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Societal gender norms have existed for probably as long as humans have, but we've only known about chromosomes for <200 years. Before the 1900 Olympics, women w

Societal gender norms have existed for probably as long as humans have, but we've only known about chromosomes for <200 years. Before the 1900 Olympics, women weren't even allowed to compete. On the scale of human evolution, this is a very recent situation for society to figure out how to "decide".

lukev 1y ago
There are plenty of cultures around the world that conceptualize gender differently than we do, as well. Including many where there are options where individuals can choose their gender, in various circumstances or for various purposes. So actually on the scale of human evolution, humans have been making different choices about matters like these since we've been humans.
cogman10 1y ago
It's really not new or recent. For as long as there's been gender norms there's been groups of people outside those norms. You can, for example, find examples of trans individuals in Utah in the 1800s. [1] Eunuchs are a pretty well-known concept since about the start of recorded history. Here's an example of a roman cult which practiced self-castration. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Morris_Young https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Morris_Young [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galli
- pseudosavant 1y ago
  I didn't mean to imply that these people didn't exist, just that the scientific understanding detailing aspects of their existence (chromosomes, gonadal dysgenesis, etc) is new.
drewcoo 1y ago
> Societal gender norms have existed for probably as long as humans have Or gender norms have existed since gender was defined in the 70s-80s by feminist scholars. Before that was only sex, which biologists know to be not a binary but a bimodal distribution, itself.
- xboxnolifes 1y ago
  Norms are not defined by scholars or scientists, even if they may define the terms to describe them.
- lukev 1y ago
  That sound you hear is literally every anthropologist laughing hysterically.

lukev 1y ago

There are plenty of cultures around the world that conceptualize gender differently than we do, as well. Including many where there are options where individuals can choose their gender, in various circumstances or for various purposes. So actually on the scale of human evolution, humans have been making different choices about matters like these since we've been humans.

cogman10 1y ago

It's really not new or recent. For as long as there's been gender norms there's been groups of people outside those norms. You can, for example, find examples of trans individuals in Utah in the 1800s. [1] Eunuchs are a pretty well-known concept since about the start of recorded history. Here's an example of a roman cult which practiced self-castration. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Morris_Young https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Morris_Young [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galli

pseudosavant 1y ago
I didn't mean to imply that these people didn't exist, just that the scientific understanding detailing aspects of their existence (chromosomes, gonadal dysgenesis, etc) is new.

drewcoo 1y ago

> Societal gender norms have existed for probably as long as humans have Or gender norms have existed since gender was defined in the 70s-80s by feminist scholars. Before that was only sex, which biologists know to be not a binary but a bimodal distribution, itself.

xboxnolifes 1y ago
Norms are not defined by scholars or scientists, even if they may define the terms to describe them.
lukev 1y ago
That sound you hear is literally every anthropologist laughing hysterically.