GC: With the potential for future advancements in medical technology, what does this mean for the immutability of biological sex?

submitted by transwomanHesitantly QT? from (self.GCdebatesQT)

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[–]MezozoicGaygay male 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

The problem with this, is that to change someone's sex completely and fully doctors would need to replace whole skeleton and muscles, a lot of inner organs like heart, lungs, add new organs, add or remove some parts of the brain that are there to control hormonal levels. So in general - doctors will need to replace 80-90+% of human's body for it to be different sex (and if speaking about chromosomes, then 100% of body need to be replaced). And with that it will be easier to just create a new person from scracth. As majority of sex related changes are done to individuals in mother's womb before the birth, then in few months right after the birth, and "cosmetic" and "finishing" changes are done during puberty.

Technically, if doctors can make someone to produce one type of gametes, and to be able to use them, with all the consequences and ability to make healthy ofsprings - then it will be possible to call someone of that sex. This means that Female to Male transition theoretically possible, and Male to Female almost impossible, because of the amount of needed changes.

People still will have experience of the sex they grown up, so they will act like their previous sex still. Socialization is not innate and not based on biology.

[–]transwomanHesitantly QT?[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Thanks for you input! Things like skeletal structure are something that probably won't ever be able to change, and it would certainly be easier to just create a whole human from scratch at that point. Also I agree that in a gendered society something like socialization can not be medically/scientifically created, unless we start talking about transhumanism and what that could mean for human conciousness. Just curious, but do you think that in a genderless society (or a society without gendered socialization) that someone who undergoes a medical/surgical process to "become" female is just as female as someone who was born female from birth? Or do you think, on some level, there's a kind of "sexed socialization" that would exist outside of gendered socialization which in turn would make them very different?

[–]MezozoicGaygay male 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Will they live through their first menstruation in age of 8-10? Will they live though puberty and feel pain of growing up, male gaze and being sexualized? And other things I only know from my women friends experience. You will be different person if you skip that all. Imagine yourself being put into capsule to sleep in 10 years and then waking up when you are 20. You will be just 10 years old in a different unknown body. However, technically they will be a woman, just without the experience of a woman prior to this point, and without understanding of some women talks.

[–]transwomanHesitantly QT?[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That makes a lot of sense to me. I do think we should establish a difference between gendered socialization and sexed socialization, however.

Things such as menstruation at a young age and puberty would likely fit into the category of sexed socialization that could never be eradicated from society, simply because it's based in biological processes. Things such as the male gaze and being sexualized would likely fit into the category of gendered socialization, which could eventually be eradicated by eliminating patriarchal structures and combating toxic masculinity.

I think I agree that even in a genderless society, we would still notice key differences in someone who got a "complete" sex change from male to female compared to someone who is female from birth, just based on biologically based factors of sexed socialization.