• Question: how many genders are there

    Asked by Girl magnet to Gavin, Karen, Mark, Michel, Roisin on 9 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Karen

      Karen answered on 9 Nov 2016:

      Hi Girl magnet…
      The are 2 genders male and female. However the are some conditions whereby the definition of gender is ambiguous. For example occasionally babies are born with ambiguous genitalia where it is impossible to tell their gender in the traditional way. Chromosomal analysis can determine the genetic gender but the external genitalia in girl may resemble a boys and vice Versa. Also there are some individuals who believe that they have been born the wrong sex and have gender dysmorphia. It is possible for them to officially change the gender on their birth certificate,a decision I’m sure nobody would take lightly and one that should be respected.

    • Photo: Gavin Coleman

      Gavin Coleman answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      Biologically speaking, there are 2 genders (some people refer to these as sexes to avoid ambiguity) decided by x/y chromosomes, bundles of genetic data that program the functions of how your body works. There are some disorders that can interfere with this, leading to some physical changes.
      In terms of psychology or social interaction, there appears to be any number of genders, many of which we can currently attribute to a thing called gender dysmorphia, where a person’s psychological gender (what they identify as) doesn’t match their biological gender/sex. It’s very early in our scientific understanding of how this works, but obviously any person regardless of gender is much the same as anybody else.

    • Photo: Roisin Jones

      Roisin Jones answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      Great answers Gavin and Karen, don’t think there’s anything I can add here!

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