The Origins of Gender, not Sex: Evolution and the Reproductive Axis

Bobbi Woodhill; Curtis Samuels; Graham Jamieson

doi:10.33774/coe-2020-k7gt1-v10

Life Sciences

Search within Life Sciences

The Origins of Gender, not Sex: Evolution and the Reproductive Axis

16 March 2024, Version 10

Working Paper

Show author details

This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed by Cambridge University Press at the time of posting.

Abstract

• This study presents what and where a biological gender resides in the human phenotype, giving further provenance to identity development and diversity separate from body sex. • Evolutionary principles, including natural and sexual selection, drive the evolution of traits that enhance survival and reproduction, leading to the prevalence of certain behaviors and psychological dispositions in males and females. These differences are adaptive for the human species as a whole and are regulated and maintained by evolutionary pressures. • Several stable and dimorphic cognitive behaviors influenced by innate sex hormones and regulated by reproductive drives play a role in the development of gender identity. • These gender differences in cognitive behavior are not solely a result of socialization. • Given the biological component of gender, what are the potential implications of studying cis- and non-cisgender communities? What are the current limitations and challenges to understanding the genetic basis of transgenderism?

Keywords

Supplementary materials

Title

Description

Actions

Title

Supplements 1 - 7.

Description

For more relevant information, see these supplements.

Actions

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting and Discussion Policy - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Comment: CONSIDER: adding a clear working definition of how you are using the term "reproductive axis (RA). {I am not specialist in your field, just interested}. As an 'lay reader' I find few explicit definitions when I search for 'reproductive axis.' You use the phrase: the "evolutionarily fixed reproductive axis (RA)" and later: "The answer may lie in the observation that, as phenotypes, all identities, cisgender, transgender, and intersex possess a reproductive axis that must be functionally connected in some way and may differ in aspects of its alignment." No doubt a closer reading will clarify your meaning, but consider the readers who are not so well versed in your field. [LIKELY many, given, as you note in your preemptive comment, the potentially divisive nature of the topic in popular press]. In a cursory search, I find that usage of the phrase "reproductive axis" has peaked around 1999 [see Ngram below] and is currently often used as non-academic 'shorthand' for something like "hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis" [OR maybe] "the reciprocal relationship between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes wherein the activation of one affects the function of the other and vice versa." (1) Thank you for your work and best wishes. Leo https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=reproductive+axis%2CHPG+axis&year_start=1960&year_end=2000&corpus=en-2012&smoothing=3 [re: Woodhill, B., Samuels, C., & Jamieson, G. (2024). The Origins of Gender, not Sex: Evolution and the Reproductive Axis. Cambridge Open Engage.] 1 [Toufexis, D., Rivarola, M. A., Lara, H., & Viau, V. (2014). Stress and the reproductive axis. Journal of neuroendocrinology, 26(9), 573-586.]