Sex

Sex or gender is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes.

Biology

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into male and female types (or sexes). Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells (gametes) to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents. Gametes can be identical in form and function (known as isogametes), but in many cases an asymmetry has evolved such that two sex-specific types of gametes (heterogametes) exist: male gametes are small, motile, and optimized to transport their genetic information over a distance, while female gametes are large, non-motile and contain the nutrients necessary for the early development of the young organism. An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces: males produce male gametes (spermatozoa, or sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova, or egg cells); individual organisms which produce both male and female gametes are termed hermaphroditic. Frequently, physical differences are associated with the different sexes of an organism; these sexual dimorphisms can reflect the different reproductive pressures the sexes experience.

Sexuality

In the narrower biological sense, sexuality (meaning "sexuality," from late Latin sexualis; from Latin sexus "sex") refers to the existence of two different reproductive types (sexes) of living beings of the same species, each of which is capable of zygotic reproduction only together with a member of the other type (sex). Here, sexuality serves to recombine genetic information. Human sexuality, in the broadest sense, is the totality of human expressions of life, behaviors, emotions, and interactions in relation to their gender. Human biology examines human sexuality in terms of its function in the recombination of genetic information during sexual reproduction. The focus here is on human gender differences between men and women. In the socio- and behavioral-biological sense, human sexuality encompasses the forms of decidedly sexual behavior between sexual partners. Human sexual behavior—like that of many vertebrates—has numerous functions in the social structure of a population beyond reproduction and genome exchange. From a psychological perspective, sexuality can be approached from various perspectives. Sexuality is considered a primary motive for human behavior; it has an instrumental function (reproduction, maintaining an intimate relationship, self-affirmation), and interacts with emotional states.

Only two sexes

With all mammals there are two sexes, and the human being is a mammal. There's the one sex that produces the eggs, has two X chromosomes. That is called female. And there's the other one that produces the sperm, has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. That's called male. And when an egg unites with a sperm, a new being is created. Snails are hermaphrodites. They have both: sperm and egg cells. So they can fertilize themselves. However, they usually mate with another snail. This is because when they mate with themselves, the offspring are absolutely identical in heredity. But when two different organisms mix their genetic material, you have a greater range of variation and thus the offspring are usually more viable. That is why this principle has prevailed in nature. However, the fact that there are hermaphrodites does not change the fact that there are these two germ cells, eggs and sperm, and therefore two sexes. Intersexuality arises from very rare deviations, for example in the chromosome set. But also intersexual people have the characteristics of both sexes, they are not a third sex. There are very "feminine" men and very "masculine" women, which has to do not only with cultural factors, but also with different hormone levels, among other things. There's a huge spectrum. That is what is so exciting. There are people who want to change their sex, but they cannot. They remain XY or XX. The crucial thing is that the fact whether one has a Y-chromosome already affects the development of the embryo during pregnancy and of course also in the adolescent. Boys therefore have different sex characteristics than girls and this cannot be reversed. People retain their sex for life. Of course, it is possible through hormone administration that, for example, a girl who takes testosterone gets a deep voice and beard growth. But from this the girl will not grow testicles and will not produce sperm. And biological males also do not produce eggs and cannot bear children due to hormone doses. The problem with this arises when it comes to irreversible interventions. With the surgeries anyway. But also with the hormones you add something to the body that is not intended there. Hormones cause a great deal in the body - on a wide variety of levels, both physically and psychologically. To dose that properly and to take it all the time, I think is extraordinarily daring. The body can't handle it well in the long run. Every hormone you take has side effects. Taking hormones is dangerous in principle. [...]

At 14, a lot of girls are unhappy during puberty. I know this myself. I was also unhappy at 14 and preferred to be a boy. I wasn't even allowed to put on pants or cut my hair back then. I often cursed myself and thought: I'd rather be a man! Because if you want to do a job like that, where men dominate, then of course you're better off being one. But then you have to find a way to assert yourself. That's what girls need to be advised and supported in. The legislator cannot enable sex reassignment. It only says: From now on, this woman can claim that she is a man. And vice versa. The biological basis cannot be changed at all. And if a man now claims that he is a woman and goes to a sports club to play with the women there, then that is a problem. Because of his male hormones, this person is stronger and runs faster. It's basically like doping. And if you're not even allowed to say that – you can't do that. How one feels can be changed by social and psychological circumstances. But not biological sex. This is completely undisputed where science is really done. Of course, with gender, the social sex, there is a range, while with biological sex there is only female or male. Out. End. Of course, a girl can wish to be called by a boy's name. That already happened with "George" in the "Five Friends". [...] Do they now want to abolish biology classes as well? Do we no longer want to know who we are and how sex is determined? Should no one learn that anymore because it's bad? I do remember, however, that as early as the late 1980s there were smear campaigns against the researcher who discovered the sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome. Apparently, he was accused of doing something terrible to humanity just because he had discovered the gene that stimulates testosterone production. That was completely crazy, I was horrified! But there you can see that people have no idea about biology. The lack of education in this field is quite bad. [...] Just doing research on embryos makes you a villain, because everyone immediately insinuates that you have nothing else in mind but manipulating embryos. All I had to do was open my mouth and say that I was doing research on embryos - even if they were only fly embryos - and I was attacked! Unfortunately, the hostility towards science in Germany is particularly pronounced. It may have improved a little through Corona. Many people saw that science should be listened to. And that it can be unfavorable to claim that the virus doesn't even exist, just because you don't want it to. [...] In principle, it is not possible to ban a lecture because one is of the opinion that there might be something wrong with it. In this case, however, the doctoral student wanted to explain something that is in every textbook. This mixture of sensitivities and moral arrogance coupled with ignorance is simply fatal. [...] Of course the vulva is a female sexual organ! Do we have to take these people seriously? [...] That transsexuals should not be discriminated is quite clear. If people are treated badly, that is bad. But they can't impose their ideas on all people as facts. – Prof. Dr. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist, biochemist and Nobel laureate

See also

• Sexism
• Gender mainstreaming

Further reading

• Otto Weininger: Geschlecht und Charakter – Eine prinzipielle Untersuchung, 1909
• Richard Lynn: Sex Differences in Intelligence – The Developmental Theory, Arktos Media Ltd., London 2021