Dr Marinov is postodoctoral researcher (genetics) at Stanford.
Second paragraph.
"A disclaimer: I am not a tenured faculty member and have no job security; I am well aware that my career prospects could be jeopardized by this essay."
How have we got here?
Second paragraph.
"A disclaimer: I am not a tenured faculty member and have no job security; I am well aware that my career prospects could be jeopardized by this essay."
How have we got here?
"Much has been written by feminist authors about the non-binary nature of “gender,” where “gender” is defined as something “socially constructed,” distinct from sex. But biological sex itself is also under attack."
"Feminist philosophers such as Judith Butler and Anne Fausto-Sterling initially advanced the view that both gender and sex are “socially constructed,” denying the objective reality of binary biological sex, and academic writings promoting this view continue to be produced."
"Usually this is done by taking a list of criteria for dividing humans into two sexes -anatomical/gonadal/ hormonal/chromosomal/genetic/genomic/brain/
neural sex—and matching that list to examples of “intersex” conditions not fitting neatly on either side...."
neural sex—and matching that list to examples of “intersex” conditions not fitting neatly on either side...."
"....supposedly discrediting the binary. But the topics
that truly matter for understanding sex—gametes, reproduction, and evolutionary selection pressures—are missing from such treatments."
that truly matter for understanding sex—gametes, reproduction, and evolutionary selection pressures—are missing from such treatments."
"Yet this has become mainstream, and an unquestionable dogma too, even within the hard sciences. This is disastrous, as the objective truth is that sex in humans is strictly binary and immutable...."
"....for fundamental reasons that are common knowledge to all biologists taking the findings of their discipline seriously.
Denying that sex in humans is binary attacks the very foundations of the biological sciences."
Denying that sex in humans is binary attacks the very foundations of the biological sciences."
On "intersex" conditions:
"if alien exozoologists were to write a description of Homo sapiens based on extensive observations of the population, such a description would never feature, for example, anencephaly, and neither would it include anything else but binary sex."
"if alien exozoologists were to write a description of Homo sapiens based on extensive observations of the population, such a description would never feature, for example, anencephaly, and neither would it include anything else but binary sex."
"we cannot expect “perfection” from biological processes."
"All “intersex” conditions, when examined, clearly arise from single-gene mutations or chromosomal aberrations on a genetic background that would have indisputably been producing male or female gametes had these mutations not
occurred...."
occurred...."
"....and, rarely, due to chimerism (i.e. individuals made up of both male and female cells). True hermaphrodites possessing both sets of functional gonads and genitalia have never been observed in Homo sapiens."
"Intersex individuals exist only because of continuous de novo reintroduction of the relevant mutations in the population, recessive genes becoming unmasked, or disruptions of normal embryonic development."
"Sex in mammals is on a fundamental level binary and immutable, and claims that “intersex'” individuals disprove that can only be made in the absence of any consideration of the biological nature of humans and how our evolutionary history has shaped our biology."
"a direct attack against the hard sciences can be expected... So far it has not happened, but there have been warning signs and it might just be a matter of time and of little understanding of the deep philosophical contradictions involved."
"Certain parallels can perhaps be made with battles over the teaching of evolution, but there is one critical difference—the ideas in question here are coming directly from within the highest ranks of academia, where they appear to
have significant institutional support...."
have significant institutional support...."
"....and, as recent years have demonstrated, their proponents are more than willing to use aggressive tactics outside the scholarly realm to silence their critics.
There is also little understanding of the seriousness of the situation within the scientific community...."
There is also little understanding of the seriousness of the situation within the scientific community...."
"....which, whether for political reasons or due to lack of awareness, has been willingly supporting outright “bio-denialism.”
I stand by Dr Marinov. I hope Stanford do too.
I'm not going to tag them in. They can choose to do so if they wish.
I'm not going to tag them in. They can choose to do so if they wish.
