Post 1: Today we discussed how “sex” and “gender” are defined across different disciplines. Across different medical fields, such as Dentistry and Neuroscience, “sex” is defined from the biological aspects of reproduction, anatomical, and genetic characteristics of individuals. For many of the medical disciplines discussed, this definition is agreed upon; they use “sex” as a means to classify individuals into one group or another, while doing so, emphasize the importance of understand the sex of an patient in order for treatment to be administered. Gender was agreed upon as being a multi-faceted social and cultural construct that covers various aspects of gender roles, expression, attributes, and behavior that society associates with a particular gender of the individual. Interestingly, gender has variation across different cultures and evolution of humans, and is a construct seemingly unique to humans, as it not seen in non-human animals. These definitions have appeared to change over the course of time, and will likely change as we progress further as a society.

Post 2: Verhulst et al. (2010) Audio Discussion

Post 3:

Looking back on my previous definitions of “sex” I’ve found that I have a deeper understanding for the concept and how the definitions across different disciplines does not entirely encompass the whole picture of sex. My initial understanding was from a biological standpoint, especially with a background in the medical field. From this course, I’ve learned that the role, characteristics, and development of sex varies widely across different species and organisms; nevertheless, I feel that my definition is still accurate knowing what I know now. Understanding now, the variation of sex across different species and individuals, I see that it still fits the definition as being “defined from the biological aspects of reproduction, anatomical, and genetic characteristics of individuals.” The sex of an individual with DSD or a hermaphrodite fish still contains these biological aspects even if they might differ from the norm.

Something which made me go “wow” was learning about the hermaphrodite fish who change their sex based on social structure, environment/habitat, or once they reach a certain age/size. This behavior is a really interesting and I was unaware of how prevalent hermaphrodism is across different species. Learning about this concept really highlights the complexity and variation in sex across different species and I would like to learn more about the physiological process behind this.

I think the material we have covered so far in this course has been very interesting and has opened my eyes to the complexity behind sex and gender. I do wonder about the implications of the evolving definition of sex and gender in the field of medicine; I feel that understanding said concepts is important for treating patients.

Podcast

Podcast references:

Achille C, Taggart T, Eaton NR, Osipoff J, Tafuri K, Lane A, Wilson TA. 2020. Longitudinal impact of gender-affirming endocrine intervention on the mental health and well-being of transgender youths: preliminary results. International Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology. 8. https://ijpeonline.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13633-020-00078-2

Mullins ES, Geer R, Metcalf M, Piccola J, Lane A, Conard LE, Kowalczyk Mullins TL. 2021. Thrombosis Risk in

Transgender Adolescents Receiving Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy. Pediatrics. 147(4). https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/147/4/e2020023549/180826/Thrombosis-Risk-in-Transgender-Adolescents?autologincheck=redirected

Olson-Kennedy J, Okonta V, Clark LF, Belzer M. 2018. J Adolescent Health. 62(4):397-401. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7050572/

Rothman MS, Iwamoto SJ. 2019. Bone Health in the Transgender Population. Clin Rev Bone Miner Metab. 17(2):77-85. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6709704/

Tordoff DM, Wanta JW, Collin A, Stepney C, Inwards-Breland DJ, Ahrens K. 2022. Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care. JAMA Network Open. 5(2). https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2789423