Content uploaded by Sam Sharpe
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Sam Sharpe on Sep 19, 2023
Content may be subject to copyright.
In tegra tive and Comp arativ e Bi ol ogy
In tegra tive and Comp arativ e Bi ol ogy , volum e 00, pp. 1–8
ht t ps://do i.o rg/10.1093/icb/icad113 So ci ety f o r Int e grat ive and Comp arativ e Bi ol ogy
SYMPOSIUM
Sex and Biology: Broader Impacts Be y ond the Binary
Sam L. Sharpe
* , 1 , 2
, Andrew P. Anderson
†, Idelle Cooper
‡
, Timothy Y. James
§, Alexandra
E. Kralick
¶
, Hans Lindahl
||
, Sara E. Lipshutz
# ,**
, J. F. McLaughlin
††, Banu Subramaniam
‡‡
,
Alicia Roth Weigel
§§ and A. Kelsey Lewis
¶¶ ,2
∗Divisio n o f Biology, K ans as St at e Univer sity, Ma nhatta n, KS 66506, USA;
†Depa rtment of Biology, Reed College, Portland,
O R 97202, USA;
‡
Depa rtment of Biology, Ja mes Madiso n Universi ty, Har r isonburg, VA 22807, USA;
§Dep art ment of E cology
and Evol u tio nary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
¶
Dep art ment of Anthropology, University of
Pennsylvani a, Phil adelphi a, PA 19104, USA;
||
In depen dent writer and activist;
#
Dep art ment of Biology, Loyola University
C hicago, C hicago, IL 60660, USA;
∗∗Dep art ment of Biology, D u ke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA;
††Dep art ment of
Environm ental Scien ce, Policy, an d Managem ent, Universi ty o f Califo rnia Ber ke ley, Ber ke ley, CA 94720, USA;
‡‡
, Dep art ment
o f Wo m en, Gen der, Sexu alit y Studies, Universit y of Ma ssachu setts-A mherst, A mherst, MA 01003, USA;
§§Austin Human
Rights Co mmissio n er an d act ivist;
¶¶
Dep art ment of Glob a l Gen der an d Sexu alit y Studies, Universit y at Bualo-SUNY,
Bualo, New Yo r k 14260, USA
From the symposium “Sexual diversity and variation” presented at the annual meeting of the Society for In tegra tive and
Com para tiv e B iology, Ja nua ry 4, 2023.
1
E-m ail: sh arpes@ksu.edu
2
Symposi um co-o rganizer s the r s t and las t au tho rs, an d th e rest of th e auth ors are listed alp habeticall y.
Synopsis What are the implicatio ns o f mis unders tanding sex as a bina ry, a nd why is it essent ia l for scient ists to inco rpo rate
a more expan siv e view o f b iolog ica l sex in our t eac hing a nd resea rch? This roundtable wi l l include many of our symposium
speaker s, inc l uding b iologists and int er sex advocat es, t o di scu ss th ese topics an d visi bilize th e lin k betwe en o ngo ing reicatio n
of dyadic sex within scientic communities and the so cial, p olitical, an d m edical o p p ressio n faced by queer, tran sg en der, an d
espe cia l ly int er sex co mmuni ties. As wi t h t h e symposium as a wh ole , this conver sation is desig ne d to bring together empirical
r esear ch and im plemen ta tio n o f equi ty, incl usio n, and justice p rinci ples, which are o ften si loe d into sep a rate rooms a nd conver-
sa tions a t academic conferences. G iv en th e local an d n ation al attacks on the rights of int er sex indiv idu als an d access to m e dica l
ca re a nd b o dily au to no my, thi s interdi sciplin ary di scu ssion i s both tim e ly an d ur g ent.
