Comments on Fresh Brainz: Counterintuitive Science: The Ultimate Woman Is A ...

Hi! I've got CAIS, and the question whether yo...

2011-12-06T00:13:46.632+08:00

Hi! I've got CAIS, and the question whether you'll continue loving a girl with CAIS or not if or when she reveals it, really bothers me.. Should this really be an adressed problem at all? isn't it the person you're in love with, and not their cromosomes? A woman with CAIS is in fact that, a woman. To use me as an example, There's nothing about me resembling what to be typically male, neither mind nor body. Not a single thing, except the XY-cromosomes.. (I've taken out the "testes", wich in reality are more like ovaries, except they don't produce eggs)

But the fact that many men/boys (and girls) are so narrowminded when it comes to this (I can understand why), make me never wanna tell the complete truth about my condition to my boyfriend, at least not before I know he really loves me, because I know how it may sound, and what he would think.. that I'm partially a boy..

But that's wrong. Yes, the ultimate woman is a man (but only through the cromosomes).. I've got big round-shaped breasts with tiny nipples, no pubic- or armpit-hair, never had any acne(?), almost no body-odeur, no periods, I'm slim, got a "vase"-shaped body. I've been with a few men, and they just LOVE my body. On the contrary, I can never bare children, nor have a child that is biologically mine, and that's the only, but a huge negative thing about my condition.

NO wonder this condition has always been/still is/will continue to be a huge tabu.. and it's just because of the narrowmindness of people not having it, because they got little or no understanding of it. I don't blame you! So please don't blame me, or any other CAIS woman, for not telling the whole truth to our boyfriends.

I've told my boyfriend I can't have children, but that it is because i had cancer in my ovaries as a teenager. I know it's wrong to lie, but in this case I think it's morally right.

PS: i'm norwegian, so there might be some mis-spellings and gramatically wrong sentences, but I hope you understand. If there's any questions to what i've written whether it's because of the language or the content, don't hesitate to ask ;D

"When a XY man falls in love with a XY woman ...

2011-06-15T19:18:22.565+08:00

"When a XY man falls in love with a XY woman (easy to imagine why), is he a homosexual?"

Not sure, I also don't see why it be easy to imagine, I would say if he had no idea before about the condition then no he's not a homosexual because of that. Now what he decides after he knows is open for debate

"If you're a guy, and the love of your life turns out to be a XY woman...
Will you stop loving her?"

For me that answer would be yes, it may be shallow but I know for a fact if my girlfriend reveled that to me I would not only stop loving them, but if they knew before hand and didn't disclose I would be angry. I'm not to keen on people deciding things for me on a personal level

Hi, In regards Jaime's question "...If th...

2011-05-28T16:54:30.062+08:00

Hi,
In regards Jaime's question "...If the last, why this "girl" with CAIS is attracted to boys? since "she" has a XY cromosomes in his/her cells?"

I looked into this question.

Wikipedia has an extensive article on CAIS, and under the subheading Management, said this: "Individuals with CAIS are raised as females [1]. They are born phenotypically female and almost always have a heterosexual female gender identity [39][61]; the incidence of homosexuality in women with CAIS is thought to be less than unaffected women [62]".

This basically says that these XY folks are almost ALWAYS attracted to men. This strongly suggests that hormones and their capacity to be assimilated into the cells are the primary determinants of sexual orientation, not the effect of the "Y" chromosome alone. In those people that have normal androgen sensitivity (what we would call normal men) the rate of homosexual attraction is much lower, perhaps the rule-of-thumb 10-15%

By extension, this may shed light on male-to-male attraction as a developmental issue caused by hormonal imbalance or deficiency, improper release or timing, sensitivity at the cell receptor sites (there is a condition called PAIS-Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome) or the amount of saturation in utero.

What I'm suggesting is that the default state for a human is primarily female in body, mind, and in behavior i.e. sexual attraction, until the differentiating effects of testosterone are completed. For many folks, they don't completely transition from a female (in utero) platform to a completely developed male, keeping the default sexual attraction of females towards males.

So perhaps what we call homosexuality is really a male body that didn't complete the switch at the brain level from a default female platform. I'm working on this idea...

Angelae Le'Chastaignier

Hi! Really interesting topic... It's really h...

2010-04-27T22:32:48.138+08:00

Hi!
Really interesting topic...

