August 6, 2011

A pox on you and your so-called facts

Some people actually gave this reader comment the "thumbs-down":
rightwing1 — How did she replace her Y chromosome? First, she may not have had any. One in 300 people born looking male aren't 46XY. Second, she could have had a bone marrow transplant from a 46XX donor, and after 5-7 years, most of her cells would be 46XX too. See "Bone marrow-derived cells from male donors can compose endometrial glands in female transplant recipients," by Ikoma et al in Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Dec;201(6):608.e1-8. And third, it's not necessary. One in 650 women are not 46XX. "A 46XY mother who developed as a normal woman underwent spontaneous puberty, reached menarche, menstruated regularly, experienced two unassisted pregnancies, and gave birth to a 46XY daughter with complete gonadal dysgenesis." — J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jan;93(1):182-9. Most of what you think you know about biological sex is just the child's simplified version. The one in 60 people who are Intersex and the one in 3000 who are Transsexual are exceptions to the approximation you were taught at school, and which some now hold as quasi-religious belief.
Complete with citations even! Or of course it could have been that the thumbs-down were directed toward the unnecessary qualifier, "quasi."

On teh web: Gender is a continuum.

2 comments:

paulb said...

A favorite Simpson"s quote: Homer: "Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true."
Also, I've got to stop following those links to JS comments. The rants of the angry wingers are so depressing and repetitive.

Mike said...

Paul, some of the comments are quite good, others atrocious. What you do on these boards, figure out right away whether the sane or insane are in the majority based on thumbs up or thumbs down ratings. It doesn't matter which it is, but you know which ones to read. If ratings are about equal, avoid the page altogether.

Granted this is not perfect and would overlook the fine comment cited above. As Stepanie Miller says during Right Wing World, "We listen so you don't have to."