What makes a man a man and a woman a woman?

Question

and I'm not talking about physical genetalia. If you WANNA go there, ok, we will. Suppose a man was castrated, would he cease to be a man? Or, if a woman had a double mascectomy and a hysterectomy and could no longer produce children, would she cease being a woman? Ok...now that you're pondering that..you can answer my question. What makes a man a "man", and what makes a "woman" a woman? Are there really any distinct differences that only "men" possess or that only "women" possess, or are we all maybe mixtures of both, or a neutral gender maybe?

Answer 1

If we're talking "male" and "female" it is the testosterone and estrogen and stuff that makes us what we are.
Now, when we're talking "man," that's where it gets tricky. What defines a man? Simply a male? Or something more than that. Someone courageous and moral and kind? If so, how do you go about defining that? What defines courage? What is kindness? And don't even get started with morality. We've been arguing that for centuries.
As I see it, man and woman are the same in the beginning. It is society which molds us into what we are "supposed" to be.

Answer 2

Chromosomes. X chromosome makes a female and Y makes a male.

Body parts don't make a gender. They are like symptoms of what gens do to the body

Females have higher voices and tend to be more right brained. Males tend to be more left brained.

Hormones make a gender. Also nature makes a person.

There are hermaphrodites who's genetic make up are all messed up.

Only women can grow a baby in her uterus and breast feed. Only a man can product sperm that fertilizes an egg. That is the bottom line difference. Other things are tendencies...like nurturing, hunter, and so on...

Answer 3

Without the obvious answers I would say emotions. Men aren't very emotional except for cussing out the refs of the football game.

Women feel more, which makes them more caring.

I'm not sure what makes up a "real" man or a "real" woman. All I know is that men are better leaders of the world because they don't have the emotions that women do. The only reason why men marry is because they want sex and don't want the woman to cut off their "manhood" because they weren't faithful.

Answer 4

The difference between men and women is determined by two things. Firstly they have 78 different genes which will always determine certain traits such as facial hair in men and breasts in women and secondly there is the Y chromosome present in men. At conception and as a foetus is forming the unborn baby shows certain characteristics, such as nipples, that 'people' have, rather than women or men but as the sex of the child is determined the genes and chromosomes take over. Thus from that moment the child will be 'male' or 'female'.

Answer 5

Aside from saying we are all the same when the characteristics are taken away, I can only give you a mystic's answer to that question.
Male and female is the basic duality through which we understand the universe. It corresponds to the Chinese Yin and Yang.
Our Father who art in Heaven, but Mother Earth. Day and Night, Sun and Moon, Black and White, etc..., etc...
The male principle is recognized by amazingly diverse human cultures as possessing the attributes of creativity, light, rigidity, dominion, intelligent.
The female principle is recognized as passive, receptive, dark, mysterious, supple, accommodating, wise.
Etc..., etc... the dichotomy is amazingly consistent and separates a vast number of attributes.

Answer 6

The Genetic blueprint doc:
It's simple and brilliant....there are in each human 23 chromosomes, one of them defines sex when combined as follows:
XX=girl
XY=boy


This is the basic blueprint, however there are those that influenced by both/either society and psicollogical factors don't assume the role nature has assigned them and prefer to play a diferent role in the giant melodrama of life.

Answer 7

Actually i dont think there is a diffrence b/n us in a social life,the diffrece comes with our purpose in this world.
Mens are like darkness and womens are like bright light with a lot of packed colors ready to be arranged and give some meaning.
This thing is always there and sex is the evidence for that.

Answer 8

There is developing evidence - PET scans for example - that their are hard wired gender differences in the brain. However, most observable difference are social modeling. There is also no excuse either physically or socially to deny rights to anyone.

Answer 9

Actually the thing that makes a man a man and a woman a woman has absolutely nothing to do with our physical make at all or whether we have one of something or two, or whether some body part is missing or not, etc., etc., etc. It has to do with the purpose and mission of the soul essence of the person. If your spirit (whether that spirit/soul essence is "male" or "female" is irrelevant) wishes to experience this reality as a man, then it comes into this world to be male and to experience those things that a male of the species needs to learn that differentiates itself from a female experience. That is, if you are man, then your experience needs to encompass all things male, eg. giving and receiving unconditional love to a female, balancing your intellect (thinking) with your intuition (emotions), experiencing children as a male care giver in partnership with a female, refining your ability to understand what it means to be a Male, refining your ability to be sensitive to the needs of all people, to develop compassion, while being fiercely devoted to protecting your loved ones. if you are woman, then your experience needs to encompass all things female, eg. giving and receiving unconditional love to a male, balancing your intuition (emotions) with your intellect (thinking) , experiencing children as a female care giver in partnership with a male, refining your ability to understand what it means to be a Female, refining your ability to be sensitive to the needs of all people, to be compassionate , while fiercely protecting your loved ones. There's more, but that's the gist of it.

Answer 10

Sex is completely different from gender.
You point to chromosomes for 99.9% of the sexual determination.

Gender is widely different. Chromosomes don't matter. It's a social construct with certain norms of expression that vary from culture to culture.