Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.
The focus this time: Gender is just like your opinion, man.
First, a little mood music:
Carrying on…
Do you want to have a boy baby, or a girl baby? In most of the world where abortion is an option, genetic testing can be done to facilitate this. However, apparently according to an idjit at “The Guardian”, all it takes is for an obsessed parent to shove a preferred “gender” down their child’s throat:
“There are mothers who want a daughter in order to have a close mother-daughter bond, or fathers who want a father-son bond. Their aim in ‘gender balancing’ is not to have a variety of sex chromosomes or genitalia among their children, but to have a child who will live up to their gender assumptions.
“Yet sex and gender are two very different things. And according to the state of the evidence so far, there is no biological reason why parents can’t have the sort of bond and experiences they want with a child of any sex.
“Despite more than 100 years of research, scientific studies have failed to provide good evidence to support the belief that babies are born with something like a ‘male brain’ or a ‘female brain’ which causes the gender traits parents have in mind.
“This means that sex selection (or gender selection, as it is often erroneously called) does not ‘do what it says on the tin’ so to speak. Parents want it to select gender but all it can do is select a child with certain sex chromosomes.”
Of course, actual science disagrees:
“There are structural differences between male and female brains:
“http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/study-finds-significant-differences-brains-men-and-women
“It is true that greater variability exists within male and female brains than between male and female brains, however there are still structural differences between the sexes. Mens’ brains on average are larger than female brains and are more variable than female brains. This is reflected in IQ tests, men and women are of approximately equal average intelligence but there is far greater range of intelligence amongst men.
“Most the studies on the differences between male and female brains have been on structural rather than functional differences. And there is plenty of behavioural science across cultures – and even species – to support the biological basis for sex/gender differences. There is evidence that testosterone at least impacts male behaviour in terms of aggression.
“Science can’t even explain how consciousness arises from brain function, and we can’t even account for what functional neurological differences there might be between males and females. It is massively premature to deny the possibility there might be differences between male and female brains. The science is by no means settled.”
But still, forcing boys to be more “girlish” is all the rage…
“One of the biggest perks of living in the USA, besides freedom and apple pie, is not having to pay attention to the columns of Leah McLaren at The Globe and Mail. Apparently her relatively high-profile writings have been victimizing our neighbors up north for years.
“This month she had a fresh take on her own attempts to forcibly raise her child non-gendered. Apparently having a boy who so happens to like boy things is quite haram these days with libs, and the only way for McLaren to rectify the situation was to sign him up for ballet class.”
I’m thinking being a relatively rare boy growing up doing ballet amongst thin and nubile girls isn’t exactly the best way to counter cis-heteronormativity of a boy…
Of course, “gender” has to be legally considered a born and invariable trait. However, the nutballs in academia all too willingly let it be known that it’s all just like an opinion of the moment, man:
“The office of BGLTQ Student Life at Harvard University has released a new school-sponsored guide telling students to ‘fight transphobia’ and ‘get the facts about gender diversity.’
“The guide, which was distributed to students on campus, declares that ‘there are more than two sexes’ and that ‘gender is fluid and changing,’ adding that someone’s gender identity ‘can be affirmed and/or expressed in many ways,’ and can even ‘change from day to day.’
“‘Sex assigned at birth and gender identity are not necessarily the same,’ the flyer begins, elaborating that anatomical characteristics may not always align with ‘gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, and/or how one is perceived in daily life.'”
Just, like, whatever, man…
TTFN.
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