It's really hard to me, to imagine the immense social, and psychological stress this disorder may cause.

Sex, as all of you said, is not a dichotomy, but it depends what sense we are talking in.

Biologically, both, male and female, at the beginning, are the same structure, but due the genetic programming, our cells take one of two possible pathways... inhibiting one, and stimulating the other...
The clitoris, is the equivalent to the male pennis, since the sexual differentiation modifies it.

When I think about it, I ask myself... "So, our sexual attraction/behavior (heterosexuallity or homosexuallity) is learnt from the social rules and environment? or is genetically given to us?

If the last, why this "girl" with CAIS is attracted to boys? since "she" has a XY cromosomes in his/her cells?

Before i studied this disorder, I believed that the sexual behavior was genetically given to everyone.

Now, I doubt, I mean, I cannot say I'm sure, either I disagree with it, simply... I doubt, I don't know what to think.

But, maybe... it's best not to understand all the things now, and simply recognize that some things, are, still, beyond our understanding.

JameS

Androgen insensitivity syndrome is actually a spec...

2009-10-08T12:25:41.369+08:00

Androgen insensitivity syndrome is actually a specific type of male pseudohermaphrodism. The definition of pseudohermaphrodism is a condition in which a person's "gonads and sex chromosomes are discordant with secondary sex characteristics, which include the genital tract and external genitalia. Genetic males (46,XY) with feminized genitals are called male pseudohermaphrodites and genetic females (46,XX) with virilized genitals are called female pseudohermaphrodites" (Larsen's human embryology 2009). So while they are not being as specific as they could be, the general term of male pseudohermaphrodism is correct.

To Edgar:

You're welcome, I thought Dr. Hou...

2008-04-24T11:48:00.000+08:00

To Edgar:

You're welcome, I thought Dr. House sounded quite authoritative too: to be sure, "pseudohermaphroditism" isn't totally wrong but it's an inaccurate and out of date terminology.

I think the incidence of intersex conditions remind us that embryo development is a physical process that can result in very variable outcomes. Too many people believe that it is some kind of magic or miracle.

To The Real CMF:

I would go further and argue that any organ potentially has a mind of its own, not just sex organs.

But that's an article for another time... :P

To Mybackstage:

Of course, that's because it's 100% true. Is the sky blue? Heh heh...

You said:
...at the societal level, dichotomies...

2008-04-22T08:48:00.000+08:00

You said:
...at the societal level, dichotomies (even false dichotomies) are of immense social power.

As a sociological social psychologist, I would have to agree with you 100%!

"Will you stop loving her?"
Hawhawhaw....sounds...

2008-04-22T02:24:00.000+08:00

"Will you stop loving her?"
Hawhawhaw....sounds like the menopause dilemma;-)
Or as I like to say "men 'l pause" when they see those hot flashes coming on...

Or what most guys go through when they discover *gasp* that the clitoris has a mind of its own, not much different than a penis;-)

I watched that episode with much amusement but did...

2008-04-21T22:34:00.000+08:00

I watched that episode with much amusement but didn't follow up to read what the real condition was called, thanks for enlightening me. I went away thinking that pseudofemalehemaphroditism thing was real. Kinda freaky its so common.

To Mybackstage:

Welcome to Fresh Brainz! Ye...

2008-04-21T13:17:00.000+08:00

To Mybackstage:

Welcome to Fresh Brainz! Yes, at the individual level, sex and sexuality are not dichotomies. However, at the societal level, dichotomies (even false dichotomies) are of immense social power.

Thanks for pointing out Dr. Fausto-Sterling's book; interested readers can check out a primer of her book here:

http://www.symposion.com/ijt/gilbert/sterling.htm

To FB supporter:

Should I start charging a subscription? Hmm... ;)

Your blog is getting so interesting I hope you don...

2008-04-21T11:03:00.000+08:00

Your blog is getting so interesting I hope you don't start charging subscription fees! LOL

Your blog is like the adult version of science mags I used to subscribe to when I was in primary school.

FB supporter

One of the best books, in my opinion, on this subj...

2008-04-20T15:51:00.000+08:00

One of the best books, in my opinion, on this subject is Sexing the Body by Anne Fausto-Sterling. She discusses the biology of sex and the social history of constructing it.

To answer your questions, sex is not a dichotomy... and neither is sexuality.