counterpart
and is also highly aggressive. Another model for Roughgarden’s theory of gender
diversity is a species
of lizards that consist only of the female sex.17
The all female lizard species that Roughgarden describes is defined
as female because it genetically spilled away from a parent species in which
there were clearly observable divisions of males and females. Being able to
reproduce without males does not make an all female species of lizards a
different gender. Many female vertebrates among lizards and fish typically have
the ability to reproduce by parthenogenesis if environmental conditions require
it. How a species reproduces is a sexual, rather than a gender characteristic. Roughgarden’s addition of sexual appearance
to the definition of gender differs from that of both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries. Most
scientists lean heavily towards the psychological definition of gender, and
therefore apply the word only to humans.18 Her
use of the words “male” and “female” in relation to gender, also clashes with
their accepted functions as terms defining sex alone. She suggests that for the
bluehead wrasse, the females that change into males are of a different gender
than those which do not change sex. Some misinformation about this species,
however, may have caused Roughgarden to draw inaccurate conclusions in support of
her argument. A peer reviewed paper by John Godwin, et al.; in detailing
research on the bio-chemicals involved in the metamorphosis of sex changing
coral reef fish, also details a field study of the bluehead wrasse. Their paper
uses the term “sexual phenotypes” to describe what Roughgarden calls “genders”,
and their research reveals information that shows us that Roughgarden was
mistaken about some of her conclusions. They observed that both “initial phase”
males and females have the ability to transform into the larger, more
aggressive males, which they call “terminal phase males”. They also refer to
the female to male transformation as a “sex change”, which makes more sense
than Roughgarden’s conclusion that it is a gender transformation.19 However, changes of gender characteristics can
often accompany a change of sex, so in the bluehead wrasse, the transformed
females can be said to have changed gender as well, but their new ability to
squirt sperm as opposed to eggs is a manifestation of their sex change. Godwin,
et al., also observed that with the right environmental conditions, any initial
phase bluehead wrasse, of either sex can change into a terminal phase male. If
the males can also transform into the same kind of super-male that the females
can, this does not suggest an additional sex existing within the species, but
rather an extreme manifestation of maleness that every member of the species
has the potential to arrive at.
In Roughgarden’s example of the Vanuaatu pigs, the
word “gender” is again inaccurately used, this time in reference to genitalia.
Genitals are sex characteristics, and the different combinations of male and
female qualities in the genitalia of the pigs would more precisely be called
sexual phenotypes. The five breeds in between the typically male and female
pigs do not represent separate sexes, but rather a mixture of aspects of the
two conventional ones. The Tanzanian hyenas that Roughgarden describes are an
extreme example of the female sex of a species having phenotypically masculine
gender characteristics, but they are still not proof of an extra sex or gender.
What Joan Roughgarden defines as different
genders, Anne
Fausto-Sterling would call distinct sexes. In her essay, “The Five Sexes”, she argues that, for humans, in
addition to males and females, there are three more sexes. She suggests they
could be called “herms”, “merms” and “ferms”. She says that herms are true
hermaphrodites, in that they have both male and female gonads; merms are male pseudohermaphrodites
who have some female parts but no ovaries; and ferms are female hermaphrodites
with some male parts but no testes.20 All three of these “sexes”
that Fausto-Sterling lists are defined by whatever combination of male and
female body parts their bodies contain. Therefore none of them are of a
separate sex than male and female, but rather a combination of the two.
