Gender Blending: Is it Wrong?

[Michlow]

Originally Posted by Prodigal

Consideration should be given to the fact that an estimated 1 in 1500 are born "intersexed" or are determined to be neither exclusively male or female. Actual rates are higher since these rates are determined when a "specialist" in sex assignment is called in.

Depending on "culture", intersexed individuals have been expected to conform to either a male or female "gender role". In some cultures, intersexed individuals are included in a "third gender" classification.

To quote the Intersex Society of North America:

"In cases of intersex, doctors and parents need to recognize, however, that gender assignment of infants with intersex conditions as boy or girl, as with assignment of any infant, is preliminary. Any child—intersex or not—may decide later in life that she or he was given the wrong gender assignment; but children with certain intersex conditions have significantly higher rates of gender transition than the general population, with or without treatment".

It would appear that based on these scientic facts, not everyone is born either exclusively male or female, and that "gender identity" is more of what is between your ears rather than what form of genitalia you were born with.

I would think that the occurance of intersexed births would blur the lines of sexual/gender distinctives that are typically culturally based.

Thank you for being the voice of reason in this discussion.

As much as some people would like it to be, it's not a black or white issue. So much of gender is biological. And just as someone can be born with both types of genetalia, there is also the possibility of too much (or too little) of a particular type of hormone.

Hypothetically, if a male has too little testosterone, and too much estrogen floating around in his body, can we call his effeminate nature sinful?