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HN really isn't the place for this conversation, but if we ever found a human whose biological sex was ambiguous using a simple checklist with maybe three tests

HN really isn't the place for this conversation, but if we ever found a human whose biological sex was ambiguous using a simple checklist with maybe three tests in it, that would be a first. Woman and man are complex, female and male are not. Yes, this includes all known intersex conditions. No, there's no significant disagreement about those criteria.

silverquiet 3y ago
Funny, I think HN is the ideal place for this conversation, though it's a bit weird to get there on this thread. But it's a subject of fascination for me personally, and it's a shame that it's taken on weird political dimensions. I was under the impression that Caster Semenya tends to confound simple categorization like you suggest.
- samatman 3y ago
  "The condition is rare, affects only genetic males, and has a broad spectrum." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5α-Reductase_2_deficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5α-Reductase_2_deficiency
  - silverquiet 3y ago
    And now you have posted a vague reply of your own; what are you trying to say? From the same article: > Management of this condition in the context of sex assignment is a challenging and controversial area. As I said, it seems that there are cases where things are not clear.
    - samatman 3y ago
      > Sex assignment is the discernment of an infant's sex, usually at birth. The question is not whether you can briefly look between someone's legs and determine their sex. We know (per the article) that this can fail as much as 0.05% of the time. The question was what is Caster Semenya's biological sex: the answer is male. This is, in fact, clear.
iopq 3y ago
How about a condition where the person looks like a woman, acts like a woman, but has XY chromosomes and internal testes? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensitivity_syndrome https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensitivity_syndr...

silverquiet 3y ago

Funny, I think HN is the ideal place for this conversation, though it's a bit weird to get there on this thread. But it's a subject of fascination for me personally, and it's a shame that it's taken on weird political dimensions. I was under the impression that Caster Semenya tends to confound simple categorization like you suggest.

samatman 3y ago
"The condition is rare, affects only genetic males, and has a broad spectrum." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5α-Reductase_2_deficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5α-Reductase_2_deficiency
- silverquiet 3y ago
  And now you have posted a vague reply of your own; what are you trying to say? From the same article: > Management of this condition in the context of sex assignment is a challenging and controversial area. As I said, it seems that there are cases where things are not clear.
  - samatman 3y ago
    > Sex assignment is the discernment of an infant's sex, usually at birth. The question is not whether you can briefly look between someone's legs and determine their sex. We know (per the article) that this can fail as much as 0.05% of the time. The question was what is Caster Semenya's biological sex: the answer is male. This is, in fact, clear.

iopq 3y ago

How about a condition where the person looks like a woman, acts like a woman, but has XY chromosomes and internal testes? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensitivity_syndrome https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensitivity_syndr...