Gender's Four Variations
Gender and sex are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same—in spite of what the dictionary might lead you to think. The key to understanding their difference is simple. Sex is a physical attribute; gender is a nonphysical attribute. You can usually tell someone’s sex by observing the shape of their body. Gender, on the other hand, reflects a person’s mental and spiritual demeanor, how they feel and relate to the world.
The behaviors that we identify as gender all manifest as a result of the way the brain processes information, which in turn is a function of genetic dominance. To begin to understand gender and ultimately its 16 variations, we need to learn how our genetics affects our brain’s operation and with it our gender—a subject outlined below and in YouTube videos that can be found by clicking on the videos tab.
The lateral division of the brain into two hemispheres, each operated by its own autonomous system, causes the two sides of the brain to view the world somewhat differently. For example, one hemisphere gives us a big-picture view of the world, the other presents us with a view that focuses on some aspect of the big-picture. Although the two hemispheres are highly redundant in many ways, the operating or management systems that orchestrate the redundancy are unique. They complement one other (what one does, the other does not do). Their visions complement one another. The behaviors they offer us complement one another.
Being complementary, the two hemispheric operating systems produce unique behaviors, some of which we associate with gender. For example, most males are informed by the brain’s competitive, aggressive, and selfish hemisphere (usually the left). Most females, in contrast, are informed by the brain’s cooperative, passive, and collective-oriented hemisphere (usually the right). Of course, how we are informed profoundly affects our behaviors, and that includes gender behavior.
However, as a result of cultural influences and genetic differences, the brain’s effect on our insights and behaviors differs from person to person, so no doubt you know men and women who don’t fit this description. Some of the reasons for this are covered in the YouTube videos listed under “Videos” on this site and other reasons are more fully explained in my book, How Whole Brain Thinking Can Save the Future.
Of course, gender is far more complicated than the binary model just described. In addition to operating as separate units, the two hemispheres and their gender characteristics can combine to function holistically. And there are two ways that this can happen. This produces two more operating systems, each with its own variations in gender, resulting in a total of four gender variations.
What determines which brain operating system and gender we inherit? As I suggested above, genetic dominance.
Genetic dominance takes three forms: complete dominance, incomplete dominance, and codominance. In terms of their effect on consciousness and gender, these three types of dominance produce four brain operating systems, each producing its own variations in gender. I’ll explain—and don’t worry, it’s a very simple structure.
When complete dominance determines our brain operating system and its associated gender, the dominance of one hemisphere over the other is complete. The nondominant hemisphere is recessive. It’s unconscious. Complete dominance produces two operating systems, one dominated by the right hemisphere. One dominated by the left hemisphere. Thus, either our masculine characteristics or our feminine characteristics will be dominant, causing us to be conscious of them. In this case the gender of our nondominant hemisphere will be recessive and unconsciousness.
In contrast, the other two types of genetic dominance, incomplete dominance and codominance, produce one gender each. Rather than separate the characteristics of gender into two parts, masculine and feminine, one of which will be dominant, under incomplete dominance and codominance the two genders combine. This produces holistic genders. Because incomplete dominance and codominance draw heavily on both masculine and feminine behaviors, these operating systems produce wide-ranging gender behaviors and result in the fluidity of gender that we observe in culture. Let’s look at them individually.
Genetic incomplete dominance creates a brain operating system and gender that can take a wide range of forms since it’s a hybrid system derived from the integration of right-hemispheric and left-hemispheric systems. As a hybrid system, incomplete dominance produces a fluid gender that creates a polysexual response to the world of sexuality. The other holistic system, Genetic codominance, creates an operating system that consists of a team of operating systems, and thus a team of genders working in harmony. Because the gender of each system is attracted to its complement—the masculine hemisphere causes us to seek out female bodies and the feminine hemisphere causes us to be attracted to male bodies—codominance creates bisexuals.
To learn more about the four brain-operating systems look for my video, The Brain’s Four Operating Systems. But gender is even more complicated. We can inherit two different genders. To understand how this is possible, watch my video The Brain’s Sixteen Operating Systems.