Talk:Andy Kang/@comment-35023770-20180327105346

This is for a comment below... I know this is really old, but for a medical student, you’re very ignorant about the human body. Science has made it clear that sex chromosomes, which high school taught us that it determines a baby’s sex at birth, full stop: XX = it’s a Girl; XY = it’s a Boy, don’t tell the whole story. Scientist have always stated that it’s possible to be XX, and mostly male in terms of anatomy, physiology and psychology, just as it’s possible to be XY, and mostly female.

Furthermore, the SRY gene, which makes proto-gonads turn into testes, isn’t always straightforward either. A SRY gene that’s missing or dysfunctional, causes XY, a boy to fail to develop male anatomy, and (mistakenly) identified at birth as a ‘girl’. Or it may appear on the X chromosome, and cause an XX, a girl to develop male anatomy, and (mistakenly) identified at birth as a ‘boy’. So, while most bodies have one of two forms of genitalia, which classify as “female” or “male,” there are naturally occurring intersex conditions that demonstrate that sex exists across a continuum of possibilities. This biological spectrum by itself should be enough to dispel the simplistic notion of the “Gender binary”- there aren’t just two sexes.

The relationship between a person’s gender and their body goes beyond reproductive functions. Research in neurology, endocrinology, and cellular biology points to a broader biological basis for an individual’s experience of gender. In fact, research increasingly points to our brains as playing a key role in how we each experience our gender. And bodies themselves are also gendered in the context of cultural expectations. Masculinity and femininity are equated with certain physical attributes, labeling us as more or less a man/woman based on the degree to which those attributes are present. This gendering of our bodies affects how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive and interact with us.

So, you can’t dismiss such scientific information, and then, in the same breath state you still believe in a binary system. That’s transphobic. Research, please!