Introduction
In this roundta ble, w e di scu ss th e present an d th e fu-
ture of h ow th e e ld o f b iology app roach es sex, an d th e
interpl ay bet ween biology and s ociety. We dre w inspira-
tio n fro m a symposi um p resen ted a t the Society for In-
teg rat ive and Comp arat iv e B iology’s 2020 Annual Con-
fer ence "Repr oduct ion: the fema le p ersp e ct ive from an
in tegra tive and com para tiv e framew ork" that was co-
organized by Teri Orr and Virg inia Hayssen, in particu-
la r rega rding this roundtable in its presen ta tion and its
summary paper ( Orr et al. 2020 ). In line with the topic
and go a ls of our symposium, the roundtable di scu ssion
bro ught together bo th int er sex acti vists and bio logists
w orkin g in a variety of sys tems acros s taxa who are crit-
ica l ly engag ing w ith l angu age an d con cep ts surro und-
ing biolog ica l sex. We see the collabo ratio n o f these
p ersp e ct ives as crit ica l to creat ing st rateg ies for imple-
menting a broader an d m ore accurate conceptualiza-
tio n o f sex diversi ty and i ts im plica tions in to academic
biology. O ur go a l is to incent ivize chan g es in prac-
tice and p ersp ec tive throug h out th e e ld, an d to h e lp
develo p ap proac hes t o doing so that are under st o o d
by our colleagues to be both ur g ent and possible. Af-
ter the symposium, this article was po p u late d with the
A dvance A cces s publication Au gus t 17, 2023
C
Th e Auth or(s) 2023. Pu blis h ed by Oxford Universit y Press on behalf of the Society for In tegra tive and Com para tiv e B iology. This is an Open
Access article dist ribute d under the terms of the Creative Co mmo ns Attr ibu tio n License ( https://creativecommo ns.o rg/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which
per mits unrestr ict ed reuse , dist ribut ion, and r epr oduction in any medium, provided the orig ina l work is properly cit ed .
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icad113/7244695 by guest on 19 September 2023
2 S. Sharpe et al .
co nversatio ns that occurred during and as a result of
the following questions. This article also provides a list
o f reco mm en ded r esour ces co mp iled by the au tho rs
( Ta b l e 1 ).
As addressed in the com plemen ta ry a rticle in this
symposium col le ct ion, “S ex, S cien ce, an d Society:
Reck onings a n d Responsi bi lit ies for Biolog ists,” the
p aradig m of binary sex ne e ds a revol u tio n. This
p aradig m is embe dde d in the inst i tu tio n o f science:
in scientic r esear ch, in science e ducat ion, an d in th e
n orms an d expe ctat io ns o f the p rod uctio n o f scientic
knowle dge. We se e t his in t he widespre ad conceptual-
izatio n o f sex diversi ty beyo nd f emale a nd m ale a s an
except ion, a defe ct, an af tert h ought, or n ot ev en w orth
m entioning. Th ese at tit udes and app roaches limi t the
r esear ch questions we can as k, th e in terpreta tion and
f urt her invest igat io n o f o ur ndings, o ur c apacit y to in-
for m t hro ugh o ur t eac hing an d scien ce comm unica tion,
an d th e in cl usivi ty o f our wo r k an d spaces. Th e on g o-
ing erasure of int er sex in our classrooms and cur r icula
is not only a disservice to our students but f urt hers t he
me dica l, lega l, and polit ica l harm co mmi tted a gains t in-
t er sex co mmuni t ies, which is g rounde d in b eliefs ab out
t he t hre a t or im possib ili ty o f human sex tra it va riation.
Here, symposium p art icip ants ree ct o n the b inary sex
p aradig m and how science and culture co-create each
other. Part icip ants’ init ia ls are used thro ugho ut to in-
dicate spe cic ree ct io ns made d ur ing t he symposium
roundtable.
Recognizing the diversity of sex and
gender identities
Science h a s hi storica l l y p laye d, and cont inues to play,
an unignorable role in the so cial, p olit ica l, an d m edi-
cal o p p ressio n o f que er, t ran sg en der, an d int er sex com-
munities (Lewis and Sharpe 2023 ). Sex and gender are
both complex and mu lt ifacete d, an d th ey each ne e d to
be appro ache d with much more nua nce tha n academic
b iology typ ica l ly oers. There is a remarkable level of
diversit y w ithin and bet w een sex es a nd sex tra i ts o f in-
div idu als across phyl a, and thi s i s t ypic a l ly frame d as
“other,” dev i ating from the bina ry, a nd dev i an t, ra ther
than com plex, m u lt ifacete d, and diverse (e.g., Ros ar io
2009 ; Rough garden 2013 ). Ignorin g the co mplexi ty o f
sex and gender does an inca lcu lable disservice to a dis-
cipline that aims t o under st and t he co mplexi ty o f life o n
this planet.
