Homogenderality

Q : why do Welsh farmers take their sheep to the edge of a cliff?
A : because they push back harder

It’s a good morning when I can combine racism and misogyny into one (old) joke. Intersectionality is a marvellous thing.

Someone else who has been getting a fair bit of pushback recently is Colin Wright. Colin is a steadfast supporter of the notion that there are only two sexes. I’m sure the gender activists would like to take Colin to the edge of a cliff, albeit for different reasons than those randy farmers in Wales¹.

Responding to a ‘Fabulous Takedown’ of My Work

Unfortunately, I can’t really afford to take out any paid subscriptions to writers on Substack and so I can only see the first bit of this article.

Has the world of biology settled the question of whether sex exists on a spectrum?

These days, in some quarters, it is supposed that one cannot have a legitimate opinion on some subject unless one is a credentialed ‘expert’ with more degrees than a rectal thermometer². I am a qualified ‘expert’, but only in a specialized area of physics. I have a Bachelors degree and a PhD. I also have a DIC³.

Unfortunately, I’m not an expert in sex (in any sense).

But, when it comes to societal trends and their consequences, does one really need to be an expert? I like Matt Walsh’s answer when quizzed about his ‘credentials’ at some Congressional hearing; I am a human being, with a brain and a soul.

Those of us interested in questions of ‘gender’ are often accused of being “obsessed” with a subject that has no relevance to us, that is alleged to have no impact on our lives, and that (one presumes) only those with a list of credentials longer than a typical phalloplasty have the right to an opinion.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot. We’re phobic and bigoted too.

So I did what every researcher in our modern age does; I asked Google.

Google, my lovely objective and balanced friend, is there an animal species with a third sex?

I wanted to take baby steps. I mean, if sex is a spectrum, then there must be examples of at least ONE other sex out there somewhere, right?

Apparently, there is an algae that has a third sex. And a species of nematode worm. What they are really talking about, though, is more akin to hermaphroditism - at least as far as I can tell. I haven’t found (in all my 23 minutes and 17 seconds of searching) an example where the production of freshly minted little beasties requires some kind of group sex. The couplings are still binary, not trinary.

There are tons of examples of sexual differentiation, though.

It can cause a degree of domestic strife. Take the case of Mr and Mrs Mandarin, when he was just about to head out to the local Pride parade

Humans have little in common with the anglerfish - except one thing . . .

. . . Mr Anglerfish has never won an argument with Mrs Anglerfish.

I am concerned about gender issues for a variety of reasons. For one thing it represents a wide-ranging revision of our “understanding” of the human condition. I mean, c’mon man, if we’re interested in our societies then maybe, just maybe, it might be a good thing to actually understand the human ‘units’ that comprise that society and what drives them?

I remain somewhat unconvinced⁴ that the whole basket of gender goodies we’re presented with in 2023 represents any kind of “understanding” at all.

Another area of concern is the welfare of kids. Yes it’s a cliché, but children really are our future. Is this not something I have any right to be concerned about? The medicalisation of ‘gender’ confused kids is certainly more than a little worrying (statement also fed through the UA).

What are my qualifications here? Well, I’m a parent. I have 2 daughters. It literally makes me feel nauseous when I only imagine the scenario had one of them decided to ‘change’ their sex when younger. The nausea is not originating from any kind of disgust here, but from the absolute bollock-busting terror even the mere imagining brings.

Both my daughters have had to spend a couple of nights in hospital this last year after visits to the ER. They’re both OK and the (medical) conditions common and treatable, but even with these relatively minor medical issues the inner fear and worry was not something I ever want to repeat.

I can only barely imagine what a parent faced with a child on the ‘gender affirming’ pathway must feel like. I cannot even remotely begin to understand⁵ AT ALL a parent who celebrates their child ‘coming out’ as trans (and we’ve seen plenty of examples).

Nowhere is this confusion and disquiet surrounding sex more evident than when it comes to sex.

I’m your typical red-blooded male. I do like a vagina. Not some disembodied thing (that would be just too weird) - it has to be attached to something. That something is (or used to be) something once described as a female. The vagina bit is a necessary component (when it comes to sex) - but far, far from being the only thing that matters.

The notion that I’m some weirdo, some bigot, if I don’t want to sleep with something that looks like a woman in other respects, but has the meat and 2 veg, is a bit baffling (statement fed through the UA again). I mean, if you’re someone who does like that (and plenty do) then, fine. Have at it and enjoy yourselves. Love one another and make each other happy.

But there’s been a strong push for the last few years to reframe homosexuality as homogenderality. Stonewall, for example, quietly changed their focus from same sex attraction to same gender attraction back in 2015 I think it was.

We’ve already seen above that there’s a fair bit of angst (and lots of pushback in every direction) when it comes to the issue of biological sex, but hold my queer beer Bud Light. When it comes to the issue of gender we enter a whole new level of confusion.

I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent. I am able to count my fingers and get the right answer 11 times out of 10. But when it comes to understanding what the word gender actually means, I have to confess I’m a bit lost.

In maths and physics we often have to struggle with definitions and theorems. Here’s an example. It’s the parallel axis theorem.

The theorem of parallel axis states that the moment of inertia of a body about an axis parallel to an axis passing through the centre of mass is equal to the sum of the moment of inertia of body about an axis passing through centre of mass and product of mass and square of the distance between the two axes

It’s a fairly complicated techno word salad that takes a bit of time to parse. One of the best ways to get to grips with a theorem like this is to consider examples. After we’re shown one or two (simple) examples the theorem makes much more sense (and is not as complicated, in practice, as it sounds).

Despite having read many ‘definitions’ of the word “gender”, I cannot tell you what the gender example of woman actually is, or means. Woman is a recognised gender - but I have no idea what the defining characteristics of this example of a gender are.

In fact trying to think about examples (like I would do in maths and physics) just makes me more confused.

According to Dylan Mulvaney, perhaps, these defining characteristics would include tiaras, tits and tampons⁶. But ask 1,000 people who identify as the gender 'woman' what those defining characteristics are and you'll get 1,000 different answers.

At least when it comes to sex we only have two gametes to worry about. There is no such thing as a third gamete, let alone a spectrum of gametes.

Homogenderality is a new word I coined (but others will almost certainly have prior claim) to describe this reframing of same sex attraction. But in another sense it doesn’t exist. There is not a homogeneous understanding of what the word gender means, nor a homogeneous understanding of one of the simplest examples of a gender.

And we want to re-shape our societies based on such a vague and confusing term?

Hmm. I remain sceptical (statement fed through the UA several times)

1. I have absolutely no idea why Welsh farmers are singled out in this way, but it is what it is and I hope my thousands of Welsh agrarian followers will forgive me

2. . . . and (boom, boom) you know what you can do with one of those!

3. Diploma of Imperial College

4. I have taken typical British understatement and fed it through my patented Understatement Accelerator (UA) here

5. I can understand a parent whose child suffers from serious anxiety/depression issues being relieved when an ‘expert’ tells them there is a solution; chop their tits/dick off and they’ll be fine. We have tended to place our trust in ‘experts’. Often they’re right - but also, far too often, they’re horribly, horribly wrong.

6. Coupled with exaggerated gestures and frequent awkward walks in high heels