Sexes,species, and genomes: why males and females are not like humans and chimpanzees |
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Authors: | Sarah S Richardson |
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Institution: | (1) University of Massachusetts, 208 Bartlett Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA |
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Abstract: | This paper describes, analyzes, and critiques the construction of separate “male” and “female” genomes in current human genome
research. Comparative genomic work on human sex differences conceives of the sexes as like different species, with different
genomes. I argue that this construct is empirically unsound, distortive to research, and ethically questionable. I propose
a conceptual model of biological sex that clarifies the distinction between species and sexes as genetic classes. The dynamic
interdependence of the sexes makes them “dyadic kinds” that are not like species, which are “individual kinds.” The concept
of sex as a “dyadic kind” may be fruitful as a remedy to the tendency to conceive of the sexes as distinct, binary classes
in biological research on sex more generally. |
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