2025/07/07 by Letitia Meynell · 1 voice
Medicine · Social Sciences · #Intellectual Property Law #Medical and Biological Sciences
paper · doi:10.3998/ptpbio.5905
openalex publication_date 2025/07/07 · openalex created_date 2025/07/07 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This paper brings a species-inclusive, biologically grounded lens to the question, are there two and only two sexes? Insofar as the terms associated with sex are used to pick out taxa where reproduction is typically achieved through the fusion of two gametes of different sizes, the answer is yes. Insofar as the terms associated with sex are used to pick out morphs within a species, the answer is often no, though the question is an empirical one and must be addressed species by species. Within our own species, where we have species-typical primary and secondary sex characteristics that usually align with gametic differences, there are many naturally occurring developmental differences that do not so align. Gender, though often confused with sex, is something else altogether, being a sociocultural kind rather than a biological one. However, because the social roles and norms associated with a particular gender are frequently assigned on the basis of a sex ascription, gender is often experienced as inextricably entwined with sex. Moreover, in cultural animals, gender and sex traits are generally the result of the interactions between biological and social causes. I conclude that the idea that there are two and only two sexes in our own species is simply false, as is the idea that gender can be reduced to secondary sex characteristics.