<div> </div> <div>I don't tie gender differences to hormone levels. I tie them to DNA. Every single cell in my body is male and every cell in your body is female and there is no way to alter that. compared to the genetic difference between men and women, all men are genetically identical and all women are genetically identical. That hormone levels vary throughout life is really insignificant. Men and women develop differently from early weeks of gestation and there is no continuum between male and female. Males are males and females are females in every cell, all their lives. </div> <div> </div> <div>There aren't four genders or six, and certainly no odd number. There two genders, easily scientifically identifiable, no matter what the social conditions in which they exist and at every age. We don't lose and gain gender. Again, why think that we are so different from other animals? </div> <div> </div> <div>You don't create political gender equality by pretending that there's no difference between men and women. That's just silly. </div> <div> </div> <div>boddi</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><span class="gmail_quote">On 11/17/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">Yoshie Furuhashi</b> <<a href="mailto:furuhashi.1@osu.edu">furuhashi.1@osu.edu</a>> wrote:</span> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">boddi satva lbo.boddi at <a href="http://gmail.com">gmail.com</a><br>Wed Nov 16 22:17:44 PST 2005 wrote:<br> <br>> We know from observation and experimentation that testosterone<br>> alters people's mood and behavior. Men produce a lot, women produce<br>> a little. Specifically, we know that testosterone stimulates sexual <br>> desire in both men and women.<br><br>The average age of menopause among women is about 49.9 years in the<br>United States; the testosterone level in men peak at about age 20 and<br>begins to decline in their thirties: "As a result of the combined <br>effects of a rise in SHBG and a fall in total testosterone,<br>calculated free testosterone levels decrease by approximately 2-3%<br>per year (Feldman et al., 2002)" ("Age-Related Changes in<br>Testosterone and the Role of Replacement," < <a href="http://www.medscape.com/">http://www.medscape.com/</a><br>viewarticle/479523_2>).  Tying gender identities to hormone levels or<br>other changing biological factors creates identity problems for both<br>men and women.  If people wish to retain the idea of genders, they <br>have to develop social definitions of genders (so men and women can<br>conceive of themselves as much men and women in their old age as in<br>their youth) or else they will have to invent more genders than two,<br>based on biological changes brought about by aging: e.g., four<br>genders -- children, men, women, and the old (no longer male or female).<br><br>Yoshie Furuhashi<br><<a href="http://montages.blogspot.com">http://montages.blogspot.com</a>><br><<a href="http://monthlyreview.org"> http://monthlyreview.org</a>><br><<a href="http://mrzine.org">http://mrzine.org</a>><br><br><br>___________________________________<br><a href="http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk">http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk </a><br></blockquote></div><br>