What makes someone a woman?

[alaskaguy]

An article from the New York Times opines that there is no reliable gender test.

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/op...&ex=1217908800

[Cyclone711]

Spelling police incoming...

[keepngoal]

squat to pee? If yes.. well you ARE a woman.

-keep

[Jeffreyisu]

I would say a babymaker. A person can look like either sex, but if a person is able to cary a baby, they are a woman in my book.

[brianhos]

It is all a question of plumbing... internal vs external.

[LindenCy]

I would say a babymaker. A person can look like either sex, but if a person is able to cary a baby, they are a woman in my book.

I would nuance that a little, because some women have had their uterus removed (for example for cancer) but I would say they are definitely a woman.

[Angie]

I have a good friend whose sister was born without a uterus, but had everything else - that would make her not fall into a lot of these categories. Hermaphrodites can have both types of plumbing... Are XX and XY chromosomes it? If someone has gender reassignment surgery, do they become the opposite gender? I guess I just always consider someone as the gender they represent themselves as, and don't ask questions.

[Aaron Jacobs]

Gender is really all mental. The individual decides what gender they are, not the world.

[LindenCy]

I wouldn't go that far. I think gender is at least partly physical. In general it is pretty clear.

[Phaedrus]

I have a good friend whose sister was born without a uterus, but had everything else - that would make her not fall into a lot of these categories. Hermaphrodites can have both types of plumbing... Are XX and XY chromosomes it? If someone has gender reassignment surgery, do they become the opposite gender? I guess I just always consider someone as the gender they represent themselves as, and don't ask questions.

I had a friend in college who was Hermaphroditic; He KNEW he was male, but had never been physically assigned.

It's all well and good to be snarky and turn this into a moral issue, but in reality, there are honestly people in this world where the physical is insufficient to actually determine what gender they are.

Having said that, I've also met supposed trans-gender people who are just bat-poop crazy and they've chosen being trans-gender as the means of expressing their bat-poop craziness.

[Phaedrus]

Spelling police incoming...

Huh? I keep looking, but Alaskaguy's post appears to be correct.

[LindenCy]

I had a friend in college who was Hermaphroditic; He KNEW he was male, but had never been physically assigned.

It's all well and good to be snarky and turn this into a moral issue, but in reality, there are honestly people in this world where the physical is insufficient to actually determine what gender they are.

Having said that, I've also met supposed trans-gender people who are just bat-poop crazy and they've chosen being trans-gender as the means of expressing their bat-poop craziness.

That's the thing. This is actually a legitimate discussion, but many use it to do whatever the heck they want without reality setting in.

[LindenCy]

Huh? I keep looking, but Alaskaguy's post appears to be correct.

It used to say "women" not "woman."

[alaskaguy]

It used to say "women" not "woman."

Interesting since I haven't edited my posts.

[SpokaneCY]

An article from the New York Times opines that there is no reliable gender test.

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/op...&ex=1217908800

Drinking a wine cooler makes one a woman...