# [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0) Intro - "Sex not gender", "sex matters", "sex-based rights" - # [4:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=297s) Seeing Sex & Gender [8:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=523s) Essentialism - Sex essentialism doesn't hold up to scrutiny, ignoring the variety and complexity of biology. # [13:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=814s) The Sex/Gender Distinction - The sex/gender distinction is incorrect. # [14:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=875s) Homogenizing vs Holistic Views of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality Homogenizing: they seem to explain why men come out stereotypically masculine and why women come out stereotypically masculine, but can't explain the variety that defies this. Holistic: sex (as well as gender) is multifaceted, variable, and somewhat malleable. # [15:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=959s) Sex Is Multifaceted (a collection of sexually dimorphic traits) Sex is a collection of sexually dimorphic traits, each variable: 1. Chromosomes 2. Gonads 3. Genitals 4. Other reproductive organs 5. Ratio of sex hormones (giving rise to secondary sex characteristics) 6. Secondary sex characteristics (facial hair, breast development) 7. Gametes Somewhere between 1-2% of population is intersex with regard to one or more of these traits. # [16:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=1005s) Sex Is Variable (due to complex traits) As a result of intricate genetic, biochemical, and developmental pathways, most human traits are complex traits, producing bell curves rather than strict binaries. Some sexually dimorphic traits have very little overlap, such as primary sex characteristics, while secondary sex characteristics, such as height, have much overlap. # [20:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=1244s) Sex Is Somewhat Malleable | Unalterable | Removable or Reconfigurable | Completely Alterable | | ------------ | --------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | Chromosomes* | Gonads | Ratio of sex hormones | | Gametes | Genitals | Secondary sex characteristics | | | Other reproductive organs | | \*Trans people's DNA sequence do not change during transition. However, a recent study has shown that gender affirming hormones induces specific sex-specific DNA methylation changes in blood; so even our DNA is alterable to some degree. # [21:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=1301s) What Does "Sex Is Socially Constructed" Mean? People misinterpret "constructed" to mean "fake" or "not real." Sex as socially constructed means that our considerations of sex are shaped by society and social norms. For instance, each of the sex traits are not given equal weight. For example, a cisgender woman who has a hysterectomy is not considered no longer a woman. At birth, sex is assigned based of genitals. However, in everyday perception, it is largely secondary sex characteristics that determine sex, and to some extent, gender expression. # [24:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=1494s) The "Gender Critical" Gamete Gambit The very fact that we can argue over whether a person's social / legal sex (purely social) should be determined by each sex trait, proves that sex is socially constructed. # [26:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=1582s) Does "Brain Sex" Exist? (& why the sex/gender distinction fails) # [29:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=1794s) Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sexual Orientation Gender identity (or, "subconscious sex," as Serrano calls it) is typically congruent with someone's physically sexed bodies. Trans people experience incongruence between their sexed body and gender identity / subconscious sex. Many sexually dimorphic species display "homosexuality" or "transsexuality," showcasing the natural variation of sex. gender identity != gender expression != sexual orientation ➡️ explains gay, butch, trans people. - The conflation of these variables, led to the conflation of different phenomena, such as gay men with trans women. This also led to medical mistreatment such as denying gender affirming care to homosexual or gender nonconforming trans people, pseudoscientific theories such as autogynephilia, disbelieving trans people who didn't display "cross-sex" gender expression as children. "Sexual inversion" was and "women trapped in men's bodies" are a kind of essentialism. The effectiveness of the "born this way" slogan, lies not in essentialism, but in convincing straight people that they can not be affected by us. Complex traits give rise to a variety of outcomes and have a variety of inputs as well as developmental factors and even random noise. This means, we may all be gay or trans for different reasons. There's nothing essentialist or reductionist about this. Once we understand the complexity of traits, discrete categories become too simplistic— "transsexual versus transvestite," "primary versus secondary transsexuals," "homosexual versus autogynephilic transsexual." Gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation are _inclinations_ affected by our upbringing and environment, not fixed and clear categories. _Subconscious sex_ is termed in such a way to free up the term _gender identity_ to more holistically describe how we make sense of our subconscious sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical sex characteristics, and more. Gender identity isn't a matter of whimsy. It's simply when people reflect on and try to make sense of their own personal experiences regarding embodiment, internal desires, societal expectations and meanings. Gender identity is informed by, rather than in denial of, biological sex. # [48:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=2908s) "Brain Sex" Revisited During the 1990s and 2000s, Dick Swaab and colleagues found several tiny regions of the brain that seemed to display sexual dimorphism and, in admittedly small sample sizes, they seemed to appear female-typical in trans women and male-typical in trans men. - These findings are often touted by trans people as a way to justify our identities to trans people. - It's doubtful the way we consciously make sense of our selves can be reduced to a microscopic cluster of brain cells. - Interpretations of brain studies often confuse correlation with causation. Alternatively, these brain regions may have changed due to being on HRT or moving through the world differently. - There's plenty of evidence from trans and intersex people, and from cis people who are reassigned a different sex as infants show that humans seem to possess a deep-seated understanding of our sex— our subconscious sex. Daphne Joel forwards a "mosaic brain" model— brains are comprised of mosaics of male-typical and female-typical patterns. This held true with both cisgender and transgender test subjects. In other words, brain sex is multifaceted, variable, and sometimes variable. # [54:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZymYiwoRoC0&t=3240s) Outro