Are Gender Identity and Biological Sex Parallel or Do They Ever Meet?
Welcome to 2021, a year or better say, a decade of “This is what we call it now” or “Now we can’t say this.” A time of great confusion, and even though I will try to explain some things in this article, I think that in the end, you will still have so many questions in your mind. I have wanted to write about this topic for a long time, which is hard writing for. I’m also scared to write about it because a lot of people get canceled about tweets or comments that are considered phobic by a part of society.
If you think it doesn’t affect you, think again because all the matters discussed below affect one of us or one of our loved ones, in a direct or non-direct way. The governmental policies, media, and every other important actor in the play are changing, and you need to be informed. Two transgender women have won seats in the parliament in Germany. State senator is currently the highest-ranking of a transgender woman in politics in the US and more. Be informed if you want to change the world, or be informed before you make a stand.
So, here I go, hope to speak what I think and not censor myself because of the topic’s sensitivity. I want to speak boldly, but also with kindness. After researching and reading about this topic, I will start this article by defining terms like biological sex and gender identity.
Biological sex: The structural and functional characteristics of a person or organism that allow assignment as either male or female; sex is determined by chromosomes, hormones, and external and internal genitalia (gonads). (Medical Dictionary — Free dictionary)
Gender identity: Gender identity refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal, and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the person’s physiology or designated sex at birth. (World Health Organization)
How to determine biological sex?
First, I want to educate myself on how it is determined a person’s biological sex. Along the way, I learned that there is a percentage of people which biological sex is hard to define and confusing. Based on my research, it can be determined based on Chromosomes, Genitalia and Testosterone, but it does have some issues in some cases. Like for people who have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome AIS, which makes them appear female but have the X and Y chromosomes. “Without genetic testing, babies with AIS are often assigned female sex at birth and are raised as girls. They may not realize they are not biologically female until they hit puberty and don’t begin to menstruate, “writes Kim Elsener from Forbes. An example is Martínez-Patiño, one of the people who does have this syndrome. She was a professional athlete and raised as a woman her whole life. When she was part of the Spanish Olympic team, she got a gender test and failed. She had both chromosomes and was banned from competing. Female Sport needs to know the biological sex, so they can provide a level of fairness, but what to do in this case? Well, she did go to court about this, and the International Association of Athletics Federations has changed her policies, and the ban was removed. Now they limit the testosterone levels, and if a person does have higher testosterone levels than what is considered normal for females, should take testosterone-lowering drugs or undergo surgery to compete, says the official press release from IAAF.
There are people who see it differently: “What we are seeing is the policing of women’s bodies, problematically framed as fairness or protecting other women,” says Dr Sheree Bekker. Dr Sheree Bekker and Anna Posbergh write in their article “an invasion of personal privacy”.
I thought that genitalia is a very clear indicator, having a penis or vagina, but no. “Some individuals are born with ambiguous genitalia and are not clearly male or female in genital appearance at birth. In fact, research indicates that about 2% of the population is born with these ambiguous traits. Those born with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), for example, are chromosomally female but may have very masculinized genitalia. Despite the ambiguity, biological sex is often assigned to these individuals within a few days of birth, “writes Kim Elsener from Forbes.
So, there are ways to determine biological sex, but still, for a certain percentage is hard to determine. Now, let’s go to the other part of it, there is another percentage who legally change their biological sex. True! In many countries, it can be changed legally if you undergo reassignment surgery or even if you don’t do surgery. That means you change your legal biological sex on the passport and everywhere.
There are many areas like sport that have been historically based on biological sex. Should it continue to be like that? Can females still feel protected in their category of Sport?
If you aren’t confused enough, let’s continue with gender identity. There are quite a few gender identities, and who knows the changes that might come. I will start with the one almost everybody knows already: your biological sex is the same as your gender identity (Cisgender). Now there is a whole other group divided into categories who is adopting a new identity that doesn’t align with their biological sex. That identity might be man, woman, a mix of both or none from the above. I’m going to say only two of the categories: transgender and non-binary. There are other categories too.
The reason why I wrote this article, in the first place, is because the whole system has been built for centuries to accommodate mostly cisgender. The change that has begun for some time now will grow until it changes even the roots of it. And yes, I do know that the only constant in life is change, but changing in gender and biological sex and the way these two are connected in our day-to-day activities makes you question everything and leaves so much room for abusers. Imagine a case in sports: A male in elite sport changing his sex to female to compete. There are so many cases that now are more volatile to abusers in different areas, because there is so much room for it. This crucial change to our society is happening, changes in what has been considered by most fundamental or non-changeable.
Even though that increases the risk of abuse in so many situations and everything changes drastically, I still think that everyone should be allowed to make their own decisions for themselves. I know it might be a very long road to set standards that are right and fair in society, related to sport or other fields but slowly, with science, active listening, open heart and mind, we can get there. Get there with our loved ones, neighbors, friends, mentors, colleagues, whatever the category they find themselves fitting.
Now that you read this, what do you think will happen?
- Will the gap between gender identity and biological sex become bigger and bigger?
2. Should transgender people compete in sports?
3. Will science really help us tackle transgender issues in sport?
4. Do you think there will be a connection between gender identity and biological sex in the future? They will emerge as one or one of them will lose all their importance in society?
5. And one of the hottest topics everywhere is the bathroom! Who should use which restroom in public?
6. What about pronouns, gender-neutral ones? Do you think they should be used? If not used, do you think that should be punishable?
7. What do you think the main issues related to this topic are?
8. From your experience, do you have any suggestions that can help me understand more the issues mentioned above or just express your perspective?
I know that I’m laying so many questions, but I want to inform myself, do better and be better.
Source of Information:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2020/06/15/the-myth-of-biological-sex/?sh=17ca50f776b9
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/health/transgender-trump-biology.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00819-0
https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-do-trans-athletes-have-an-advantage-in-elite-sport/a-58583988
