A jellyfish expert has decided to totes discombobulate þe olde “sexual binary” by “proving” that there aren’t just two sexes.
This was so begging for a fisking, your humble author could only acquiesce.
A fisking! A fisking!
IFriendly neighborhood biologist here. I see a lot of people are talking about biological sexes and gender right now. Lots of folks make biological sex sex seem really simple. Well, since it’s so simple, let’s find the biological roots, shall we? Let’s talk about sex…[a thread]
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
Argumentum ad verecundiam.
If you know a bit about biology you will probably say that biological sex is caused by chromosomes, XX and you’re female, XY and you’re male. This is “chromosomal sex” but is it “biological sex”? Well…
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
In the absence of a certifiable medical disease or syndrome, yes, yes it is.
ITurns out there is only ONE GENE on the Y chromosome that really matters to sex. It’s called the SRY gene. During human embryonic development the SRY protein turns on male-associated genes. Having an SRY gene makes you “genetically male”. But is this “biological sex”?
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
This is literally not true. The nature of the Y-chromosome is far more complex than that.
ISometimes that SRY gene pops off the Y chromosome and over to an X chromosome. Surprise! So now you’ve got an X with an SRY and a Y without an SRY. What does this mean?
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
It means that one with such a conditions has De la Chapelle syndrome, which typically involves a rash of medical problems including sterility.
IA Y with no SRY means physically you’re female, chromosomally you’re male (XY) and genetically you’re female (no SRY). An X with an SRY means you’re physically male, chromsomally female (XX) and genetically male (SRY). But biological sex is simple! There must be another answer…
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
It means that one with such a conditions has Swyer syndrome, which also involves other such complications. It does not make you a physically male like a fully functioning Y-chromosome does.
ISex-related genes ultimately turn on hormones in specifics areas on the body, and reception of those hormones by cells throughout the body. Is this the root of “biological sex”??
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
The presence of a Y-chromosome steers fetal development towards a functional biological male who can produce sperm and impregnate a functional biological female who wasn’t so steered and who produces eggs and gestates the offspring for ca 9 months.
It’s really not that complicated.
I“Hormonal male” means you produce ‘normal’ levels of male-associated hormones. Except some percentage of females will have higher levels of ‘male’ hormones than some percentage of males. Ditto ditto ‘female’ hormones. And…
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
Hormonal levels and other physical and physiological differences can and do vary, but they are variations around the aspects of two different sexes. That on some measure there is statistical overlap does not change this.
I…if you’re developing, your body may not produce enough hormones for your genetic sex. Leading you to be genetically male or female, chromosomally male or female, hormonally non-binary, and physically non-binary. Well, except cells have something to say about this…
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
Not “hormonally non-binary” but an outlier for one’s sex. There are medical conditions, too, that can cause this.
IMaybe cells are the answer to “biological sex”?? Right?? Cells have receptors that “hear” the signal from sex hormones. But sometimes those receptors don’t work. Like a mobile phone that’s on “do not disturb’. Call and cell, they will not answer.
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
Yet again, when this happens, it means that a person has a identifiable medical condition, not that they are on some normal spectrum of traits.
IWhat does this all mean?
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
That this biology professor should stick to jellyfish?
IIt means you may be genetically male or female, chromosomally male or female, hormonally male/female/non-binary, with cells that may or may not hear the male/female/non-binary call, and all this leading to a body that can be male/non-binary/female.
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
No it means that you developed into a male or female based upon the presence or of Y-chromosome or a second X-chromosome in the chromosomal pair, or you have a medical condition with typically many other medical problem, often including infertility.
IIt means you may be genetically male or female, chromosomally male or female, hormonally male/female/non-binary, with cells that may or may not hear the male/female/non-binary call, and all this leading to a body that can be male/non-binary/female.
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
That was the point in this exercise, wasn’t it, to confuse people.
IOf course you could try appealing to the numbers. “Most people are either male or female” you say. Except that as a biologist professor I will tell you…
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
That’s because most people don’t have medical conditions that mess up their development into living creatures capable of reproducing by sexual congress with someone of the opposite sex.
IThe reason I don’t have my students look at their own chromosome in class is because people could learn that their chromosomal sex doesn’t match their physical sex, and learning that in the middle of a 10-point assignment is JUST NOT THE TIME.
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
Heaven forbid people learn of having medical conditions that can impact their life.
IBiological sex is complicated. Before you discriminate against someone on the basis of “biological sex” & identity, ask yourself: have you seen YOUR chromosomes? Do you know the genes of the people you love? The hormones of the people you work with? The state of their cells?
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
Someone having an authentic medical condition should not be discriminated against legally or socially, but ought to be allowed to fit in as they are comfortable with. It does matter if one wants to become a couple with another and have children. But then most of the “trans” movement isn’t about biological sex, but “gender identity”, to which the intentional confusion of this line of reasoning is but a distraction.
ISince the answer will obviously be no, please be kind, respect people’s right to tell you who they are, and remember that you don’t have all the answers. Again: biology is complicated. Kindness and respect don’t have to be. [end of thread]
— Open Ocean Exploration (@RebeccaRHelm) December 20, 2019
But I don’t have to respect people when their opinion of who they are is not only in contrast with biological reality, but also being pushed on myself and on others in increasingly totalitarian ways.
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