gender definition

Originally posted by sonship
Am I incorrect or just incomplete ?

Incorrect? - certainly.
Incomplete? - use a mirror

Originally posted by googlefudge
I couldn't agree more...

Trying to make everyone fit in a simple binary view of gender can cause enormous damage to those who
do not fit neatly into these two little boxes... Even without people being homophobic.

you and thinkofone have nailed where i was going with this. sexuality and gender are analogue. we can put huge groups in boxes - male, female, gay and straight, but its proving to be way more complex. so how are the people who fall through the cracks between our generic boxes supposed to relate to the bibles teachings?

to the christians reading - how does a person without clear gender definition know which of gods male/female/straight box they should be in?

Originally posted by stellspalfie
so how are the people who fall through the cracks between our generic boxes supposed to relate to the bibles teachings?

to the christians reading - how does a person without clear gender definition know which of gods male/female/straight box they should be in?

a) as humans?


b) I think maybe that is best left for them to decide.

Originally posted by sonship
The difference in reproductive organs determines one's sex.

I think somewhere around the 60s people started using the term gender in place of sex.

IE. .... "which sex a person is ..." now is "which gender a person is".

I think the term gender had to do with whether a noun was masculine or feminine in linquistics. A lot of that had no apparent ryhme or reason to it.

In Britain government forms changed from sex to gender allegedly because some people started answering the "sex" question with "Yes please" or "Not since 1958".

Originally posted by Kepler
In Britain government forms changed from sex to gender allegedly because some people started answering the "sex" question with "Yes please" or "Not since 1958".

Sex became more associated with the act of intercourse. Whereas Gender remained associated with a persons masculinity or femininity.

Originally posted by JS357
He gives them copies of Playboy and Playgirl and sees which one they pick up first.

Nope. What about gays?

Originally posted by sonship
The OP's question was about gender [b] identification (sex) not orientation.

Are you evangelphobic ?

Can you link me to a recorded case of a female born with male sexual organs.
Can you link me to a recorded case of a make born with female sexual organs.

I am literally running out the door and don't have time right now. But if you're all ready to provide such data send me a link.

I could be wrong.[/b]

haemaphrodites (how the hell do you spell this ??? )

Originally posted by RJHinds
Sex became more associated with the act of intercourse. Whereas Gender remained associated with a persons masculinity or femininity.

Presumably so. I have noticed that many forms come with boxes to tick now. There are often three gender choices: male, female and other.

Originally posted by Kepler
Presumably so. I have noticed that many forms come with boxes to tick now. There are often three gender choices: male, female and other.

Other? What the heck is that?

Originally posted by RJHinds
Other? What the heck is that?

Well logically it would encompass all the options OTHER than male or female...

Originally posted by googlefudge
Well logically it would encompass all the options OTHER than male or female...

I never heard of any other option. Do you know of any examples and what are they?

Originally posted by RJHinds
I never heard of any other option. Do you know of any examples and what are they?

Your ignorance astounds me...

It shouldn't, but it does.

Originally posted by RJHinds
I never heard of any other option. Do you know of any examples and what are they?

I don't know how many other cultures acknowledge non-gendered persons, but the Hawaiian language has a word for one:

Mahu

I would not be surprised to find out that there are more cultures which have such a word in their languages...especially within languages which have been around for a good long time.

Originally posted by hakima
I don't know how many other cultures acknowledge non-gendered persons, but the Hawaiian language has a word for one:

Mahu

I would not be surprised to find out that there are more cultures which have such a word in their languages...especially within languages which have been around for a good long time.

Did you see the film 'Two Spirits' when it was on PBS a while ago?

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/two-spirits/film.html

Two Spirits interweaves the tragic story of a mother’s loss of her son with a revealing look at the largely unknown history of a time when the world wasn’t simply divided into male and female and many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders.

The Navajo believe that to maintain harmony, there must be a balanced interrelationship between the feminine and the masculine within the individual, in families, in the culture, and in the natural world. Two Spirits reveals how these beliefs are expressed in a natural range of gender diversity. For the first time on film, it examines the Navajo concept of nádleehí, “one who constantly transforms.”

In Navajo culture, there are four genders; some indigenous cultures recognize more. Native activists working to renew their cultural heritage adopted the English term “two-spirit” as a useful shorthand to describe the entire spectrum of gender and sexual expression that is better and more completely described in their own languages. The film demonstrates how they are revitalizing two-spirit traditions and once again claiming their rightful place within their tribal communities.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Did you see the film 'Two Spirits' when it was on PBS a while ago?

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/two-spirits/film.html

Two Spirits interweaves the tragic story of a mother’s loss of her son with a revealing look at the largely unknown history of a time when the world wasn’t simply divided into male and female and many Native American cul ...[text shortened]... ns and once again claiming their rightful place within their tribal communities.

I have not seen the film, but it's now on my list. Thank you!

If various cultures acknowledge a variety of definitions of gender, I think it is appropriate to consider the possibility that gender determination might be a human construct.