Th e m ode l s th at we are u sing to co me u p wi th ques-
tion s a bout animal biology are thor oughly r ooted in our
cu ltura l as s um ptions ( McLa ugh lin et a l. 2023 ). As AEK
no ted in o ur ro undtable di scu ssion, “Cu ltura l norms
can be so pervasive that it’s almost as if they are ‘co m -
mon s ens e,’ s o it i s h a rd f or pe ople who se e them ev-
erywh ere th ey look n o t to pro j e ct t hem onto t he biol-
ogy that they’re study ing .” Furthering this point, JFM
added “When we are looking at systems li ke sexua l se-
le ct io n wi th b irds o r liza rds, a nd we a r e coming fr om
a cu ltura l b ackg round o f ‘sex is b in ary,’ we’re a sking
quest ions li ke ‘ why do w e hav e dierent types of males
tha t do dieren t thin gs’ or ‘ why are these sex roles
re vers e d betwe en ma le a nd f emale.’ These a re inher-
ently rooted in the fact that w e hav e a culture that
looks at this as a b inary, bu t b irds and lizards don’t
care!”
Experien ce an d bias s hape th e questions as ked by sci-
ent ists, and in p art icu lar, by biolog i sts. The domin ant
p aradig m h a s been sh aped by ci s h eteron ormat ive cu l-
ture, but thi s i s rar ely r e cog nize d as an act i vel y subj e c-
tive p ersp ectiv e. How ev er, thi s i s n ot th e case for queer
p ersp e ct ives. F or exam ple, when que er, t ran sg ender,
and int er sex biologi sts pu sh back a gains t this p aradig m,
thi s i s responded to a s proj e ct ing our/their own per-
spe ct ives onto non-human or ganism s. JFM con tin ued,
“I’ve had people be mo re po inted abou t i t at m e: ‘We ll,
you’re no nb in ary, so you’re ju st proj e ct in g y our own
t hing onto t he anim al s,’ b ut if yo u’re cisgen der an d
not in terroga ting t he role of t he binary in t he ques-
tion s y ou’re askin g, y ou’re comin g in with y our own bi-
ases and your experience is shaping the questions you’re
a sking–it’s ju st th at you don’t h ave to account for th at in
t he s ame way as those of us who live outside those bi-
naries do.”
Pr imate rese arch is one place that has been par-
t icu l arly v ictim to p rojectio ns o f human cultural as-
sumptio ns o nto science ( Hara wa y 1989 ; Kralick 2023 ).
F or exam ple , there is a t en den cy to proj e ct the expe c-
t ation t h at m a les wi l l idea l ly be lar g er and stron g er
tha n f emales but her r esear ch on ora nguta n sk eletons
com plica tes this as s ump tion, a to pic that s h e has fur-
ther explored in her publications (e .g., Kralic k et al.
2023 ). A.E.K. notes that, while cu ltura l norms are per-
vasive, queer experiences cha l len g e what we are told
are immutable, obj e ct ive t ruths. Present ing the per-
spe ct ives of que er pe op le and di vers e s cientists can
h e lp ev ery one take such viewpoin ts in to accoun t and
b uild ap proac hes t o biology that are m ore in clusive an d
equitable.
Scientic communication r equir es
inclusive langua g e
As symposium p art icip a nts a n d co-auth ors of various
posi tio nali ties and p ersp ectiv es, w e col le ct ively re cog-
nize t he import ance of centering th e experien ces an d
p ersp e ct ives of que er, t ra nsgender, a nd int er sex individ-
uals in all di scu ssions relat ed t o sex diversity in biology.
The l angu age used in biology classrooms, in sch olar ly
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icad113/7244695 by guest on 19 September 2023
Broader impacts beyond the sex binary 3
Ta b l e 1 Recommended resources.
