CRJ #4

CRJ # 4

Anne Fausto-Sterling’s proposal to change the current two-sex system to a five-sex system in human society was fascinating (140). Modern society is entirely geared towards classifying everyone into two sexes, male and female, but this illogical when one considers how many hermaphrodites are born into the world. Over one percent of live births result in some form of an intersex child; that is an extremely high rate to be considered just a birth defect or abnormality. While dividing the sexes into five groups may be a bit extreme, three groups seems like a fair medium. Older cultures such as the Native Americans actually had a three gender system where intersex people had their own active roles inside of the society (125). Society should be more accepting of intersexuals instead of having parents of hermaphroditic children decide if their baby should be a boy or girl almost instantly after birth.

It was shocking to realize how brainwashed everyone on in our society is to the two-gender system. From birth we are taught how to act as either a boy or a girl from the clothing we wear to the toys we play with to how we interact with others. Gender is developed and taught, not biologically assigned. The activities that are assigned to the sexes are based on ancient preconceived notions that have no really justified truth. To be feminine is to be passive, graceful, and gentle while to be masculine is to be strong, aggressive, and dominant. People that challenge these social norms are either judged as homosexual or peculiar. There is no biological reason for these stereotypes. Women, although typically smaller, can be stronger than men especially when it comes to tests of endurance. Men can be extremely emotional at times. People cannot fit inside classified norms. When trying to classify people especially into two polar opposite categories there are too many outsiders. This unfair to a majority of the population.