Human embryos (and probably others) start out female, and grow the male parts a fee weeks later. There is probably someone lurking who can give better details but that’s the gist of it. Thats why men have nipples.
Also, it gets much more complicated than that; at least 2% of humans are intersex, meaning they’re a mix of male and female, everywhere from outward presentation (rare) to chromosomal (more common).
It’s not just gender that’s a spectrum: sex is, too. I said ‘at least’ because it’s possible for people to go their whole lives without realising they’re intersex. 2% is huge: if you know 100 people, statistically 2 of them are intersex. Most of us know more than that.
The ‘only two genders’ thing is biologically bullshit. Biology is never cut and dried.
eta: for reference, I have a disorder that’s been in the spotlight lately – Ehlers-Danlos – and you’ve probably at least heard of it. You’ve likely talked to someone who has it recently. It occurs in 1 in 20,000 people. Again, roughly 1 in 50 have intersex traits. I wish this had the visibility it deserves. It’s exceedingly normal.
About the nipples. You’re right in that we all get them by default. As I understand it the only reason males keep them is because evolutionarily it would take more energy to remove them than keep them. Basically we’re all slackers at the genetic level.
There’s only around 700 genes in the Y chromosome, with only about 70 actually making proteins. Compare the X chromosome with about 800 protein-coding genes and 20-25,000 total genes.
Human embryos (and probably others) start out female, and grow the male parts a fee weeks later. There is probably someone lurking who can give better details but that’s the gist of it. Thats why men have nipples.
And a scrotum seam
And my axe!
Omg is my seam meant to be a…
That’s right, you have a scrotussy.
Your penis is an enlarged clitoris and your testicles are ovaries that fell out.
You pretty much nailed it.
Also, it gets much more complicated than that; at least 2% of humans are intersex, meaning they’re a mix of male and female, everywhere from outward presentation (rare) to chromosomal (more common).
It’s not just gender that’s a spectrum: sex is, too. I said ‘at least’ because it’s possible for people to go their whole lives without realising they’re intersex. 2% is huge: if you know 100 people, statistically 2 of them are intersex. Most of us know more than that.
The ‘only two genders’ thing is biologically bullshit. Biology is never cut and dried.
eta: for reference, I have a disorder that’s been in the spotlight lately – Ehlers-Danlos – and you’ve probably at least heard of it. You’ve likely talked to someone who has it recently. It occurs in 1 in 20,000 people. Again, roughly 1 in 50 have intersex traits. I wish this had the visibility it deserves. It’s exceedingly normal.
About the nipples. You’re right in that we all get them by default. As I understand it the only reason males keep them is because evolutionarily it would take more energy to remove them than keep them. Basically we’re all slackers at the genetic level.
Yeah the Y chromosome doesn’t kick in until later in fetal development.
There’s actually a surprisingly small amount of biological information stored on the Y chromosome, IIRC the vast majority lies on the X.
There’s only around 700 genes in the Y chromosome, with only about 70 actually making proteins. Compare the X chromosome with about 800 protein-coding genes and 20-25,000 total genes.
Awesome! Thanks for explaining.