Author(s) Title
Publication
date
Publication
medium A vailable fr om
Biology Education Resources
Ah-King M Queering animal sexual behavior in
biology textbooks
2013 Confero: Queering School,
Queers in School; 1(2):46–89
https://doi.or g/10.3384/confer o.2001-4
562.13v1i21d
Barcelos CA Tr a n s f eminist Pedag ogy and the
Wom e n’s Health Classroom
2019 F eminist F ormations;
31(3):1–24
https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2019.0028
Casper AA, Rebolledo
N, Lane AK, Jude L,
Eddy SL
“It’s completely erasure”: A
Qualitative Exploration of
Experiences of Transgender,
Nonbinary, Gender Nonconforming,
and Questioning Students in Biology
Courses
2022 CBE—Life Sciences Education;
21(4):ar69,1–19
https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21- 12- 0343
Casper AMA, Atadero
RA, Fuselier LC
Revealing the queer-spectrum in
STEM through robust demographic
data collection in undergraduate
engineering and computer science
courses at four institutions
2022 PloS one; 17(3): e0264267,
1–28
https:
//doi.or g/10.1371/jour nal.pone.0264267
McLaughlin J Tr a n s Inclusion in the Biology
Classroom
2022 Feb 14 Jess McLaughlin, PhD: Blog.
[Internet]
https://www.jfmclaughlin.org/blog/trans-
inclusion- in- the- biology- classroom
Sharpe S Developing LGBTQIA + Inclusive
Biology Classrooms and Curricula
2022 SICB + Tal k on Y ouT ube
[Internet]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA
-F2cW8jZA
Zemenick AT, Tu r n e y
S, Webster AJ, Jones
SC, Webe r MG
Six Principles for Embracing Gender
and Sexual Diversity in
Postsecondary Biology Classrooms
2022 BioScience; 72(5):481–492 https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac013
Biology Research Resources
DuBois LZ,
Shattuck-Heidorn H
Challenging the binary: Gender/sex
and the bio-logics of normalcy
2021 Am J Human Biology;
33(5):e23623
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23623
GenderSci Lab Research Handout for Scientists:
When and how can you apply sex
contextualism in your own research?
2022 April12 GenderSci Lab: Blog [Internet] https:
//www.genderscilab.org/blog/faq- for- sc
ientists- applying- sex- contextualism
Richardson SS Sex Contextualism 2022 Philosophy , Theory , and
Practice in Biology; 14(2)
https://doi.org/10.3998/ptpbio.2096
Saguy T , Reifen-T agar
M, Joel D
The gender-binary cycle: the
perpetual relations between a
biological-essentialist view of gender,
gender ideology, and gender-labelling
and sorting
2021 Phil Tr a n s Roy Soc B;
376(1822)
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0141
Biology Perspectives
Ainsworth C Sex redened 2015 Nature; 518(7539):288–291. https://doi.org/10.1038/518288a
Montañez A Beyond XX and XY: The
Extraordinary Complexity of Sex
Determination
2017 Scientic American [Internet];
317(3):50–51
https://doi.or g/10.1038/scientificamer ic
an0917-50
Roughgarden J Ev olution’s Rainbow: Div ersity,
Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and
People
2013 [Book] 10th ed. Oakland (CA): University of
California Press.
Inter disciplinary P erspectives
Canaday M The Straight State: Sexuality and
Citizenship in Twentieth-Century
America
2009 [Book] Princeton (NJ): Princeton University
Press
Costello CG Intersex and Tr a n s ∗Communities:
Commonalities and Tensions; in
Horlacher S. (ed). Transgender and
Intersex: Theoretical, Practical, and
Artistic Perspectives
2016 [Book Chapter] New Yor k (NY): Palgrave Macmillan. p.
83–113; https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-
349- 71325- 7 _ 4
Davis G Contesting Intersex: The Dubious
Diagnosis
2015 [Book] New Yo r k (NY): New Yo r k University
Press
Karkazis K Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical
Authority, And Lived Experience
2008 [Book] Durham (NC): Duke University Press
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icad113/7244695 by guest on 19 September 2023
4 S. Sharpe et al .
Ta b l e 1 Continued
Author(s) Title
Publication
date
Publication
medium A vailable fr om
Malatino H Queer Embodiment: Monstrosity,
Medical Violence, and Intersex
Experience
2019 [Book] Lincoln (NE): University of Nebraska
Press
Orr C Cripping Intersex 2022 [Book] Vancouv er (CA): Univ ersity of British
Columbia Press
Reis E Bodies in Doubt: An American
History of Intersex
2012 [Book] Baltimore (MD): The Johns Hopkins
Univ ersity Pr ess
Samuels EJ Fantasies of Identication: Disability,
Gender, Race
2014 [Book] New Yo r k (NY): New Yo r k University
Press.
Subramaniam B Ghost Stories for Darwin: The
Science of Variation and the Politics
of Diversity
2014 [Book] Champaign (IL): University of Illinois
Press.
