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OFFTOPIC: Gender

From:John Cowan <cowan@...>
Date:Friday, October 23, 1998, 18:58
Raimundus A. Brown scripsit:

> And those who discuss gender differences are concerned with whole socially > constructed categories that may have little or no real connexion with > biological sex. Indeed, without wishing to be at all contentious, it seems > to me that one could have a contact who is biological 'male'but socially > 'feminine', and likewise a socially 'masculine' contact who is biologically > 'female'.
Just so, but it is the gender, not the sex, categories that we usually wish to remember, unless we are concerned with reproduction. So I suggest that the "gender" option is correct, but should have as values "masculine", "feminine", and an option for entering other values.
> Indeed, it's my > understanding (possibly wrong) that those actually concerned with "gender > issues" in the socialogical sense are generally of the opinion that sex > difference is an accident of birth & doesn't count for much, except in > purely biological terms [...]
And indeed sex difference is several different things: configuration of external organs, configuration of internal organs, configuration of chromosomes. These usually agree but not always. -- John Cowan http://www.ccil.org/~cowan cowan@ccil.org You tollerday donsk? N. You tolkatiff scowegian? Nn. You spigotty anglease? Nnn. You phonio saxo? Nnnn. Clear all so! 'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)