• Question: How many genders are there?

    Asked by anon-181165 on 4 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Lauren Burns

      Lauren Burns answered on 4 Jun 2018:


      There are quite a few genders, but if you are ever unsure what to refer to someone as, just ask them – it is potentially the only way you can be certain 🙂

    • Photo: Alex Haragan

      Alex Haragan answered on 4 Jun 2018:


      This is an interesting question, with no definite correct answer.
      Sex – the genetics behind the conventional line of being born “boy” or “girl”, is dependent on whether you have two “X” chromosomes (girl) or an “X” and a “Y” (boy). However – even that is not simple because people can be born with just a single X, or multiple Xs and a Y and so on.
      Nothing in biology is simple!
      Gender, however, is more to do with how someone identifies themselves. This is much more than just genetics, but includes emotions, upbringing, experience, friends, family and so on.
      If you look at certain websites you can find lists of gender that run into the dozens, maybe even hundreds.
      In my opinion, we run the risk of giving people a gender “label”. I think you can call yourself whatever you want. And if we do accept that, then there are as many genders as there are people. If I say my gender is male – does that mean the same to me as to someone else who also calls themselves a male?
      Our lives define our gender, and we all live an individual and unique life.
      So perhaps billions! But as long as you’re happy, I don’t think anyone should be too hung-up on what to call yourself. You are not defined by your gender: every part of you makes you you.

    • Photo: Joey Shepherd

      Joey Shepherd answered on 4 Jun 2018:


      So, ‘traditionally’ there are two genders, male and female. But gender is different to biological male and female, it’s more the ‘state’ of being male or female, culturally and socially. How you feel. So it’s difficult to say how many genders there are because as well as the two (M & F), some people are ‘gender fluid’, so they feel more ‘male’ sometimes and more ‘female’ other times, some people don’t identify with either male or female, and some people feel they have more than one gender. So I guess really it’s more of a spectrum, with many possibilities in between.

    • Photo: Ashley Akbari

      Ashley Akbari answered on 5 Jun 2018:


      In data science we usually follow some classic categories, and depending on who has collected or processed the data they may add in additional options based on their labelling – but there is no limit to this and if you were speaking to someone or interested the best thing would be ask.

    • Photo: Laura Hemming

      Laura Hemming answered on 6 Jun 2018:


      Should we even label genders at all? :O

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