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How many genders are there?

I'm having a debate with my friend, she is saying that there is more than 2 genders but I disagree. Whats your opinion - and do you agree that it is right to have more than two? :smile:

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Reply 1

Axiomasher

Original post by Heidi_16

I'm having a debate with my friend, she is saying that there is more than 2 genders but I disagree. Whats your opinion - and do you agree that it is right to have more than two? :smile:

For practical purposes there are two sexes (male and female) but as 'gender' is composed of behaviour and identities (usually associates with, but not determined by, those two sexes) there can be a degree of fluidity. What if, for example, you sometimes feel like a woman and sometimes feel like a man, or you always feel like something in the middle?

573 give or take.

2 sexes and 3 genders - masculine, feminine and androgynous. This is my opinion and tbh not up to arguing about it or trying to prove it, because it can't be proved as it is an opinion and not fact.

Reply 4

monkeyman0121

Too many for me to remember.

Reply 5

Know Your Enemy

Biologically, I'd say there's 2 (i.e male and female). There are also minority cases where one is born with both genetalia but I'm assuming these people have one surgically removed.

Like others, however, I'd say gender is more along the lines of how you chose to identify/what you feel your actual sex is. Tbh I don't know what most of the terms even mean but I count trans as a gender so I guess there's 3. Don't know what demigender, etc even are.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 6

Know Your Enemy

Original post by Plantagenet Crown

573 give or take.

Is attack helicopter one?

Reply 7

Plantagenet Crown

Original post by Know Your Enemy

Is attack helicopter one?

Of course.

Reply 8

last_ottoman

in my opinion i believe there is only two and no more i dont believe in that "malarky" of many genders some people say 69 some say 100000 lets be honest the one number 90% of the world agree with is 2 so it must only be 2 or 3 if u count trans which is fine

Reply 9

UWS

There are 10 genders because gender is binary :emo:

Reply 10

bluemuffin

Original post by UWS

There are 10 genders because gender is binary :emo:

Ahaha nice

One

Original post by UWS

There are 10 genders because gender is binary :emo:

Good one. What if it was octal?

Reply 13

username3684524

Well, according to the Oxford dictionary, gender is defined as:


Either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. The term is also used more broadly to denote a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.

So by definition, you would say that there are two. A 'modern' approach to it would be that male and female are at two ends of the spectrum, and all of the other genders you hear of lie somewhere in between. People who agree with the 'modern' approach would therefore have to say that there are infinite genders, since it's a spectrum and you could fit infinite genders within that spectrum.

And now also taking a look at a Wikipedia entry on 'Sex and gender distinction':


The distinction between sex and gender differentiates sex (the anatomy of an individual's reproductive system, and secondary sex characteristics) from gender, which can refer to either social roles based on the sex of the person (gender role) or personal identification of one's own gender based on an internal awareness (gender identity).^[1]^[2] In some circumstances, an individual's assigned sex and gender do not align, and the person may be transgender.^[1] In other cases, an individual may have biological sex characteristics that complicate sex assignment, and the person may be intersex.
The sex and gender distinction is not universal. In ordinary speech, sex and gender are often used interchangeably.^[3]^[4] Some dictionaries and academic disciplines give them different definitions while others do not. Some languages, such as German or Finnish, have no separate words for sex and gender, and the distinction has to be made through context. On occasion, using the English word "gender" is appropriate.^[5]^[6]
Among scientists, the term sex differences (as compared to gender differences) is typically applied to sexually dimorphic traits that are hypothesized to be evolved consequences of sexual selection.^[7]^[8]

So I guess to answer your question...

How many genders are there?
There are currently two, male and female, but there is an effort by the progressive left to change this to be more inclusive for those who feel that they don't align.

At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter whatsoever, and quite frankly there are greater issues in life than your 'gender' that you identify as not being recognised officially or publicly. :smile:

Reply 14

username3832246

Does it really matter?

Reply 15

username3809958

Sex is biological, gender is not. Gender describes an identity that is not necessarily dependent on sex, therefore, is really only determinable by the individual. I am not non-cisgender, nor would I ever encourage it, but I strongly believe denying the existence of multiple genders despite gender being a solely human construct is just the result of archaic safety nets surrounding the topic of LGBT; if you can deny something, you don't even have to begin arguing ethics.