Gender and sex

A gentle warning: you may find some of the thoughts here inflammatory, so please exercise free will and caution when reading. None of these thoughts are meant to be advisory or prescriptive, rather simply of interest to me and perhaps of interest to you.

Psychologically speaking, I think it’s healthy for us humans to be gender fluid. In other words, to be fluidly in touch with our masculine and feminine aspects, no matter who we are.

Biologically speaking, I think it’s healthy for us humans to be sex identified. In other words, basic presence of Y chromosome denotes male, basic absence of Y chromosome denotes female, variances denote intersex.

In mammals, the Y chromosome contains a gene, SRY (sex-determining region Y), responsible for encoding the protein TDF (testis-determining factor) which triggers embryonic development as a male.

There are, however, exceptions in which SRY is damaged (leading to an XY female), or copied to the X chromosome (leading to an XX male), as well as a number of medically concerning and unconcerning variances leading to intersex human development.

I also think psychological gender and biological sex need to be held in balance and mutual respect.

When psychological gender is submissive to biological sex, we risk repressing ourselves and oppressing others.

When biological sex is submissive to psychological gender, we risk losing our shared understanding of terminology and creating an equally repressive and oppressive world.

Balancing psychological gender and biological sex is, in the end, another manifestation of the universal interplay between order and chaos. And, as with every manifestation of this interplay, greater understanding, answers and ultimately peace all come through the path of self discovery.