Biological gender is not fixed

[Guest LizMarie]

A fascinating new report says that biological gender is not fixed and must be maintained by the organism throughout its lifespan or it can revert. More and more science is coming to light that helps demonstrate we are not "freaks" nor are we "sick in the head" (as my eldest son accused me of being).

This doesn't change anything emotionally and psychologically for me but it gives the curious scientist in me further satisfaction in learning to understand myself. This also likely does not apply directly to most transsexual individuals but it does provide further evidence of the malleability of even biological gender.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-gene-required-male-sex-life.html

[Cyndee]

yeah, quite interesting Liz. I flat gave up long ago on trying to maintain any XY cells It just hurt my head to do so.

C -

[VickySGV]

This is going to drive a couple of my ultra male acquaintances absolutely crazy with fear. I can see a new ad for the gym down the street!!!

[Guest KimberlyF]

Interesting from a scientific POV, but as for those who have accepted me, I've never referenced a study of any kind-including those who didn't accept at first. Anyone who has an issue won't be swayed by something like this. There isn't any cause/effect.

A much bigger story would have been a whole bunch of MtF TSs walking around who then tested with a mix of XX and XY after maybe fathering kids.

Couldn't that be one logical result of this result happening in nature instead of a lab?

[Guest DianeATL]

Interesting reading. The bottom line is we don't know more than we know about science and especially living organisms.

[Drea]

It doesn't seem very significant to me. The finding seems quite intuitive in the same way that if one disables a gene for some other function it will affect that function.

Now I've seen lots of folks consumed with the need to justify themselves in order to be comfortable for themselves or something to tell others they are just "normal".

In my view folks would be better off accepting themselves fully. Not some sort of conditional self acceptance that relies on the belief that they are normal and the need for others to see them as normal. Or in the last ditch, deny there is any such thing as normal. Sorry to say it, the rest of the world out there, that world so many want to get acceptance from, does have concepts about what is normal and not.

I've seen so many folks lose the opportunity to gain acceptance because of the need for others to agree it is normal or on the insistence this is normal. If we can't accept ourselves fully, how can we expect others to accept us? If we can't recognize it isn't the norm, we just look crazy to them and out of touch with reality.

For me it is a medical issue. As such it certainly isn't the norm. So is it a medical issue or is it a lifestyle choice?

Gays have gained a great deal of acceptance. Do most non-gay consider homosexuality normal? Doesn't seem to be the case to me, yet folks have come to accept it.

So while an interesting scientific tidbit, I think it means little to trans.

[Guest Bellexia]

Drea nailed it hard. This is not normal, won't ever be, as for me I have long accepted this. I don't like it but I have accepted it, however there are days when see normal as the most boring thing one can be. As far as the article goes, science in this seems like I don't know, I just feel like this was going to be rather obvious and confirming for many. Hell whatever helps people. I think that's all that matter in the end.

[Guest Seanna]

I don't really see this as a demonstration that trans is normal. I don't particularly see how this relates to trans issues at all EXCEPT that I can see possible future applications from this research which may benefit those in transition. The article said that removing this gene causes testes to more closely resemble ovaries and vice versa, but didn't specify whether or not that meant that they would start producing the corresponding hormones. If this is the case, or even otherwise possible through related studies, it could eliminate the need for long-term HRT. How awesome would that be!?

~Sheala

[Guest Bellexia]

They've been saying this for years, how is it new? Hell just google "gene therapy" and you will surely find some articles dating back to 2010. At any rate, even if it has been proven or whatever sciency term that is, it will still be years before implementation, and god knows how it will affect those already on hrt or well past their prime. For all we know, it would turn those already on hrt into zombies or something lulzy. I mean it's great yeah, don't get me wrong. I think it's just a bit soon before this is implemented. Great news for the next gen, bad news for us. How does it relate to trans issues? Honestly, what other group could this possibly relate to? Cisgender non dysphorics aren't likely to be interested in swapping gender. Hit me up when they get further in genetic splicing. Amber wants herself a fox tail.

[Sakura]

Really only transsexuals see being trans as normal. in reality though. it is likely to be one of the most abnormal psycho-soical disorders. The very nature of what we are points to extreme abnormality in our brain for if it were normal then there would be no need to change our precived sex and gender roles to make it congruent with our minds. In the cisgendered mind one is either male or female and this black and white view of gender is contingent of what sex organs one has. it is not thier fault really, nature intends for ones gender and pyshical sex to be in perfect congruence . and since theirs is to them, thier sex and gender are one in the same. so they believe it to be true for all individuals. it is a view as hard wired into their brains as gender dysphoira is wired into ours.

Thousands of dollars in therapys HRT doctors visits , surgery. the complete and total upheaval of ones life. It is hardly what i would confuse for being normal or most other people for that matter. I stopped looking for a reason a long time ago. it just is what it is a. a deeply rooted medical condition, no i didn't choose it . i just chose to do something about it.

[Guest LizMarie]

There are also genetic chimeras, which are often combinations of genes in a single individual. That condition appears to occur when fraternal twins occur within the womb but one twin fails and is absorbed into the other. There have been cases there of persons with high percentages of their siblings genetic material. There are even cases where women were accused of not being the mother of the child that everyone watched her carry and give birth to. But genetic chimeras are distinct and different from what was discussed in the original link.

My only point in this is that nature seems quite content to play with genetic diversity even within a species, not homogeneous uniformity, despite many cultures' attempts to enforce that.

As I said at the beginning, this is more a matter of curiosity for me. I enjoy reading and studying about everything from foam metals to hypercapacitors to cosmological physics to genetics (a friend is a molecular biologist who specializes in genetics) to geophysical sciences (as that relates to my job). And within the last two years, I've begun reading extensively of what's known about the transsexual condition, how it might arise, etc. I enjoy sharing these things. I hope my sharing hasn't upset anyone.

[JenniferB]

This medical breakthrough only affects the outer shell. We won't change at the core, so this research really doesn't help to understand transsexuality at all IMO.

Jenny

[Guest Berry Picker]

Love the idea of it!! I am just too lazy to read it But gender studies are quite fascinating!