{"id":2331,"date":"2018-02-03T02:43:11","date_gmt":"2018-02-03T02:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/?page_id=2331"},"modified":"2018-02-03T02:55:20","modified_gmt":"2018-02-03T02:55:20","slug":"race-and-gender-dangerous-ideas-inherited-from-class-society","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/volume-9-number-1\/race-and-gender-dangerous-ideas-inherited-from-class-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Race and Gender: Dangerous Ideas Inherited from Class Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

Communism Sees Comrades, Not Categories<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Not long ago, many scientists taught that \u201crace\u201d was a fixed biological category. Racists \u2013 including some scientists \u2013 lied that segregation and super-exploitation were \u201cnatural\u201d results of supposed biological differences.<\/p>\n

Now we know better. While genetics affects many physical traits, there is no biological way to sort humans into five, or three, or any number of distinct \u201craces.\u201d The racism of class society \u2013 especially capitalist slavery in the US \u2013 created \u201craces.\u201d When class society is destroyed by communist revolution, we\u2019ll end racism. Eventually even the idea of \u201crace\u201d will disappear.<\/p>\n

Much the same is true of sex and gender.<\/p>\n

With few exceptions, gender roles come from the sexism of class society, not from inborn biological differences. Even the binary division of humanity between \u201cmen\u201d and \u201cwomen\u201d is a social construct like \u201crace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rulers of class societies need to divide the masses they exploit and oppress. They need to make their cruel and selfish domination seem \u201cnatural.\u201d At first religion was the main excuse\u2014and it still serves that purpose. But in the capitalist era, the rulers\u2019 distorted science became the new rationale for sexism as well as racism.<\/p>\n

Communists fight for a classless society where nobody will exploit anyone. We\u2019ll work voluntarily and collectively to meet everyone\u2019s needs without profits or money or barter. To win and build communism we need to destroy racism, sexism, borders and every \u201cism\u201d the rulers use to divide us.<\/p>\n

Communism means \u201cfrom each according to ability and commitment, to each according to need.\u201d Communist society will value each person as a distinct comrade within a huge interconnected social network. We won\u2019t think of ourselves or each other in terms of \u201cboxes\u201d like races or genders.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean throwing out science! On the contrary, many more of us will do and understand much more \u2013 and better \u2013 science.<\/p>\n

Gender and Biology<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do male and female humans differ biologically? Not much. It\u2019s \u201cfake news\u201d that biology makes \u201cMen from Mars, Women from Venus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gender differences don\u2019t come from different anatomy. They are not in the genes that are our biological inheritance. They are not in the hormones coursing through our bodies. (See \u201cGender and Biology\u201d below)<\/p>\n

Almost all the psychological and social differences we see (or think we see) between men and women come from how capitalism treats us differently. And from the sexist ways that capitalism teaches us to see and treat ourselves and other workers.<\/p>\n

Gender and Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Various pre-capitalist cultures identified more than two genders. A third gender is recognized by Zapotec people in Oaxaca (muxes) and by Hindus and Muslims in India (hijras). Warias are a third gender in Indonesia, now stigmatized by Muslim rulers. Christian missionaries in Hawaii suppressed indigenous Mahus. Over 150 indigenous groups across Native Americans traditionally recognized \u2013 and revered \u2014 a third gender called \u201ctwo-spirited people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Buginese people of Sulawesi (Indonesia) recognize four genders and a fifth category for people who belong to all four.\u00a0\u00a0 Classical Judaism had six genders.<\/p>\n

Human rights groups are now pushing hard, internationally, for transgender rights. But they never question how the sexism of class society shapes an individual\u2019s sense of being \u201creally male\u201d or \u201creally female.\u201d The \u201cgenderqueer\u201d movement rejects the male\/female \u201cgender binary\u201d but generally not the capitalist society that perpetuates it.<\/p>\n

Once communism destroys the material basis of sexism, we\u2019ll be able to win the fight to end all discrimination and divisions based on gender or perceived gender. Starting now, we mobilize for communism based on an appreciation of everyone\u2019s contributions and everyone\u2019s needs, and on an active fight against sexism in all its forms.<\/p>\n

\n

Gender and Biology<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

How is a person\u2019s sex determined? Usually by their anatomy (external and internal) or by their genes.<\/p>\n

The gene is the basic unit of heredity. Each gene is a stretch of the chemical DNA, found in structures called chromosomes in every cell. We inherit one copy of each gene from each parent.<\/p>\n

Genes help determine our physical traits by coding for the production of specific proteins. Scientists are still figuring out why a gene triggers production of a protein in one cell but not in another.<\/p>\n

Most humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in each cell. One pair is called \u201csex chromosomes\u201d and the other 22 are called \u201cautosomes.\u201d Here we are mainly interested in the \u201csex chromosomes.\u201d The larger is called \u201cX\u201d and the smaller is \u201cY.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 45% of all people have two X chromosomes and are anatomically female. They have ovaries, a uterus and other female organs. Another 45% have one X and one Y chromosome and are anatomically male.<\/p>\n

That leaves about 10% of all people who don\u2019t fit neatly into the genetic male\/female gender binary categories. That\u2019s quite a few! It\u2019s more than the percentage of non-Han people in China or the percentage of \u201cColoured\u201d in South Africa.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of variation among that 10%.<\/p>\n

About one out of every 500 males born is \u201cXXY.\u201d Others are XXXY, XXXXY, XXYY or XXXYY. Almost all have male genitalia but many have secondary sex characteristics (such as body type or patterns of body hair) that are not typically male.<\/p>\n

Some people who present as females have three, four or even five X chromosomes, or just one. They, too, often differ from \u201ctypical\u201d females.\u00a0\u00a0 The most puzzling cases are newborns with male anatomy but XX chromosomes.<\/p>\n

Some people are \u201cmosaics.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Their cells have different sets of \u201csex\u201d chromosomes. Some of these are technically intersex.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps 2% of all babies have ambiguous external genitalia.<\/p>\n

But advanced capitalism\u2019s commitment to the \u201cgender binary\u201d demands that everyone must be labeled \u201cmale\u201d or \u201cfemale.\u201d Usually a doctor decides the child\u2019s \u201creal\u201d sex and does \u201ccorrective surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about Male and Female Hormones?<\/p>\n

Hormones are chemical messengers that are created in the endocrine glands, regulated by genes. They are critical to most major bodily functions, including reproduction.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s ovaries secrete the hormones estrogen, testosterone and progesterone. Men\u2019s testes produce testosterone. Other endocrine glands also secrete hormones that are involved in libido, or \u201csex drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to gender-binary thinking, testosterone is called the \u201cmale hormone\u201d even though women produce it, too. Estrogen and progesterone are called \u201cfemale hormones\u201d even though men produce them too. Everyone needs all these hormones to stay healthy.<\/p>\n

Biology is real. But it doesn\u2019t justify gender-binary thinking. And it\u2019s not destiny.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Front page of this issue<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Communism Sees Comrades, Not Categories Not long ago, many scientists taught that \u201crace\u201d was a fixed biological category. Racists \u2013 including some scientists \u2013 lied that segregation and super-exploitation were \u201cnatural\u201d results of supposed biological differences. Now we know better. While genetics affects many physical traits, there is no biological way to sort humans into … Continue reading Race and Gender: Dangerous Ideas Inherited from Class Society<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2286,"parent":2272,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2331","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2331"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2338,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2331\/revisions\/2338"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}