If
you were on the Olympic committee that had to determine which gender an athlete
should compete under, which of the following 8 factors would you consider valid?
Note: I have received e-mail
from various experts that have pointed out some errors in the following charts.
I acknowledge my own shortcomings in this area and encourage readers to research
this further if they are interested in more precise information. I continue
to keep this posted so that it can serve as an initial thought provoker for
those visiting this page.
8 Factors to Consider in Gender Determination
|
Female
|
Gender Factor
|
Male
|
|
XX
|
Chromosomes
|
XY
|
|
Ovaries
|
Gonads
|
Testis
|
|
Estrogen / Progesterone
|
Hormones
|
Testosterone
|
|
Clitoris, Labia
|
External Genitalia
|
Penis, Scrotum
|
| Fallopian tubes, uterus |
Internal Reproductive Organs
|
Vas deferrens, prostate, seminal glands
|
|
Greater verbal ability, cyclic fertility, greater nurturance etc.
|
Brain Development
|
Greater spatial relations ability, non-cyclical fertility, greater aggression etc.
|
|
Where one thinks s/he fits on the gender continuum.
|
Gender Identity
|
Where one thinks s/he fits on the gender continuum.
|
|
Culturally prescribed set of behaviors typical for females.
|
Gender Role
|
Culturally prescribed set of behaviors typical for males.
|
As a matter of fact, every human being is conceived as a female and only if the right amount of the "testis determining factor gene" is present on the Y chromosome, does the person develop into a male. Well, what if that 'right amount' is not present? Just as every person is born with different amounts of hair on their head, so also is the amount of that 'sex' gene a variable within their systems. For about 5 weeks the tiny embryo of a human is female. Somewhere between week 5 and 7, if the Y chromosome is properly present, the embryonic gonadal tissues will begin to differentiate into a testis, which in turn will secrete testosterone and a mullerian inhibiting substance which will cause the degeneration of the mullerian ducts. The Wolffian ducts will differentiate into a 'sperm delivery system'.
There are many cases of feminine men and masculine women. We don't hear much about this because it simply isn't socially popular to be gender gifted outside your legal sex. There are women with Y Chromosomes, and there even are men who experience a form of menses. There also are hermaphrodites, or the 'intersexed'. So why then do we continue to just categorize persons as either male or female? There seems to be a lot of grey area in between those two distinctions.
This next list compares the corresponding components of sexuality in females and males.
Homologous Sex Organs
|
Female
|
Male
|
|
Clitoris
|
Glans of Penis
|
|
Hood of Clitoris
|
Foreskin of Penis
|
|
Labia Minora
|
Shaft of Penis
|
|
Labia Majora
|
Scrotal Sac
|
|
Ovaries
|
Testes
|
|
Skene's Ducts
|
Prostrate Gland
|
|
Bartholin's Glands
|
Cowper's Glands
|
Gender Development
Chromosomes present...
|
XX Chromosomes (Female)
|
XY Chromosomes (Male)
|
Beginning around the 5th to 7th week of fetal development the embryonic gonadal tissue
begins to differentiate into...
which produce...
The Mullerian ducts...
|
Mullerian ducts develop into uterus and fallopian tubes.
|
Testis secretes substance which cause degeneration of the Mullerian ducts.
|
Tubericle differentiates into...
|
clitoris, labia, external 1/3 of vagina.
|
penis, prostate, scrotum.
|
Embryonic brain cells begin differentiation...
|
greater verbal skills, cyclic fertility, greater nurturance.
|
greater spatial relations ability, non-cyclic fertility, greater aggression.
|
and...
|
That's it for a female.
|
Wolffian ducts differentiate into sperm delivery system, epididymis vas deferens, ejaculatory ducts etc.
That's it for a male.
|
So maybe something in this complex pattern of development veers off the normal path. Then what?
The person develops into a human being that is not the average male or female. Yet this is a human being that can be loved and is capable of loving and living a full life. Does our social structure give such persons equal chances? How about you? Do you respect human beings for what they are, or must everyone fit into your mold to be accepted by you?
From all that is said here, I truly have come to believe that whatever it is that makes a person transgendered, a person is BORN with it. It remains inate until something occurs in a person's life that brings this other gender to the surface. From then on it becomes such a strong part of the person that outward expression, often through crossdressing or other gender variant behavior, is inevitable.
