A medical anthropological viewpoint introducing a novel 3D model bringing together sex, gender, and hormonal effects of an individual's chronological pathway

Abstract

Abstract Background: This article looks at gender differences, whether they can be created or performed and the relationship between ‘sex’, ‘gender’ and the ‘body’. Methods: I reviewed definitions and how they related to male/female, man/woman, boy/girl, XX/XY chromosomes and masculinity/femininity. The importance of biomedical advances, especially hormonal and genetic, and their interaction with anthropological writings was addressed. From the review of the literature, I wove my own clinical experience and seminal cross-cultural ethnographies. I looked at long-term gender change, compared to short-term gender reversal and legal involvement. Results: I devised a novel concept of classifying an individual body through a chronological pathway across three axes. There should be a spectrum along each of the three axes and not just two dichotomous poles. The three axes comprise: (1) Hormone effect: Masculinity(testerogenic)/Femininity(oestrogenic/progesterogenic); (2)Chromosome: Boy (XY)/Girl (XX); (3) Gender:...