Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex

Rebecca R. Helm tweeted this insightful thread about the complications of classifying biological sex and how it’s not as black and white as many random people on the internet claim. Of course the people making these claims don’t have any actual scientific knowledge on the subject. They are operating on a Kindergarten Cop, “Boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina” level. But as anyone who’s read about the subject beyond a grade school level knows, it’s just not that simple:

Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex

Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex

Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex
Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex

Source: Rebecca R. Helm

(via: Geek Girls)

Regardless of your understanding of the science, or your personal beliefs, the biggest takeaway here should be that last line: Biology is complicated. Kindness and respect don’t have to be.

[Please keep transphobia and hate speech out of the comment section below.]

8 thoughts on “Biologist Explains The Complexities of Biological Sex

  1. Interesting. What I’ve thought for a long time-there’s a range. It seems like it’s getting a lot fuzzier though.

  2. I don’t need several hundred words to show the flip side of that coin. Just one movie quote.

    “Boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina.” ~ Joseph, “Kindergarten Cop”, 1990

    1. Haha, you’re literally the guy from the article intro: “..it’s not as black and white as many random people on the internet claim. Of course the people making these claims don’t have any actual scientific knowledge on the subject. They are operating on a Kindergarten Cop, “Boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina” level. But as anyone who’s read about the subject beyond a grade school level knows, it’s just not that simple…”

    2. Do you question math as well? Over the course of your life, you first learn that only positive numbers exist. Then, you can suddenly have negative numbers! Then, fractions??? Or numbers that are not even fractions, like square root of 3? Wth are these? But at least that’s all, because everyone tells you that a square root of a negative number is impossible, right? WRONG, there’s i, the sqrt(-1)! Or letters in math???

      But with math you don’t go back and say “well in kindergarten they only told me I can add and subtract!”, so why are you so adamant on kindergarten biology being fully, absolutely correct?

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