I want to take a moment to address an issue of particular interest in present times, gay marriage. I have chosen to approach this topic from a path of rationality rather than untamed passion. Let us define gay marriage in its simplest of form, the union between two members of the same sex- a man and a man or a woman and a woman. However, it is this very point I wish to put into question.
What defines gender? Is it genetics? Anatomy? Perhaps personality? It is the very notion of categorizing people into two distinct collections that adds to the trouble brooding ominously in the air. For the majority of the population, these components are in harmony. We, however, are not dealing with the majority. If inconsistency comprised the majority, than by nature, our self-governance would be accounted by this. We are always dealing with the minority, whether imaginary or tangible. It is derived from our needs to find meaning and purpose to the foreign.
So again, what defines gender? Think you are up for the task of labeling, then take a gander at the following examples:
(Note: XY = genetically “male” & XX = genetically “female”)
1. An XY is being circumcised but the surgeon slips and cauterizes his penis.
2. A transsexual, a person who identifies w/ the other sex and has transitioned to the other sex by means of hormone treatment or sex reassignment surgery (An XY with a clitoris or an XX with a penis)
3. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) = XX chromosomes that possess a genetic defect in corticosteroid synthesis (cannot produce cortisol), which leads to high levels of androgens prenatally because the brain is under the assumption the body needs cortisol. Since the enzyme to convert androgens to cortisol is defective, it produces increasingly higher doses of its precursor, androgens. It is eventually converted to testosterone, rather than the targeted cortisol. This leads to androgenized genitalia, such as an enlarged clitoris and fused labia. CAH patients tend to play more with boys’ toys, are more active, engage in rough-and-tumble play, labeled as tomboys, and attracted to women.
I challenge you to question a rule about a minority that was created within the constraints of its majority. Trying to compare apples and oranges… looks like we are all FRUITS in the end.
