Reflection

Upon writing this essay, I really began to think about how this dichotomy between
science and culture really influences our society. Which is why I wrote a little bit about the
transgender issue America faces today. Things like whether or not trans genders are able to use
the bathroom they identify with, etc. Reading these articles, didnt change the way I thought
about science and culture in regards to race, ethnicity, sex and gender, but rather supported my
thoughts and feelings about the issue.
Sex and gender is an interesting concept, because there are so many ambiguous
definitions of these terms. So what does sex mean? Is it the sex you were born with? But what if
someone was born as a hermaphrodite? Or is this just an exception? The same thing happens
with gender? Do you have to dress like that gender? Act like that gender? Or can someone just
decide randomly? I think that we should let people think and do the things they want, within
reason obviously. I think it is perfectly fine if someone is born a man, but feels as a woman, so
she now changes her gender. As well as things like using their preferred restroom. There will be
no measurable impact if this becomes a law widespread across the country.
Race and ethnicity is also a topic of discussion. Again the definitions are ambiguous, and
are ever changing. I think the biggest issue with this is the fact that racism still exists in society
today. As humans, we like to generalize things and fill in perceptual gaps. So it is a lot easier to
say that someone committed a crime because they are black, then to figure out the root of the
problem. However, if someone that was white grew up in the same place, had similar
experiences, then their ethnicities would be the same. However, there is not a lot of ethnic
stereotypes in society, which make no sense because the white and black kid have so much more
in common with each other than some other African American on the other side of the world.

Basically, I am just saying that because skin color is such a prominent feature and the first thing
many people notice, that that is why people use race a means to generalize and marginalize. A
difference like high altitude hypoxia, is not noticed by people.
I would say the gender could be looked at as a continuous spectrum. Instead of saying
you are either male or female, where there is no grey area, we could look at it in the light of
being more like a super masculine male all the way to an extremely feminine female. There are
many pangenders, where they are gender fluid, they dont identify because it should be a
spectrum. That being said, I do think that biological sex should be less indicative of how you are
treated when growing up. It should be hit on over and over again that you can like whatever you
want to like and not feel discriminated or marginalized because of that factor.