Viloria H, Nieto M The Spectrum of Sex: The Science of
Male , Female , and Intersex
2020 [Book] London (UK): Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Intersex Resources
Costello CG The Phalloclitoris: Anatomy and
Ideology
2011 Jan 31 The Intersex Roadshow
[Internet]
https://intersexroadshow.blogspot.com/
2011/01/phalloclitoris- anatomy- and- ide
ology.html
Costello CG Intersex Genitalia Illustrated and
Explained
2011 Apr 29 The Intersex Roadshow
[Internet]
https://intersexroadshow.blogspot.com/
2011/04/intersex- genitalia- illustrated- a
nd.html
Ellis P Category: Wo m an 2022 [Film] https://www.categorywomandoc.com/
Henderson K J.K. Rowling and the White
Supremacist History of “Biological
Sex.”
2020 Jul 28 Radical History Re vie w: The
Abusable Past [Internet]
www.radicalhistoryreview.org/abusabl
epast/j- k- rowling- and- the- white- supr
emacist- history- of- biological- sex/
InterACT: Advocates
for Intersex Youth
InterACT: Intersex Brochures and
Guides
[Internet] https://interactadv ocates.org/r esources/
intersex-brochures/
InterConnect InterConnect: Resources [Internet] https:
//interconnect.support/what- we- do/
Intersex Justice
Project
Intersex Justice Project: Intersex
Activism Resources
[Internet] https://www.intersexjusticeproject.org/r
esources.html
Lindahl H Intersex person reacts to Middlesex 2020 Y ouT ube [Internet] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm
yKRGpZclc&list=PLlMq74isPDDb346zd
9oq7A2WLem9tZKBk
Lindahl H Writing an intersex character: 5
authenticity reader tips
2021 Y ouT ube [Internet] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3
VJsftZfcY&list=PLlMq74isPDDb346zd
9oq7A2WLem9tZKBk&index=4
Lindahl H To p tier intersex characters in
ction books (including Murakami)
2021 Y ouT ube [Internet] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= _ 8
Nwz0p _ Ox4&list=PLlMq74isPDDb346
zd9oq7A2WLem9tZKBk&index=5
Lindahl H, Brown K XO, XXY, Oh My! Understanding
Chromosomes and Prenatal Testing
2023 Jan 23 Hans Lindahl: Blog. [Internet] https://hanslindahl.com/blog/sex-chrom
osomes- genetic- and- prenatal- testing
Scientic American Medicine’s Fixation on the Sex
Binary Harms Intersex People: A
Question of Sex, Episode 2
2022 Aug 24 Scientic American video on
Y ouT ube [Internet]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF
IugrTaSmM
Serano J Transgender People and “Biological
Sex” Myth
2017 Jul 17 Medium [Internet] https://juliaserano.medium.com/transge
nder- people- and- biological- sex- myths
-c2a9bcdb4f4a
Scamell D The State of Intersex Funding:
Funder Brieng
2019 Global Philanthropy Project
[Internet]
https://s3.amazonaws.com/astraea.pro
duction/app/asset/uploads/2019/09/20
19- Intersex- Funding- Brief.pdf
The resources listed here were compiled by the authors of this roundtable summary. This list focuses on biology education resources, biology
r esearch r esources, biology perspectiv es on sex diversity and variation, interdisciplinary books on bodies, sex, and/or biology, and shorter-format
intersex resources that are freely available online.
scien tic publica tions, an d in pu blic-facing scien-
tic comm unica tion plays a role in the co-creation of
scien ce an d culture ( Su bra ma nia m 2014 ). La n guag e
us ed in thes e sp aces imp acts o p p ressed co mmuni ties
an d in div idu al s; bin a ry la n guag e tha t pa thologizes sex
an d gen der variation an d diversity is actively har mf ul
to que er, t ran sg en der, an d int er sex indiv idu als both
wi thin and ou tside o f science. H.L. emph a sized th at it
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icad113/7244695 by guest on 19 September 2023
Broader impacts beyond the sex binary 5
is crit ica l fo r b iologists to be “aware o f how l angu age
i s u sed, an d h ow that s hapes kn owledge p rod uctio n,
an d h ow that kn owledge p rod uctio n is leaned u po n
by polit ica l and cu ltura l act or s” an d un der lin ed that
int er sex indiv idu a ls “ne e d a l lies, we ne e d fol ks who are
p rod ucin g knowledg e in a way th at i s sen sitiv e to the
socia l rea lit ies o f our co mmuni ties.”
