Artifact 1: Sex and Gender

Sex is determined by biological factors in the womb or at birth due to the expression of hormones and the activation of the SRY gene. To simplify it XX is female and XY is male, however some events can occur to cause an XX male or other genetic variations such as XXY and hermaphroditism in which both male and female gonads are present.

Gender is identifying as either male or female, usually based on the cultural and social roles of each gender rather than being based on biology. Having roles and expectations assigned to each gender means that the two genders are distinct and separated with little or no crossover. This causes the polarization of jobs and activities, sometimes to the point where only men can do some types of jobs and only women can do other types of jobs. For example, men are expected to go out and work to provide an income while the woman stays at home as a caretaker. This leads to the possibility of discrimination when either gender attempts to participate in something that is seen as not their role, such as a woman being the provider in the family or the male staying at home to raise the kids.

Now as we become more open minded to people that break the male and female gender roles there are some people that don’t conform to either gender or both genders with their gender expression. These people are known as non-binary and can be anywhere on the spectrum between male and female. Since being gender binary is normal currently, people who are non-gender binary might feel abnormal and ostracized by society since they don’t fit into one of the two groups.

Third gender is similar to non-binary, because third gender are people who either themselves or society see as neither male or female, but is different from non-binary because it is based off of physical traits instead of gender expression. Third gender can also be seen as transgender.

The Hijra is a transgender community in India where males will have an operation to cut off their male gonads, and are officially considered a third gender in south Asian countries. The Hijra is based off Hindu religion and was culturally accepted in India until British colonialism brought its religion and morals to India. Today in India Hijra have the option to put third gender on passports and some official documents. While Hijras are recognized, they are still discriminated against and their main sources of income are sex work and working ceremonies. Beatings of Hijra in public places are fairly common, and HIV is rampant among the Hijra. Since India recriminalized homosexual sex in 2013, there has been an increase in physical, psychological and sexual violence against the Hijra. Sexual assault against Hijra is also going uninvestigated.

Our attitude towards gender nonconforming people, excluding countries ruled strongly by religion, are opening up to the idea that there are people out there that don’t conform to the male and female binary and the sex they are born with.  This however doesn’t mean that transgender and non-binary people have it easy or that it is getting better at a substantial rate. While the culture is changing, it is doing so very slowly. Most people when you ask about the subject just say let them do what they want to do as long as it doesn’t affect anyone else. The best thing I think that can happen to help the transgender community is for science to find something concrete that makes that difference. I personally thought the nonbinary issue was based off of mental health, but I took a reproduction class and we discussed all the different ways that gene expression and hormones can get messed up during a fetus’ development and there are endless possibilities on things that can go wrong. Also, there have been differences found in male and female brains such as inter and intra hemispherical connections in the brain. So why can’t a outwardly appearing male have a female brain, or vise versa.