News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: LostInTime on February 11, 2007, 02:20:10 PM Return to Full Version
Title: Ex Gay Watch Blog Entry: The Scientific Problem With Sex Dichotomies
Post by: LostInTime on February 11, 2007, 02:20:10 PM
Post by: LostInTime on February 11, 2007, 02:20:10 PM
Link (http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2007/02/the-scientific-problem-with-sex-dichotomies/)
When thinking about the belief systems of religious conservatives like Ensley and Dalton, we need to ask what exactly makes a man a man and a woman a woman. Is it genitalia? Is it genetics? Or can it be arbitrary — is a person's sex what the gender marker says it is on a person's birth certificate? The vast majority of people fit into the standard biological dichotomy of male and female, but defining all people as either biologically male or female is equivalent to saying all people are heterosexual. While it's true that the vast majority of people are heterosexual, it's not true that all are heterosexual.
Dr. Vilain, in the previously referenced Los Angeles Times article, gives a history of the difficultly one can experience trying to rigidly define male and female based on biology:
((snip))
When thinking about the belief systems of religious conservatives like Ensley and Dalton, we need to ask what exactly makes a man a man and a woman a woman. Is it genitalia? Is it genetics? Or can it be arbitrary — is a person's sex what the gender marker says it is on a person's birth certificate? The vast majority of people fit into the standard biological dichotomy of male and female, but defining all people as either biologically male or female is equivalent to saying all people are heterosexual. While it's true that the vast majority of people are heterosexual, it's not true that all are heterosexual.
Dr. Vilain, in the previously referenced Los Angeles Times article, gives a history of the difficultly one can experience trying to rigidly define male and female based on biology:
((snip))
Title: Re: Ex Gay Watch Blog Entry: The Scientific Problem With Sex Dichotomies
Post by: Hazumu on February 12, 2007, 12:06:59 AM
Post by: Hazumu on February 12, 2007, 12:06:59 AM
QuoteVirginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell's spokesperson (Tucker Martin), during debate of the recently approved marriage initiative in Virginia, discussed infant sexing and sex markers on birth certificates with the Daily Press:Quote from: Tucker MartinWhatever sex is recorded on a child's birth certificate is that person's legal sex for the rest of his or her life, under state law, Martin said.
If the sex is ambiguous or indeterminate, the parents - in consultation with the doctor - decides what sex is recorded on the birth certificate. "The state has no say there," Martin said.
Please deliver us from this attitude...
Karen
Title: Re: Ex Gay Watch Blog Entry: The Scientific Problem With Sex Dichotomies
Post by: cindianna_jones on February 12, 2007, 02:53:07 AM
Post by: cindianna_jones on February 12, 2007, 02:53:07 AM
Yea, verily, you are delivered.
We can tell the world about ourselves. More people are listening.
Cindi
We can tell the world about ourselves. More people are listening.
Cindi