Assignment 1

In biology, specifically that of Women’s Health at Yale University, which focuses on the biologically differences between sexes and bettering women’s health, “sex” is defined as reproductive classification according to the reproductive organs that are created through XX (female) and XY (male) chromosomes (Mazure 2021). Psychology provides a similar definition, defining “sex” as the biological aspects that make someone male, female, or intersex, including chromosomes, reproductive anatomy, and hormones (Simkus 2023). “Gender” is defined in biology as someone’s self-representation as male or female, which may be different than the sex they were born as (Mazure 2021). Psychology adds quite a bit to this definition, describing “gender” as social roles, behaviors, and expectations placed on different sexes by society. Additionally, psychology describes gender as a broad spectrum that can change over time. It too highlights that someone’s gender may not match the sex they were assigned as birth, and identities may include cisgender, transgender, nonbinary, genderfluid, or agender (Simkus 2023). Both disciplines have almost the exact same definition of sex, which seems to be consistent throughout disciplines. However, the psychological definition of “gender” appears to be much more nuanced. The biological definition for “gender” does not contradict the psychological definition, but it does not contain as much information, which makes sense. Gender is how someone feels and identifies, and thoughts, feelings, and functions of the brain are all key concepts in the psychological field, so it is not surprising to me that the psychological definition explores the idea of gender a bit more. I noticed that the biological definition did not reflect the idea of gender being a spectrum in the same way that the psychological definition did, but it is important to note that the author, Dr. Mazure described that the biological definitions and understanding of sex and gender are important to know, but they are made to change and evolve, highlighting the importance of progression and updated terminology and language use in the biological discipline. Additionally, the psychological definition went on to explain gender conformity, which is how people are socially confined to specific roles and behavior simply because of how their gender is expressed and perceived. Biology and psychology are both incredibly insightful disciplines, and there is not one that is more important or better than the other. Having varying definitions that each offer unique perspectives on sex and gender allow us as learners to create a multi-disciplined of sex in gender in our lives and human society.

Citations

Mazure CM. 2021. What Do We Mean By Sex and Gender? Yale School of Medicine. Women’s Health Research at Yale. What Do We Mean By Sex and Gender? | Yale School of Medicine

Simkus J. 2023. Sex and Gender: What’s The Difference And Why Does It Matter? Simply Psychoogy. Psychology: Child Psychology. What Is The Difference Between Sex and Gender

Assignment 2

Assignment 3

I previously described “sex” using two different scientific disciplines, biology and psychology. Biology described “sex” as the reproductive classification based on XX and XY chromosomes, and psychology defines it as the biological aspects that makes someone male, female, or intersex. If I were to redefine this now, I would be much more skeptical of the biological definition. I think that it leads to a misconception that sex is either male or female, A or B, depending on only XX or XY chromosomes. With what I’ve learned now, I know that there are different chromosomal variations that lead to different biological appearances and functions in intersex people, such as X0, XXY, and both XX and XY DSD. Instead of describing sex as simply XX and XY chromosomes, I would use far more inclusive language, such as the “combination of X and Y chromosomes that determine genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of human reproductive classification.” I think that simply changing around a few words in the definitions that people use every day will work as small steps to ending the stigma around the “two sex” idea that many people in today’s society have.

One thing I learned that changed or altered the way I think about sex and gender was listening to Emily Quinn talk. As someone who has known at least a little bit about intersex people for many years (I definitely know far more now), I never really stopped to think about how societal implications and treatment affected them. As someone who knew about intersex people, I assumed everyone else knew as well, and by that standard they were surely taken care of by medical professionals who know far more about the human body than I do… right? Well, after listening to Emily Quinn, I was unfortunately very far from correct. I had no idea the medical stigma around intersex people was so intense, with doctors pushing surgeries and lying to patients because they would rather tell them that they were dying of cancer than that they were intersex. Our communication around intersex people in class has made me wish that everyone could take a class like this in their lifetime to understand that human biology is not as black and white as we are taught in traditional school and society.

I originally signed up for this class as a requirement for the last Advanced Studies credits I needed to get my degree. Coming into this class, I did not expect to feel as connected to the content as I have, and to engage in it on such a deep level, learning about human and animal biology on a deeper level has been such an interesting experience, and it’s even better to have such a charismatic and passionate professor teaching it who clearly cares about what they’re talking about (it really makes a whole world of a difference). I found myself yesterday sitting down with my boyfriend and talking his ear off about the different things I’ve learned recently, like the types of intersex identities and how they work and how fascinated I was with the content. I don’t have any questions as this time, but I do have many thoughts and feelings about this class, how much it has taught me, and how eager I am to learn more. I am so happy to be able to engage in my learning in this way, and as an added note I really enjoyed our in-class activity we did on March 5th, it really helped to deepen my understanding of the material and learn to apply it, and I hope we get to do more activities like that in the future.