Acco mpanying this round table summa ry, a n oth er ar-
ticle from this symposium surveys several terms in the
litera ture tha t im pose a bina ry fra m ewor k onto sex-
ual ph en otypes ( McLaughlin et al. 2023 ). These terms
chan g e in prevalence across time and among dierent
taxa. One example is the co natio n o f sex and gender
in non-human anim al s. A nthropo mo rphizatio n is com-
mon in biology, in how or ganism s ar e pr esente d in e du-
cat iona l sett ings, an d in h ow r esear ch is pr esent ed . A.A.
explain ed “I’ve n o ticed a lo t of t he ant hropo mo rphisms
that y ou giv e ar e fr om a West ern per spe ct ive. Yo u end
up trying to create t hese stor ies to make it familiar
to your students an d th en you realize y ou’v e fed into
so me o f t he har mf u l cu ltura l dyn amics th at can exi st.”
As such, anthropo mo rphizatio n and ideas of human
gender roles are p art icu larly preva lent in ideas about
“se x roles,” i .e ., females prov ide c a re a nd males com-
pet e , t ypic a l ly slott in g or ganism s into “f emale roles” a nd
“m ale roles,” era sing the dyn a mic a n d unique be haviors,
p hysio logies, and ro les that di v erse or ganism s emb o dy.
Thi s m amm a l-centere d fram ewor k of care vs. compe-
t it ion doesn’t accurately r epr esent behavior or p hysio l-
ogy across the animal kin g do m; fo r example, in birds,
b i p arenta l care is the norm.
An oth er example oered by S.L. is the discussion of
the co natio n o f sex an d gen der in th e terms “m a s-
culinize” and “feminize ,” oft en im plemen t ed t o refer t o
the eects of ho rmo nes such as tes tos terone, es trogen,
and pr ogester one . S he s ugges ts a lternat iv e term s like
“‘andr ogenize’ or ‘es t r ogenize’ could be more ee ct ive
wi thou t co nating sex and gen der. Alternative ly, as bi-
olog ists, we can ta l k a bout the lev els of the ho rmo nes
an d th e exp ressio n o f the trai ts th emse lves, rath er than
framing these eects as belon gin g to one s ex.” TJ als o
po inted ou t the limi tatio ns o f anthropo mo rphizatio n in
the context of his r esear ch, “. . .fungi are so dierent than
humans!. . . They don’t have to t into ‘thi s i s a m ale
role’ or ‘this is like a female role ,’ well , no, thi s i s some-
t hing unique t hat t hese or ganism s are doin g.” Explorin g
suc h diver se fo rms o f life wi thou t fo rcing ana log ies with
hum an or m amm alian beh avioral roles and norms can
h e lp to destabilize ideas of a universal sex binary and
ub iqui tous no rmativ e g ender roles.
As r esear c her s and educat or s, we oft en fa l l into s h ort-
h and s o f l ump in g many thin gs tog ether as “sex.” While
s ome us e t he ter m “sex” in r efer en ce to on e trait such
as chro moso mes, go n ad s, gamete-p rod uctio n, o r exter-
na l genita lia, “sex” is often used to refer to many dier-
ent trai ts wi t h dierent distr ibu tio ns ( Rich ard son 2022 ).
JFM comment ed , “I found t eac hing t hat part of t he way
to work toward dev elopin g a new v oca bula ry f or this is
to be very specic about what you’re ta l kin g a bout.” An
approac h t o minimize co nfusio n, and to imp rove accu-
racy, is to b e sp ecic . Rath er than ca l ling a t rait “sex-
lin ke d,” one can be specic about what a trait is lin ke d
t o—a c hro moso me, and if so, whic h one . Rat her t han
refer r ing to “female” and “male” chro moso mes, o ne can
simp l y refer spe cica l ly t o the c hro moso me(s) in ques-
t ion. As J.F.M. explaine d, this a lso o ers addi tio nal ben-
ets, “In general, t aking t h e tim e t o st op an d as k ‘what
trai t o r set o f trai ts are we actua l ly thin kin g a bo ut’ no t
only h e lps us break down these b inaries, i t also means
we’re comm unica ting better and more spe cica l ly—
to both our colleagues in r esear ch, an d wh en we’re
t eac hing.”
