• thethunderwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    15 hours ago

    the term “biological sex” doesnt make much sense tho

    what are all of those complex medical treatments trans people can get, if not biology? far more advanced and interesting biology at that

    and “biological sex” isnt a binary either, 1 in 40 people are intersex, mostly with almost no effect, but not in the binary either

    • PapaStevesy@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Sure it does, it’s the sex you have biologically. The second thing you’re talking about is called gender-affirming care and is distinct from biological sex. Both “sex” and “gender” are societal concepts, but sex is descriptive whereas gender is prescriptive. You can read that to mean sex is scientifically determinable, whereas gender is meaninglessly abstract. Sex says, “assuming all your bits work, here’s how you would contribute to the reproductive process.” Gender says, “regardless of what bits you were born with but dependent on what bits people think you were born with, here’s how society will treat you and expect you to behave.” “Biological gender” doesn’t exist, just like “sociological sex” doesn’t exist. So I guess in that sense, “biological sex” doesn’t make sense, because there’s no other kind.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        4 hours ago

        Biology is a term used to describe how your body functions. Hormones changing your body is biology, whether they’re natural or otherwise. “Biological sex” is a dog whistle. It is not a term used by people who are being honest. It’s just sex, or sex assigned at birth. “Biological sex” is a term for bigots to sound like they have science on their side.

    • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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      14 hours ago

      So what do you want to call it then? It’s not like I’m attached to the term itself, but the point is that it’s a useful and necessary concept in some contexts so there needs to be a term that refers to it, and you can’t just assume anyone who uses the most common term to describe it is transphobic.

      And I never said it’s a binary, but if a person is intersex then that’s probably important information for their doctors to know because there may be certain medical complications that they’re more at risk for as a result.

        • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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          4 hours ago

          Thank you, it would have been much easier to say that the first time I asked “what’s a better term if you don’t like that one?” instead of jumping off the deep end and assuming I’m just trying to be transphobic