Defending the Sex Binary: Examining Intersex Conditions and Hermaphroditic Species Through a Biological Lens
An excerpt from the book "A Billion Years of Sex Differences" that examines three common challenges to the validity of the sex binary and the concepts of "female" and "male": intersex conditions (where individuals have a mix of female-typical and male-typical traits), hermaphroditic species (where individuals have both reproductive functions or change sex), and other biological variations. The piece argues for the biological validity of the sex binary despite these edge cases.
Key quotes
In this installment, I explore three common challenges to the validity of the sex binary and the concepts of 'female' and 'male.'
Intersex conditions: conditions in which people - or other animals - have a mixture of female-typical and male-typical traits
Hermaphroditic species: species in which individuals have both female and male reproductive functions, or change sex during the course of their life
From the article
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