Have you ever heard the phrase “gender is a social construct” or “sex is a social construct” and wondered, What does this mean? Well, I (Amelia, a Sexual Health Peer Resource Center counselor and Co-Education Coordinator) am here to talk about the sex and gender binary, one way we can deconstruct it and why!
The cultural, political and moral panic surrounding transness has significantly proliferated as the Trump administration’s harmful policies continuously gut gender affirming care resources; target trans youth in schools, airports and sports programs; deny LGBTQ+ people the language to describe their experiences and generally demonize gender identity. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 616 Anti-LGBTQ bills are currently in action.
This information is horrifying. While sex education cannot reverse harmful policies, understanding sex-ed concepts and learning about marginalized identities can arm us against hate. So, I seek to educate you on sex, gender and genital homology. I want to draw attention to how both the sociocultural and biological fluidity of the supposed gender/sex binary can widely destabilize social systems of power.
Our societal understanding of the gender/sex binary becomes possible through an examination of genital homology. Genital homology is the idea that all human genitalia originate from the same basic structures that eventually mature into adult organs. Genital homology is one biological way we can grapple with the common, false (and forced) perception of a gender/sex binary. Here, focusing on biology can dismantle the common anti-trans argument that queer identity is a choice or simply dismissed as a valid identity. Especially right now, in an era of anti-truth, focusing on facts and statistics can ground us. However, biology is no more truthful and valid than any other form of gender-affirming care, action or recognition. Utilizing biological examples of queerness is just one way to portray the broad spectrum of queer experiences and identities.
Now, let’s take a step back and clarify some terms as taught in the Wellness 191 course, created for and by students based on years of collective learning, literature-review, revision and personal experience. Sex is the categorization of a person’s biology, often based on a person’s sexual anatomy (e.g. genitals), chromosomes, hormones and secondary sex characteristics. Contrary to what you may have heard, biological sex is actually not binary: Different people have different anatomies, hormones and sex characteristics that can change over time. Gender identity refers to how someone internally identifies their own sense of gender. Some people do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. Gender expression refers to how a person expresses their gender identity. Sex and gender are distinct but, through societal mechanisms and expectations, intertwined. Gender and sex are separate yet interconnected concepts.
As taught in Wellness 191, genital homology is the concept that human genitals all start out from the same basic structures present in human embryos. Because of this, different types of mature genitals can be seen as homologous to each other, meaning they have similar functions and components but are arranged differently with slightly different shapes. For example, the head of the penis is homologous to the head of the clitoris, and the labia majora is homologous to the scrotum.
Genital homology DOES NOT imply that there are two sexes or genders based on homologous structures. In fact, genital development in human embryos does not always proceed in one of two ways; there are numerous variations in development that can lead to different (still homologous) sets of internal and/or external sexual anatomy. Such differences can be caused by gonadal, hormonal or genetic variations and are collectively called intersex variations.
Genital homology is thus a framework we can use to conceptualize how genitals develop across a spectrum rather than taking one of two predetermined paths. Discussing these pathways of development across all bodies can actually help us move away from binary thinking with regard to sex and gender and will hopefully provide a deeper understanding of the diversity and functionality of human genitalia.
In general, most intersex variations are healthy and sexually functional. Despite this, many intersex youth are subjected to “normalizing” surgeries to force their genitals to look like one of the two paths described above, even when there is no medical reason to do this. These interventions are generally non-consensual and reflect social norms about what genitals are seen as “normal.” These surgeries enforce the idea that children must adhere to a strict gender binary, which diverse anatomies seem to go against.
Throughout the country and at Stanford, access to gender-affirming care is becoming harder and harder to obtain. Transgender youth unable to express their gender identity or surrounded by a community that denies their identity are at least five times more likely to screen positive for suicide risk than their cisgender peers. 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves, and 40% have attempted suicide. This widespread despair is horrific. It is also preventable.
Put simply: Genital homology allows us to biologically deconstruct the sex binary. Our constricting conception of gender/sex binary upholds gender norms and constructs the patriarchy, affecting people of all sex/gender orientations. From persistent misogyny to the male loneliness epidemic, the gender binary forces all people into distinct and repressive roles, where men maintain positions of power, at the cost of tenderness, women are subjugated and LGBTQ people are un-recognized. These limitations disallow our collective liberation.
Transness, queerness, intersex life and genital homologies are beautiful. Those who prosecute queerness, silence transness and erase intersexuality are scared to imagine a more liberated world. They cannot imagine such a world beyond our widespread conception of gender because doing so would mean acknowledging that this liberation is already unfolding before their eyes. Learning about genital homology in Wellness 191 opened our eyes to a new way of thinking about the broad, ever-shifting gender spectrum. As queer writer, advocate and comic Alok Vaid-Menon put it in their book “Beyond the Gender Binary,” “People judge gender non-conformity because they are insecure about their identities. If they weren’t, then gender variance wouldn’t be so heavily policed. Gender non-conformity causes such a huge reaction because we’re consistently taught that there are only two fixed and universal genders. Seeing other people defy this mandate brings the entire system into question.”
Right now, existing as queer feels bleak, but we cannot stress enough that you were meant to be here. Queerness is coded into our biology and engraved in our chromosomes. Beyond biology and science, to walk through life in a way that is most authentic to you is the epitome of existence.
So, stay queer, stay sexy and most of all, stay denying the stark binaries placed upon us which stifle our collective liberation!
XO, Amelia
If you are queer and in need support, we urge you to look into on-campus resources such as the Bridge (student-run mental health services), CAPS, QSR and SHPRC
The SHPRC office has moved and is located in the ASSU space in Old Union. We are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3-9 p.m.!
Amelia counsels on Tuesdays (3-4 p.m.) and Thursdays (4-5 p.m.).
Vaaruni counsels on Tuesdays (4-5 p.m.) and Fridays (7-8 p.m.).