Background and History 5
the most contentious social issues facing Americans and other
people around the world today. Th e goal of this book is to pro-
vide an introduction to the concepts of sex and gender identity,
how those concepts are based in human anatomy and physiol-
ogy, how they have developed over the centuries, and how they
have inspired arguments like those involving school bathrooms
and locker rooms.
Basic Definitions
At the outset, then, are the two most important defi nitions
needed for this discussion: What do the terms sex and gender
identity mean?
Sex
According to one respected resource, the Merriam-Webster dic-
tionary, the term sex refers to “either of the two major forms
of individuals that occur in many species and that are distin-
guished respectively as female or male especially on the basis
of their reproductive organs and structures,” or, as a secondary
defi nition, “the sum of the structural, functional, and behav-
ioral characteristics of organisms that are involved in repro-
duction marked by the union of gametes and that distinguish
males and females” ( Merriam-Webster 2016). Th us, a person’s
sex can usually (but not always) be determined simply by ob-
serving his or her reproductive organs. Th e presence of a penis
suggests that a person is a male; the presence of a vagina indi-
cates a female.
A person’s sex can also be determined by one’s genetic
makeup. Humans normally have 23 pairs of chromosomes, the
structures on which genes occur. Twenty-two of those pairs are
the same in both males and females; they are said to be auto-
somes . Th e 23rd pair is diff erent in males and females. In fe-
males, the two members of the pair are identical and are called
X chromosomes . In males, the 23rd chromosome pair contains
one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. Th is chromosome
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