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            The idea of sex being a spectrum and not two polar opposites is one that does deserve some discussion.  Although I am totally willing to say that there is middle ground between the two sexes, I do think that it is important to look at what we think of as main stream sexes (i.e. male versus female).  Although there definitely is middle ground/a spectrum I think that I am hesitant to use the word spectrum because of the connotations that word has for me.  To me a spectrum implies a spread over varying degrees, this spread is usually associated (for me) with either an equal spread over the spectrum or a normal distribution.  This to me is the difference between using the word spectrum and defining two opposites between which a middle ground or spectrum exists. 

            It is also important to think about why we have come to as a culture recognize two distinct sex opposites rather than a spectrum.  I would imagine (though I have no actual data) that these categorizations arose from observation.  If we had observed (long, long ago) a wide and common spectrum of genitalia or chromosome distribution we would have developed a cultural understanding of sex as a spectrum.  It seems logical to me that we chose instead two opposites because the majority of the time we saw two main options (albeit some variation between the individuals in each category) with some in the middle.  That the two “opposites” were more common than the middle range is not something I have a statistic on and may have changed over many, many generations, but I do believe that most of our language is based on observation rather than arbitrary choice (in this case between a spectrum and two opposites).  It is also interesting to me that we don’t have many (although Jessica did mention one example in class) common examples of cultures where the sexes are not seen as opposites but are considered a spectrum.  The sexes have for years and across cultures been a dividing line.

It seems to me something that has lasted ages and is seen across cultures probably has some value or reasoning behind it and should not simply be tossed aside without serious thought as to where it comes from and why we use it.  Perhaps it is now outdated since procreation and survival of the species are not as much of a concern for humans as a species as it once was however it would be more interesting to me to investigate where the idea of two opposite sexes came from before we redo all of the research that says there are some differences between them.