A co mmo n term in biology is “sexual dimorphism,”
whic h refer s t o a distinct or systematic dierence
bet ween t wo sexes of a species. “Dimorphism” im-
plies binary ph en otypes, yet across po p u lat ion s tw o
o r mo re modes m ay exi st, an d th ose m odes can have
a ran g e o f relatio nshi ps fro m overlapp ing to disjunct.
Sex dierences can also be uid or dynamic over time,
as sex ph en otypes may shif t dur ing t he natural ag-
ing process or even fu l ly interconvert as in sequen-
t ia l hermaphrodit ism. G iv en this ran g e of variation,
there may be a ne e d to consider dierent terminol-
ogy. Many a lternat iv es hav e been proposed , suc h as sex
dierences, sexual dierence, sex va riation, sex po l y-
m orphism, an d sexual h eterom orphism (re vie wed in
Kralick et al. 2023 ). A.A. shared that he uses “sexual
h eterom orphism,” f or exa m ple, beca use “I t hink t hat’s
m ore in clu sive becau se i t co nveys t here’s t hat wider
ran g e, and it also makes room for those mu lt imoda l
trai ts” ( Anderso n and Fa l k 2023 ; An derson an d Renn
2023 ). Ev en in system s wh ere dioecious gam ete p rod uc-
tion h a s been hi storica l ly considere d a fun dam ental bi-
n ary, thi s a l lows for the descri ptio n o f a wider ran g e of
sex m orphs, an d distri bu tio nal dierences between ga-
m ete type an d oth er traits. How ev er, the term “sexual
dimorphi sm” h a s been u s ed by res earc her s for a long
tim e an d many un derstan d th e way th e t erm fails t o re-
ect the diversity of sex traits and sex expression, but are
unsure how to inco rpo ra te a dieren t term. A.E.K. ex-
plain ed “Som ethin g w e can do as a co mmuni ty beyo nd
jus t s ugges ting n ew termin ology, is to m ode l h ow to use
a lternat i ve termino logy in our own science, ca l l pe ople
in for thes e dis cussions rather than ca l l them out, and
create space for them to work through how this makes
s ens e for them and in the work that they’re doing.”
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icad113/7244695 by guest on 19 September 2023
6 S. Sharpe et al .
The role of scientic institutions in
addressing systemic biases
It’s im portan t for scien t ic inst i tu tio ns to be aware
of the biases and as s um ptions tha t are embe dde d
wit hin t h eir practices an d to active ly wor k to address
them.
We ne e d t o ask our selves t ough question s a bout the
structures of power th at exi st wit hin t he scientic com-
munity and how those structures p erp et uate ineq uality
and o p p ressio n. Academic science dep art ments are in-
uent ia l sites of knowledge production and di ssemin a-
tio n wi thin a h egem onic p aradig m tha t presen ts itself
a s ahi sto rical and val ue neu tral. BS co mmented, “Biol-
ogists are tra ined a nd will usually t eac h only the details
o f b iology—th ey do n ot t eac h the hist o ry o f b iology o r
where ideas come from.” As a result, the embedded as-
sum ption tha t a fun dam ental an d organic sex binary ex-
ists in nature continues to be p asse d on from instruct or s
to students wi thou t attentiveness to the cu ltura l and po-
lit ica l genesis of this p aradig m. When biology cur r icula
only di scu ss sex a s a bin ary, gender a s a cu ltura l ly me di-
at ed ext ensio n o f s ex, and s exu alit y as always heterosex-
ual and r epr oducti vel y orient ed , this r einfor ces the im-
plicit belief t hat t hese are the o nly no rm al, n atural, and
biolog ica l ly codie d ways fo r o r ganism s to exist. I.C.
po ints ou t “This has an oth er layer o f impo rtance be-
cause of the polit ica l im plica tio ns fo r thi s, a s we ll, wh en
it’s tra nsf erred to huma n s, which w e do so readily.” The
absen ce of queern ess an d sex variation in r esear ch and
ped agogy w ithin ac ademic biology f urt hers polit ica l ar-
gumen ts tha t these c haract eristics are unnatural and in
ne e d of eradication.