Ronnie
de Sousa says that obvious sexual differences are dubious and that gender is a
“psychological construct”. He argues that gender varies from culture to
culture, and that people act out their gender in the way they talk, dress or
behave, as if in a play, and that there are frequently negative consequences
for breaking character. De Sousa asserts that gender differences, as expressed
through emotion, vary in different cultures and circumstances. He gives the
example that men display more emotion and smile more when in a subordinate
position, whereas women in power express less emotion. He claims that this shows
that emotionality is more an expression of status than gender. Also, in
challenging the use of statistical normality as a standard for gender comparison,
de Sousa points out that it is normal to have bad eyesight.21
De Sousa is right in his assertion that there
are no fixed gender traits. However, the attributes that manifest themselves
most prominently in males and females are the standard by which gender is best
understood, even when those traits mix to form what he would call other
genders. So while gender traits are not fixed, this does not mean there are more
than two genders. There are two genders that fragment and intersperse within
single organisms. Because people have within them a mixture of characteristics
of the two genders, it could be that certain circumstances will draw some
latent gender characteristics into manifestation. Taking de Sousa’s example of
a male in a subordinate position expressing more emotion than his female boss, it
is likely that to play a submissive role invokes the expression of feminine
characteristics in both males and females. Conversely, to play a dominant role draws
upon masculine gender characteristics in either sex. De Sousa is right that bad
eyesight can be seen as normal, in that most of the population does require
corrective lenses. However, good eyesight exists as a standard against which to
compare bad eyesight; just as extreme cases of masculinity and femininity exist
as a standard against which to compare ambiguous gender. It should be pointed
out though that this analogy is not meant to equate gender interspersal with
any type of fault, but rather to compare standards.
According to Sigmund Freud it is
normal for the characteristics of both genders to be interspersed within a
single organism.22, 23 He says that we are all to some
degree “anatomically hermaphroditic”, in that we all display attributes drawn
from both sexes; and “psychically hermaphroditic” in our tendency to carry at
least some sexual attraction for both the same and the opposite sex. Identification
with a gender may fluctuate within an organism, thus changing, from time to
time, which gender a person is attracted to. Gender attraction may in fact be a
more dominant urge for us than attraction to a given sex.
It can be argued that every inter-mixture of masculine
and feminine within each individual is as unique as a fingerprint. If each
combination were to be recognized as a gender then that would mean there are
approximately six billion genders on the planet earth. This is an impractical
way of approaching the understanding of gender. The analogy of the forest and
the trees applies here. If we cannot see this, it may be best to simply eject
the word “gender” from our vocabulary.
The intermixing and fluctuation over
time of masculine and feminine traits within a single organism, as Freud
describes it, can be illustrated by the case of Lynn Edward Harris. He was declared female at birth, but found himself
becoming increasingly more masculine as he grew older until he finally accepted
a male identity. He claims that he ironically made use of some of his encroaching
masculine qualities, such as aggression and competitiveness to hold on to his
feminine characteristics even as they were being eclipsed. “I was determined to
be the best female of any female I knew, and I went over the top,” he says.24
The fact that Harris found himself displaying more and more masculine traits with
age shows how independent of one another the two genders can be. Rather than
the masculine blending with the feminine, one displaced the other. This also
works against the suggestion that genders other than masculine and feminine can
be identified. If the traits of either gender manifest themselves strongly in
one person and then drift toward one gender or the other, one can not pinpoint
any set characteristics with which to identify an additional gender. If Lynn
Edward Harris lived in some Native American societies, he would be considered as
a “Two spirit person”, a term which equates masculine and feminine gender each as
a spirit. Native Americans do not assess such individuals as being “Three
spirited”, or as any other number than two.
Males and females are considered a different
sex because their genitalia are, on average, distinctly different from one
another. If at birth someone’s body contains both male and female genitalia,
this does not make the person of an extra sex, but rather a mixture of two. To
identify an individual as being of a sex other than male and female would imply
that they have genitalia unique to that sex alone, as is the case in the three
sexes of an alien race called “the Soft Ones”, created by Isaac Asimov in his
novel, The Gods Themselves.25 But the beings in his story, had
anatomies that allowed for the merging of three sexes for the sake of
reproduction. This is not the case with humans because there are only two reproductively
compatible sexes. The mixing of the parts of two distinct sexes does not make
up a new sex any more than the mixing of salt and water produces a new element.
In saline water the parts of the whole are easily recognized as being the
separate components they are made from. The name “transex” itself implies that a
person is between sexes. However, such individuals do not hold characteristics
distinct from male and female.
