Hello fellow insane people!

It seems that the non-binary crowd won’t go down without a fight, and a new argument has shown up on the internet, citing the idea that there are 6 chromosomal types, and that this somehow disproves the notion of there being only two genders, and enhances this idea that gender is somehow a spectrum.

If you missed my last article on the subject “Debunking Non-Binary Genders”, head on over to take a look before continuing on. It will act as a foundational basis for this article, and define what I mean when I use words like sex and gender.

To understand the chromosomal argument, here is an example video by Micheal Rowlands on the subject, during his recent dust-ups with Bearing, another prominent YouTuber. As well, I’ll link the chromosome article from Wikipedia for general information.

We’ll ignore the first two sets of chromosomes, XX and XY. These are your typical female and male pairings respectively. Let’s look instead at 4 of the so called “other genders” present when examining chromosomes. I know the example video goes into XXXY, but I will get to that later.

First is simply an X chromosome with no accompanying X or Y. Known as Turner syndrome, this results in a female with underdeveloped sexual characteristics, often being shorter, having lower hairlines, abnormal eye and bone features, and a caved-in appearance to the chest.

Second the XXX. This is called Triple-X syndrome, and results in a female. Often females with Triple-X syndrome are taller, but otherwise are normal physically and have normal fertility. Sometimes they suffer from learning disabilities, decreased muscle tone, seizures or kidney problems.

The third is XXY, called Klinefelter syndrome. This set of chromosomes result in a male that tends to be taller and have longer arms and legs than average males, and are regularly sterile. Males with this abnormality generally need testosterone treatments or else develop enlarge breasts, and have a higher chance of reading and speech difficulties. Often physical symptoms such as greater height, poor coordination, less body hair, smaller genitals and less interest in sex arise.

The fourth is XYY, simply called XYY syndrome. This results in a male, which are usually taller than normal males. They also typically suffer from learning disabilities.

You’ll notice a common theme. If a Y chromosome is present, the subject is male. If it’s absent, it’s female. This holds true for the other chromosomal syndromes such as XXXX, XXYY, XXXY, XXXXY, etc. You’ll also notice they are all a type of chromosomal aberration, and generally rare. They also regularly cause genetic problems within the person, both physically and mentally.

Why are these chromosomes classified as male or female you might ask? After all they aren’t the typical XX or XY chromosomes, so shouldn’t they be some other gender than male or female? It’s because chromosomes are not how one defines someone’s biological sex. Biological sex, as a baseline, is based off of one’s contributions to sexual reproduction, as in “do you produce eggs or fertilize them?” The other characteristics just act as further evidence when determining gender. A doctor doesn’t check your chromosomes at birth to figure out what sex you are, they simply check for what genitals you have. The very fact that people have classified these groups of chromosomal abnormalities as being either male or female, despite their chromosomes, lends credence to the idea that chromosomes are not a major factor in determining sex.

So why even bring up the subject? That’s a good question, and it all comes back to the idea of proving that gender is somehow a spectrum. You see people have used arguments such as people having different sizes of penises or breasts as evidence that gender is a spectrum, as if the size of one’s penis determines if you are somehow less or more of a man, or the size of your breasts means you are less or more of a woman. It’s all a smokescreen, an attempt to confuse the issue that is at the root of the argument for the idea of a gender spectrum. It’s throwing a ton of mud at a wall and seeing what sticks to cover up the giant letters painted on that wall.

What issue do I claim these arguments cover up? That the entirety of the issue of gender spectrum is based off of how one feels. Someone who claims to be non-binary for example claims that based on whether they feel like they are a man or a woman. The vast majority of people who claim to be non-binary have never undertaken chromosome testing, I would like to know of one that actually has and hasn’t had it result in the usual XX or XY. But those that do claim to be non-binary and use the argument of chromosomes and intersex use it as sort of a “gotcha” argument of “Well, intersex people exist that have characteristics of both genders, so doesn’t that mean gender is a spectrum?” This is meant to lend credibility to their stance which was never based on this argument in the first place.

Yes, intersex people do exist. It’s a genetic abnormality. One can easily claim it’s a defect. Though claiming such things does not diminish someone who is intersex as a person, as understanding the root cause of why they are intersex has nothing to do with acknowledging them as a person. They also show up extremely rarely, as it is a birth defect. Intersex people also aren’t grouped into similar categories, so the word is a broad one. For example it could mean a woman with XY chromosomes, but has no other sign of having male chromosomes, or it could be someone with both sets of internal genital organs (testies and ovaries) despite having normal external genitals. It can be any number of factors.

But intersex is thrown out as a “gotcha” argument by saying “Look, this one person has both sets of genitals, so they are either both male and female, or neither! They’re non-binary!” This is then used as a springboard to claim that because that one person is “non-binary”, then someone without the condition can be too, despite having all the physical characteristics of only one gender.

Generally speaking, pretty much all intersex peoples are classified as male and female, and some change which they identify as later in life. It’s because male and female are categories of classification, and not overly strict rules. For example in my previous article I mentioned I base sex on your reproductive functions, but make the exception for transsexuals who transition from one gender to another. I know the person isn’t changing reproductive functions, they can’t. In fact they tend to sterilize themselves by transitioning genders. So clearly I, as someone who seems to have a more rigid view of sex and gender than the non-binary community, am flexible enough to find a category that best fits a person, even if they have unusual genitals. And generally speaking most people are as well.

It’s about this point someone in the non-binary community might think they caught me admitting gender is a spectrum. And to a certain degree they are right. The difference is I acknowledge that male and female are semi-broad categories, and we choose a best fit. What I don’t acknowledge is the idea that someone belongs to neither or both categories. At best one can be claimed to be belonging to both if one has equal parts male and female anatomy, and even the idea of “equal parts” is subjective.

However even if I were to somehow concede the idea of biological sex to be a spectrum (I don’t), it does not lend credence to someone who is clearly biologically male or clearly biologically female identifying as non-binary. If I were to concede such a point based on the existence of intersex peoples, I could only extend such labels as non-binary to people who are physically intersex such that they couldn’t fit into either gender category, and such peoples are so exceedingly rare that the vast majority of non-binary peoples wouldn’t qualify.

In a nutshell, the entire chromosomal argument is a dodge, a ruse to hide the fact that the majority of non-binary peoples has no leg to stand on when making such a claim. It’s all written on the wall.

-Mad Skeptic