Sexes on a spectrum

 So it's been awhile. But one thing has been reverberating in my brain over the last six months. It was a whisper a few years ago. But seeing this chart a few months ago. It changed a lot for me. Especially how I view some people. Understand some people. 

The Sex Spectrum

This is a chart (and it's corresponding link) demonstrating the sex spectrum. Now for most people when they hear the term sex they think in the binary. Male or female. The problem is it is a bit more complex than that. The chart above demonstrates a spectrum from unambiguously male on the right to unambiguously female on the left with mixed or dual expression in the middle. 

There's a lot on this chart to take in from genetic, gonadal, and hormonal standpoints. Something so simple for most people in society. Male or female isn't so easy.  

Further research led me to realize that 1.7% of the population has an intersex trait and .5% have a clinically identifiable variation. Now that may not seem like a lot but let's put that in real numbers. Almost 1 in 50 will have an intersex trait. In in 200 will have clinically identifiable variations. Scaled to the US that means 1.66 million. 

That isn't nothing. 

We have debates right now about how about what it means to be a woman. And many people scoff, they'll say someone who can be pregnant. They might say someone who is hormonally, chromosomally, or has genitals that present as woman. But they're missing pieces of the puzzle and there are exceptions to all of those. And there are people who don't fit into any category in the binary. We can have the same discussion on what it means to be a man. 

I think we need to realize that as we come to understand this biological complexity, it can become easier to understand why there are exceptions and why this is so hard. 

In western societies, culture, religion, and what we did know of the science, limited discourse on this topic. Now we're confronted with it. Now I know more so I must do better.

When it comes to transgender issues I used to struggle a lot with acceptance of people as who they presented themselves to be. I used to think there was two sexes how can anyone could wonder if their gender was correct. Then I sat through human development class. I studied this complexity and I was shook. I realized if the sexes were this complex, how could we definitively dismiss a transgender person? How could we judge someone's appearance?

Socially speaking male and female roles vary so much from time, place, culture. If sex is this much more complicated. How much more is social and psychological presentations of gender in an individual. I'm not at a place to judge or pass condemnation. Not one bit. 

Now I had this scientific awakening. I had a social sciences awakening. And I still had my faith, my scriptural understanding, doctrines etc. They didn't prepare me for this knowledge. It just wasn't there. So I came a place of growth. Faith exists partially because we can't answer all of these questions. Period. I have faith because dogmatically there isn't a doctrinal answer to square my science brain and my spirituality. Yet. I hold out hope that someday there will be. 

In the mean time. I've studied a bit about this complexity. I've researched this for understanding. And I've spoken to people who have different paths and journeys to me. It's changing how I interact with people. How I support them. I hope it's for the better. 

It pains me that gender identity, sexual identity etc has become such a hot spot and lightning rod. Policy is being discussed and decided on these subjects regularly. We can't hide from it. It's my hope that we can be more informed as we move forward to benefit the most people in society.