Comment by dragonwriter
4 months ago
> We have accepted that there is both biological sex and gender
This is close to the real point of dispute, on which there are approximately three main positions, which amount to two political camps because the last two positions drive the same political conclusion (and can be hard to distinguish):
(1) Sex, socially-ascribed gender, and gender identity are real and distinct things, all of which are (or in the case of active gender should be) multidimensional spectra though they may have something like a bimodal distribution which can naively look binary, and normatively ascribed gender should be aligned to gender identity;
(2) Sex and ascribed gender and gender identity are real and distinct things, the former is a crisp binary defined by particular physical traits (which traits varies among holders of the belief and over time; gross anatomy was popular, combination of X & Y chromosomes was popular, gamete size is currently the most popular), and normatively both ascribed gender and gender identity should conform to sex; when gender identity specifically does not it is a kind of mental illness, that should be treated and corrected, not accommodated and validated;
(3) Sex and ascribed gender are real and distinct things with the nature and relationship described in #2, but gender identity does not exist and is a myth invoked to excuse personal moral deviance and/or sexual perversion.
Thanks! I'm on the biology side of things, so I tend to avoid going into gender because I don't understand it as well, but the biology seems clear enough. The gender side also makes sense to me broadly, since we have complex and varied cultures, and having a term to talk about different societies also seems helpful. There are multiple languages and cultures with explicit terms for intersex, for example.
I'm not super clear on why gamete size has become a popular argument for a so-called binary model, since intersex still exists and there are individuals with both gametes. Not to mention, for sports, gamete size seems much less relevant than hormones and natural variation within each sex/gender, and that seems to be the favorite example. Do you have any insights as to why gametes have become a popular argument?