It’s been cold and I’ve been inside exposed to too much social media—enough to know that chains are being rattled and some people are boldly declaring there are two sexes/genders. They are also declaring they know what a woman is. Defining a woman is a Republican obsession. With their typical heavy hand, the Iowa Legislature may try to define what a woman is.

I hate to break the news to those who think in binary terms but there are not two sexes. Scientists used to think this but now we know more. 

The idea that sex chromosomes consist of a big one, X, and a smaller one, Y, goes back to 1905. The pioneering work was done by Nettie Stevens, who by the way shares my birthday. She discovered that in many species, the tiny chromosome conferred maleness. She studied meal worms to reach her conclusion. Her idea was briefly stolen by a man.

We’ve all learned this in school:  XX means a female, XY means a male. But after nearly 120 years, it’s time to update, because human life is more complicated. Being male or female comes as a result of some biological tug of war, often helped along by chromosomes but not always. Sometimes hormones come into play and anatomy is not always forthcoming.

One to two out of every 100 people will not fit the purely XX female or XY male genetic patterns. The blanket term for this is intersexual. What’s their story? The answer has many twists.

Some people carry the genes of an absorbed twin, and that twin might have been a different sex.

Some have gonads which are different than their chromosomes due to disruptions during sexual development in utero.

Others have genes that give them gonads different than their chromosomes, so an XX person might have male sex organs or an XY person will develop breasts and female sex organs. This is rare, it occurs in one out of 4,500 people. 

A man can have a functioning uterus and even fallopian tubes.

A woman with genetically caused CAH, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, will grow a beard and have ambiguous sex organs.

Men can contain XX cells from their mothers.

Women who have been pregnant with a male can have XY cells lingering inside.

One in 2,000 women have a single X chromosome  (instead of two) in all or some of their cells. It’s called Turner Syndrome and is the second most common genetic disorder of chromosomes.  Several famous people rock their one  X chromosome. Medical treatments can help these people live long and healthy lives. In very rale cases, people diagnosed with Turner syndrome have been later found to have a very small  undeveloped Y chromosome. Some women are born with an extra X chromosome and are XXX.  

Men can have an extra X chromosome and be XXY. It’s called Klinefelter Syndrome. One symptom is having a female public hair pattern (triangle)  vs a male one (diamond). They may opt to have hormone therapy, sometimes choosing to enhance their femaleness and other times their maleness. It is a common condition, affecting one in 650 males and is often not diagnosed. Diagnosis and treatment can help prevent depression and anxiety.

Men can have XYY chromosomes, a condition called Jacobs Syndrome. Some may be abnormally tall and have learning and speech challenges which can cause them to be bullied.

In fact, there are numerous variations of X and Y chromosomes, some associated with problems and mental illness because these individuals feel different from their peers. There is even an association dedicated to those with extra chromosomes. It would help these individuals if they had early diagnosis and understanding.

The whole idea of two easily defined sexes is overly simplistic.  

People can have ambiguous genitals. Or both male and female genitals.

https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8684/statue-of-hermaphroditus-from-pergamon/

Anatomically unclear genders have been among us for most of human history. In some cultures, these humans were considered bad omens and killed at birth. In the ancient Greco-Roman world, hermaphrodites, of which there are 4 types,  were worshiped as gods and popular gods were hermaphrodites. The god of ecstasy, Bacchus, was gender fluid. Gynomorph,  a female with a penis was “the first western god… All of western religion springs from the veneration of a bi-gender entity, known to the ancient world as the Gynomorph.”  There’s even a theory that Jesus wasn’t a traditional man. Adam is thought by some to have been both a man and a woman. You can see where those who believe in The Chain are upset by this ambiguity. 

Biologists say sex is hard to identify because it could be based on anatomy, or chromosomes, or hormones. I haven’t even discussed hormones!  It’s a topic best left to endocrinologists. Making laws about sexual identity, especially when done by the less informed is reckless and possibly malevolent. 

Below: the sponsor of the “define woman” bill ,Heather Hora, a farmer whose farm has had a dispute worth reading about. So far, she won’t answer any questions about the bill or her intent. In fact, she won an election after not answering questions. Despite this, she has a cadre of energetic followers, no doubt eager to defy science and define a woman. She’s even gotten the governor taking up her bill (this is a common bill for conservatives to cling to) and the governor might even try to define a man and sex. I can’t find what the governor majored in ( she made several attempts at college) but I don’t think it was biology.