Thursday, March 24, 2011

What makes a man?

I know the obvious answer would be having male genitalia and yes this makes a majority of men physically men.  But there are many women born with male genitalia and many men born without.  So that is not the
defining factor.  It is what doctors use though when deciding what sex a newborn is.  So let us explore this more.  Let us examine the issue of brain sex.  This means having a masculine wired brain or a feminine wired brain.  Now this can have many manifestations.  We can have physical men with male brains, physical men with women's brains, physical women with female brains and physical women with male brains.  This can show many ways, it doesn't necessarily mean that a man with a female brain, or a woman with a male brain think they should have be born the opposite sex necessarily.  Nobody really knows what causes transsexuality so we will not even give theories on than.  So a male brain, and a male gender identity play a big part in making a man.  Another compononent to me that makes a man is how he behaves and reacts to life's situations.  I would love feedback on this, good, bad, indifferent.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I actually wrote a story with that exact title! In it, I tried to explore (unsuccessfully, I think -- it wasn't great work) some of these same issues.

What would happen if male and female genitalia were magically switched across the world (men were given female reproductive organs, and women, male)? Given that there were no other physical changes (except those obvious to the genitalia change, such as child bearing), how would our world react?

I theorize that much of what we consider male and female behavior is determined by the ability or inability to bear children. Not specific to any one person, but over time, I think that female behavior has become what it is based on the issues which arise from that one thing.

With that in mind, I wrote my story in such a way that men changed gradually over a century to act more feminine I'm no scientist or anything, so I can't say that it would hold up to real scrutiny.

But I did enjoy writing it, so I guess there's that.

As to your question: I think what we consider "male" and "female" is a set of learned (over the span of human existence) behaviors. Do those behaviors coincide with physiological brain differences? Definitely. But I think the root of it all is reproduction.

The real doozy is this: now that women don't (and haven't for decades) face a lot of the complications associated with bearing children, will our perceptions of what is masculine and feminine change? If so, are we changing already?

There are a lot of good questions about gender identity, and I can't even begin to discuss all of them. But it is fun to think about.

Lesley Charles said...

Nikki J, I agree with you. Already I have seen some changes in what children can play with. When I was a child in the late 60's and early 70's it was more stereotypical. Girls played with dolls and tea sets and boys played with trucks and cars. I remember how my family freaked out when I wanted dolls and other girly stuff. Now, I was reading a letter from a father of an effeminate son, while the behavior bother the father a little bit, he still tries to accept his son. I may have to read that story of yours, it sounds interesting. Being transgendered, I do like to question things. Like if I could be accepted as a woman by just dressing up, would I feel the need to alter my body? Thank you again, for your comments they are definitely thought provoking.