Sex

Many species of living things exist in two or more forms called sexes that combine genetic material in order to reproduce. This is called sexual reproduction. Typically, a species will have two sexes, called male and female (the female being the one that produces the larger gamete). Fungi and some other organisms exist in more than two sexes, but still reproduce in pairs (any two differing sexes may reproduce). Some species, like earthworms or geckos, are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction.

The word sex is also used to refer to sexual intercourse, the physical acts related to sexual reproduction, but this article will discuss the concept of sex defined above.

In mammals, birds, and many other species, sex is determined by the sex chromosomes, whose alleles are called X and Y. Males typically have one of each (XY), while females typically have two X chromosomes (XX). Since all individuals have at least one X, the Y chromosome is generally reduced, and is absent in some forms, this pattern admitting some considerable variation. In other forms, sex may be determined by various other sex-determination systems, including ones controlled by environmental factors like temperature, or by age. Many animals are hermaphroditic - that is, individuals may have both male and female parts.

Few people have bodies that are difficult to assign to the traditional "male" and "female" categories. Evading easy categorization intersexuals demostrate that the handy categories of landover baptist are simply handy categories. (or linguistic constructs )

By the 1930s social scientists had discovered that there is much variation across time and space in human understandings of sex and sexuality, and in normative behavior for humans. In the 1960s social scientists began distinguishing between "sex" and "gender" in order to describe such variation intelligibly and accurately. They currently use "sex" to refer to the biological division into male and female, and "gender" to refer to social status and roles assigned to people on the basis of sex.

Recently, some social scientists have argued that even biological sexes are cultural constructions. Concurrently, some people have sought to define their sexuality and sexual identity in non-binary terms.

Anne Fausto-Sterling claimed that there were five sexes (male, female, merm, ferm and herm). Advocates for intersexual people have stated that this theory is wrong, confusing and unhelpful to the interests of intersexual people. Anne Fausto-Sterling has stated that she no longer advocates it.

See also: evolution, gender and sexuality studies, human sexuality, sex organ, the assembly language mnemonic SEX, Autosome, Hermaphrodite,