If someone identifies as being to some degree
in between male and female, or masculine and feminine, that person should not be
considered of an extra sex or gender. The word, “extra” means additional, but
sharing the qualities of two extremes puts one between them rather than separate
from them. If one chooses not to identify with either sex or gender, one may
determine oneself sexually neutral or gender neutral, but this does not mean
one is of a neutral sex or gender. Such a person’s position between sexes or
genders is more likely divided in such a way that they live in the middle in
order to have access to experiencing equally preferred aspects of both sexes or
genders. If I enjoy being in Toronto, but also
love life in Montreal
perhaps I will pick a city in between to live so as to have access to both
places. If I move to Kingston, Ontario,
it may not be because I feel an affinity with living in that city, but because
I want to be within reach of both Toronto and Montreal. This is
comparable to transgender individuals who choose to live as both man and woman.
Transgender porn actress Kimberly Devine, on
her decision to not have sex reassignment surgery is quoted as saying: “It
takes more than a vagina to make a woman”.26 She clearly identifies
with being a woman, but wants to keep her penis. But is she of an additional
gender or sex? She is neither, but that does not mean that she should not be
referred to as “she” or not be acknowledged as a woman if that is her wish.
Devine has the appearance of a woman, except for her genitalia, but even if she
did not, the sex with which she identifies should be respected. According to
Joan Roughgarden, the terms “woman” and “man” are social constructs, whereas
“male” and “female” are biological categories.27 If then, womanhood or manhood are socially
defined, that would imply that others must agree that Kimberly Devine is a
woman for her to call herself a woman. However, public opinion is often
subjective and fluctuating, and therefore not a very efficient criteria for
determining how individuals should be categorized. To claim that one is a woman
makes one a woman whether or not one fits the preconceived notions of what a
woman should look like. In the case of Kimberly Devine then, she is a woman even
if her female secondary sex characteristics such as breasts and facial features
are the result of plastic surgery, and even though she has a penis.
Even though people
having combinations of male and female body parts do not constitute a distinct
sex, this does not mean they should not be distinguished as a unique group or
groups with their own needs based on the effect on themselves such combinations
produce. This can be compared analogously to the Metis people, who are partly
of Native American and European descent and who, although they are not considered
to be a unique race, but rather a combination of two, nonetheless have their
own unique culture, needs and rights.
Arguments are often made for the sake of tolerance
that individuals with ambiguous genitalia should be defined as being of sexes
other than male and female, and that people with mixtures of masculine and
feminine qualities should be recognized as being of additional genders. It is
true that in a society where the primary purpose of sex is no longer
reproduction, but rather well being, that sex and gender should be understood
less along the lines of what they do, and more in terms of how they feel. This
goal can be achieved, however, without dismissing sex and gender’s dualistic
realities. Society should promote acceptance of the rich diversity that
displays itself between the extremes of male and female, and masculine and
feminine. Hope for this ideal can be found in the fact that time and exposure
to the multiplicity of sex and gender combinations are bringing tolerance of uniqueness
gradually into reality. It can be observed, in western society at least, that
each new generation is more accepting of sex and gender differences than the
previous one, and that tolerance is approaching. Although sex as an activity in
western culture is no longer primarily about reproduction, the sexes and
genders have been sculpted by evolution around the purpose of procreation. Every
human being on this planet arrived here as a result of the fertilization of a
female gamete by a male one.
Notes
1. Fausto-Sterling, Anne. “The five sexes: why male and female are not
enough”, The Sciences, 33:2, (March-April 1993). Blackboard.
Web. January 31, 2013.
2. Joan Roughgarden, Evolution’s
Rainbow: Diversity, Gender
and Sexuality in Nature and People, (Los
Angeles, University of California Press, 2004): 13-42. Reprinted in PHL243H1S reading package. (Toronto. Alicos Printing. January 2013):
1-24.
3. Ronnie de Sousa, "Lecture #5, February 4, 2013", PHL243H1S,
LEC5101, Room 159, Lash Miller Chemical Labs Building, 80 St. George Street,
University of Toronto.
4. Sigmund Freud. Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex, Project Gutenberg. Web. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14969/14969-h/14969-h.htm. February 28, 2013
5. “gender”. Oxford English Dictionary. 2013. Oxford University
Press. Web. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gender. March 28,
2013.
6. "gender" Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2013.
Web. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gender. March 21, 2013.
