Thread by @zaelefty

Here are 7 reasons why this sex spectrum graphic by Scientific American is wrong.

🧵

1. There are no units on this spectrum to quantify it.

2. The sheer number of overlapping arrows is evidence that sex cannot be plotted on a spectrum.

3. There is no objective method to decide where individual DSDs are placed on the spectrum.

4. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia is placed farther to the male end than XX male syndrome, implying that XX males (with fully developed penis and testes) are more female than an XX CAH female with ovaries, uterus, vagina, and a slightly masculinized clitoris.

5. Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome is placed in the center, implying that people with this condition are literally in between male and female.

6. Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis is placed in the center, also implying people with this condition are literally in between male and female.

7. In reality, DSDs are singular, discrete conditions, each unique, and they cannot be placed on a continuum between male and female.

A major error in this graphic is the conflation of sex determination mechanisms with sex.

Yes, the mechanisms involved in developing males and females are complex.

That does not mean the end result is complex or that male and female themselves are challenged.

The conflation of how sex is determined vs how sex is defined shows up all the time in discussion on this topic.

I wrote a piece about this here, clarifying the two concepts.
theparadoxinstitute.com/blog/2022/01/1…

(L) Sex determination
(R) Sex definition