The importance of including diverse
perspectives in scientic research
Scien ce an d cultur e co-cr e ate e ach ot h er ( Su bra ma nia m
2014 ). Con tem porary a pproac hes t o an d experien ces of
int er sex indiv idu al s in the US h ave be en unquest ionab l y
shap ed by Europ ean colo nialism. A.R.W. co mmented
“The fact that th ere’s n o int er sex r epr esen ta t ion in cu l-
ture, p erio d—I’m saying ‘no’ hyp erb olica l ly but very
li ttle, emp irica l ly—i t reinfo rces the idea that we’re not
t here, t hat we don’t exist.” A co mmo n narrative of in-
t er sex people is discov erin g bein g int er sex as a teenager
o r ad ul t af ter le ar nin g a bout int er sex in a magazine , in a
b o ok, online, or in cl ass. Likew ise , int er sex people have
little-to-n o visi bility in scien ce an d m edicin e, an d sch ol-
a rly a rt icles, espe cia l ly scient ic sch olar ly articles, typi-
ca l ly exclude intersex indiv idu als and related content.
Int er sex t raits genera l ly appe ar in t he scientic liter-
ature only as a source of isolated pathology. While some
int er sex traits do present with accompanying he alt h
p roblems, sex variatio n i tself is frequently pathologized
as a source of aesthetic and social disru ptio n requiring
me dica l t reat ment. As a resu lt, int er sex po p u lat ions are
excl uded fro m gen eral h e alt h rese arch, resu lt ing in both
a failure to accurately account for the spe ct rum of hu-
man diversity in such r esear ch and pr ev entin g ap pro pri-
ate car e pr otocols fr om bein g dev e loped to accomm o-
da te in tersex he alt h ne e d s. There i s an increa sing recog-
ni tio n that the posi tio nali ty and p ersp ectives of those
p rod ucing science have trem en dous inuen ce on scien-
t ic knowle dge p rod uctio n and on “the science” as we
think of it.
The impact of scientic research on
policy and public perception
As symposi um round table p art icip an ts and co-a u tho rs,
w e adv ocate for th e in cl usio n o f que er, t ran sg en der, an d
int er sex per spe ct ives and experiences in all levels of sci-
ence e ducat ion and r esear ch.
Scien ce cann ot a o rd to be igno rant to L GBT QIA +
co ntribu tio ns, incl uding relat ed t o gen der an d sex. We
must be aware of how l angu age is used, by ourselves,
by our colleagues, and by those ou tside o f academic
science. Our l angu age s hapes kn owledge p rod uctio n,
and that knowledge p rod uctio n is leaned u po n by po-
lit ica l and cu ltura l act or s. HL comment ed “I’d love to
s ee s cientists and knowle dge ma k ers orga nizing with
e ach ot her to do things like get in the media and de-
n oun ce appeals to ‘ science ’ and ‘biology’ in denying
int er sex and tran sg en der people h e alt hca re a nd civil
righ ts.” Legisla t or s wri ting b ills o f ten demand dat a. For
example, in bi l l s th at proposed to de lay m e dica l ly un-
neces sary s ur g eries on int er sex babies and c hildren, leg-
islat or s request ed data t o su ppo rt the p roposed b ills.
H.L. recomm en ded tha t scien tists follow the lead of in-
t er sex leader s and activists by “importing those sorts
of l angu age ideas. . ., working alongside co mmuni ty
o rganizatio ns like I nterACT, I nt er sex Justice Project,
The Houst on Int er sex Society, an d oth er folks wh o are
col laborat ing wit h rese arc her s on these topics and of
course just speaking up for these idea s, ch a l leng ing
these p aradig ms.” The p aradig m o f b in ary sex mu st be
cha l len g e d by scient ists w orkin g with th ose wh o are
que er, t ra ns, a nd int er sex and creating o p po rtuni ties
fo r members o f these co mmuni ties to p revail in STEM
e lds th emse lves as well.
The need for education and outreach
efforts
Academic biologists whose b o dies a nd lives a re not
consistently ca l le d into quest ion by th e h eteron orma-
tive and binary p aradig ms re cap i tu late d in di sciplin ary
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icad113/7244695 by guest on 19 September 2023
Broader impacts beyond the sex binary 7
p edagogy may b e unaware of their p ervasiveness. While
col le ct iv e en gag em ent is n ecessa ry f or st ructura l t rans-
fo