7. Owen J. Flanagan Jr., “Freud:
Masculinity, Femininity and the Philosophy of Mind”, Mary Vetterling-Braggin,
ed., “Femininity”, “Masculinity”, and
“Androgyny” (Totowa, N.J.: Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1982), 75.
8. Paul J. Zak, Robert Kurzban, Sheila Ahmadi, Ronald S. Swerdloff, Jang Park, Levan Efremidze, Karen Redwine, Karla Morgan, William Matzner. “Testosterone Administration Decreases Generosity in the Ultimatum Game”. Plosone.org. Web. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0008330. April 4, 2013
9. “Men's testosterone levels predict competitiveness”. Phys.org. Web. http://phys.org/news84473710.html. April 4, 2013
10. Mazur, Allan. Alan Booth. “Testosterone and Dominance in Men”. BEHAVIORAL
AND BRAIN SCIENCES (1998) 21,
353–397. Scholarsportal. Web. http://journals2.scholarsportal.info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/tmp/2347160827953948377.pdf.
April 4, 2013
11.
Neave, Nick. Meyrav Menaged. David R. Weightman. “Sex Differences in Cognition: The Role of
Testosterone and Sexual Orientation”. Brain and Cognition. 41, 245–262 (1999). Article ID brcg.1999.1125. IdealLibrary.com. Web. April
4, 2013.
12. van Anders, S.M. L.D. Hamilton. N. Schmidt. N.V. Watson. “Associations between testosterone secretion and sexual activity in women”. Hormones and Behaviour. 2007 Apr;51(4):477-82. Pubmed.gov. Web. Epub 2007 Jan 25. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17320881. April 4, 2013.
13. James W. Kalat. “Reproductive Behaviors”. Biological Psychology(2).pdf. 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Belmont, California. 322.
14. “Male Hormone Information”. Turtonmd.com. Web. http://turtonmd.com/male-hormone-information%20/.
April 4, 2013
15. Roughgarden, “Sex Within Bodies”, Evolution’s Rainbow, reading package, 15-16.
16. Roughgarden, “Sex Within Bodies”, Evolution’s Rainbow, reading package, 20.
17. Roughgarden, “Sex Within Bodies”, Evolution’s Rainbow, reading package, 21.
18. Kalat. “Variations in Sexual Behavior”. Biological Psychology(2).pdf. 331.
19. John Godwin, Ryan Sawby,
Robert R. Warner, David Crews, Matthew S. Grober. “Hypothalamic Arginine
Vasotocin mRNA Abundance Variation Across Sexes and
with Sex Change in a Coral Reef Fish”. Brain Behavior and Evolution. 2000; 55:78 http://www2.gsu.edu/~biomgx/Publications/GodwinetalAVT.pdf.
March 7, 2013.
20. Fausto-Sterling. “The five sexes”.
21. de Sousa, Lecture
#5.
22. Freud. “The Sexual Aberrations”. Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex: “A certain degree of anatomical hermaphroditism really belongs to the normal. In no normally formed male or female are traces of the apparatus of the other sex lacking; these either continue functionless as rudimentary organs, or they are transformed for the purpose of assuming other functions.”
23. Anne Dickason, “The Feminine as a Universal”, Vetterling-Braggin, ed., “Femininity”, “Masculinity”, and “Androgyny”, 18. : quoting Freud.
24. Greg Stacy. “Interview With the Hermaphrodite: The many faces of Lynn Harris”. http://gregstacy.wordpress.com/2006/11/25/interview-with-the-hermaphrodite-the-many-faces-of-lynn-harris/. March 14, 2013
25. Isaac
Asimov. “The Gods Themselves”. The Gods
Themselves. http://www.gpnp.net/backshelves.gpnp.net/001%20scifi%20ebooks/scifi%20fav%20authors/asimov%20ebooks/The%20Gods%20Themselves.pdf. March 21, 2013.
26. LGBT Project Wiki. “Kimberly Devine”. http://lgbt.wikia.com/wiki/Kimberly_Devine.
March 22, 2013.
27. Roughgarden, “Sex Versus Gender”, Evolution’s Rainbow, reading package, 9.
