SEXOLO

EXOLOGY considers this article one of the most important it has published in many years. The concepts developed here will not only throw much light on the increasingly difficult "riddle of sex." They will also provide an approach to understanding why the mani- festations of sex-normal as well as deviant-can be so diverse in our society.

recreation, as well as for procrea- tion.

The purpose of scientific investi- gation usually is to bring more light into fields that are obscure. Modern researches, however, delv- ing into the "riddle of sex," have actually brought more obscurity, more complexity. What sex really is, has become an increasingly dif ficult question to answer.

Instead of the conventional two sexes, symbolized by Adam and Eve with their anatomical differ- ences, there may be seven or even more that is to say, at least seven separate concepts and mani- festations of sex, each of more or less vital importance to the indi- vidual.

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These are the kinds of sexes I have in mind: 1) chromosomal sex; 2) anatomical sex; 3) legal sex; 4) endocrine sex; 5) germinal sex; 6) psychological sex, and finally, 7) social sex.

What makes a sexual being? Does a man belong to the male sex because he has testicles and a penis? Is a woman female because she has ovaries and a uterus?

The answer to both questions is "NO," legal opinion notwithstand- ing. Actually a man has his male sex organs because he is a male,

Dr. Benjamin is a prominent en- docrinologist and specialist in geront- ology. Formerly consulting endocrin- ologist of the College of the City of New York, he has contributed to numerous scientific and medical journals.

and a woman has her female or- gans because she is a female.

Man is male and woman is fe- male because of his or her genetic inheritance. Sex is decided at the moment of conception. The male sperm that enters the female egg carries among its (normally 46) chromosomes either an X (sex) chromosome or a Y (sex) chromo-

some.

These are the so-called sex- determinants. The Y spells male for the offspring, the X female, at least under normal circum- stances. The egg always carries an X chromosome, and the XY combination means a boy, the XX a girl.

This sex chromosome constella- tion remains frozen in every body cell. Modern scientists with high- powered microscopes can actually diagnose the inborn (“chromatin") sex by examining tissues, for in- stance from the skin or the mouth or blood cells. In this way, the genetic male or female can be recognized, no matter what the rest of the body may indicate.

The sex thus determined is the inherited, fundamental sex. It is the first of our (arbitrary) seven sexes. It is the Chromosomal Sex, also called the Genetic Sex because the chromosomes are made up of the genes, the carriers of heredity.

Under rare abnormal circum- stances disturbances may occur and unfortunate individuals have been observed who carried, for in- stance, XXX or XYX chromosomes

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