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"Genius" is not merely IQ. In a more colloquial sense it is, but genius as I am using it means creative giftedness. Not strictly artistic, but generative. And re: hormonal treatments, yes they do. While sex is defined biologically as the gametes an organism produces, in sexually dimorphic animals (including humans), sex also manifests in secondary sex characteristics. Such that, for instance, breasts are female secondary sex characteristics, a dropped voice is a male secondary sex characteristic, etc. Manipulation of these characteristics then, can also therefore impact sex characteristics. Someone with an overall female phenotype (secondary sex characteristics) but a male genotype, would be somewhat mixed in sex. If it were biological rather than artificial, it would be recognised as intersex. Transsexualism is defined by the manipulation of sex characteristics, as opposed to transgenderism, which is just identification with a gender different from one's natal sex. The former is about literal biological change, through hormones and/or surgery. The latter is an identity. You can be transgender but not transsexual, you can't really be transsexual without being transgender (despite what others may claim). Hence, trans(change)/sex/-ual. It's also worth noting the brain differences, even if only briefly. While the claim that trans women have 'female brains' is categorically false, there is truth to the claim that transgender brains average between male and female ranges in several key areas, prior to any estrogen administration. Estrogen is a known neurosteroid, and thus any difference from natal male brains likely only grows with cross-sex hormone treatment. My view is also not dependent on trans women as women, but the exact opposite, trans women as separate from women and men. Which is why I mention Hermaphroditus. The -us suffix is masculine, not feminine. Aphroditus, an older form of Hermaphroditus, was known to have cross-dressing rituals, revealing a penis from a feminine form was meant to be atropaic. Male and female merged into one form, the Hieros Gamos sans Gamos, Rubedo/Rebis/Azoth/The Divine Hermaphrodite. |