Re:The Fascinating and Complicated Sex Lives of White-Throat...
by empthought on Monday July 15, 2024 @03:56PM
(#40970968)
The "genders" analogy is a conceit of this article's author alone. It is not what any researcher uses. The remarkable feature of these birds is not the behavioral divergence but the underlying genetic factors driving dissortative mating. If any analogy is appropriate, it's "sex" not "gender."
Re:The Fascinating and Complicated Sex Lives of White-Throat...
by notgoodrobot on Monday July 15, 2024 @10:33PM
(#40973250)
I find the whole discussion of gender here distracting from the science. I don't see how using gender makes the point more clear.
People use imperfect analogies all the time. Also words can have multiple meanings, especially across different fields. No one is complaining that their electrical 'resistors' are confusing their understanding of non-violent resistance.
> Isn't the whole distinction between gender and sex is one is biological and the other societal?
In people. These are birds. See above about words having multiple meanings.
> If there is a hereditary biological indicator that determines this behavior, shouldn't it fall outside of the gender concept?
Why would it. A, applying the "gender concept" of humans to birds is silly. B, "hereditary biological indicators" and gender can overlap in humans too.
> it could be easily observed and discussed without the confusion
I don't see at all why it would be confusing, and no one else seems confused. The English language does this literally all the time.