tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post2302153857241926426..comments2024-03-26T16:19:11.382-07:00Comments on Crossdreamers: Two bizarre science stories about sex and gender (2)Sally Molayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015510914816971645noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post-34352371606495355662011-12-15T00:55:59.737-08:002011-12-15T00:55:59.737-08:00It's been posited by those who know something ...It's been posited by those who know something of parasitology, that that male homosexuality could be the result of the hijacking of the brain of the human male by a parasite.<br /><br />While many think it makes sense, it's usually true that we'd find the larval stage of such a parasite, unless it's a parasite unknown to us or unless it's simply not easy to find.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post-2328385693750057682011-09-22T07:16:54.653-07:002011-09-22T07:16:54.653-07:00@femslut
This is true. And it gets even more comp...@femslut<br /><br />This is true. And it gets even more complicated. Some Norwegian dialects are like Danish, there are two genders: masculine and neuter. Most dialects have three: masculine, feminine and neuter, but what noun is given what gender may vary. Still, given that men and manly things are normally given the masculine gender and women and feminine things the feminine gender, I am sure people do consciously or unconsciously associate some of these words with values associated with men and women.<br /><br />The most dramatic expression of this relationship in my country is found in the county of Trøndelag. The word for girl is "jente" in traditional Norwegian. In Trøndelag they will often use the word "Veikje", which means (hold on to your hats!) "the weak one".Jack Molayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03629363646482611722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post-46356743227461381942011-09-14T18:18:43.225-07:002011-09-14T18:18:43.225-07:00The linguistic term "gender" when referr...The linguistic term "gender" when referring to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_class" rel="nofollow">noun class</a> derives from Latin genus (also the root of genre) which originally meant "kind", so it does not necessarily have a meaning associated with biological sex or gender. <br /><br />For instance Swahili has <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_language#Noun_classes" rel="nofollow">sixteen grammatical genders</a> none of which can be fairly labeled "masculine" or "feminine".femslut21https://www.blogger.com/profile/00160764526679344614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post-68281063430149171412011-09-14T18:02:42.696-07:002011-09-14T18:02:42.696-07:00Your description of the Dyirbal language isn't...Your description of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyirbal_language" rel="nofollow">the Dyirbal language</a> isn't quite correct. It has four <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender" rel="nofollow">grammatical genders</a>:<br /><br />1) - most animate objects, men<br />2) - women, water, fire, violence, and exceptional animals<br />3) - edible fruit and vegetables<br />4) - miscellaneous (includes things not classifiable in the first three)femslut21https://www.blogger.com/profile/00160764526679344614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post-14210677775436432282011-09-12T23:11:05.461-07:002011-09-12T23:11:05.461-07:00The point is not to say that the boy and the girl ...The point is not to say that the boy and the girl is not of different sex.<br /><br />The point is that our expectations of how a boy or a girl should behave forces the kids that do not fit that mould to adapt.<br /><br />Hence an outgoing, aggressive and assertive girl learns that she has to be quiet and sweet, to get the praise she wants from her parents.<br /><br />If you change the social context, girls with an assertive personality will find it easier to express their true nature. <br /><br />The number experiment shows that people have been programmed to think of boys as "number 1" -- i.e. the first, the leading, the best, and they unconsciously give babies such values if they are accompanied by such a number. I find that both fascinating and depressing.<br /><br />As for the crab still being male. Yes, if you define male as having XY chromosomes or a penis. But if you do that, you must also argue that a transwoman is a man, given that she has been born in a male body. For me that makes the word "male" useless. It does not capture the complexity of the real world. The transwomen shows me that you may be a female, even if you are born in a male body.<br /><br />I have no idea about how the crab feels about this. I present this story to underline the complexity of it all. I do not think transwomen have been taken over by a body snatcher :)Jack Molayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03629363646482611722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post-52896387881080216052011-09-12T22:33:02.615-07:002011-09-12T22:33:02.615-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jack Molayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03629363646482611722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472400923228993687.post-70234029813909233132011-09-12T19:22:37.432-07:002011-09-12T19:22:37.432-07:00I suppose that instead of numbers someone could pu...I suppose that instead of numbers someone could put different fruits and vegetables next to a baby's faces to prove that fruits and vegetables have gender... Or maybe they can try using different kinds of rocks to show how rocks have gender... <br /><br />Do people actually get paid to do this kind of research? <br /><br />No matter what our expectations are towards a baby in pink versus a baby in blue or what numbers are held next to their face, it does not and can not change the reality that the baby girl is a girl and the baby boy is a boy.<br /><br />Just because a parasite hijacks the mind of a male crab making him behave differently does not change the fact that he is still a male crab. <br /><br />And a computer does not have a gender no matter what kind of voice it has or even if it is named "HAL"...Robyn Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00655968146251274730noreply@blogger.com