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I have always felt that sex and gender are two distinct things and this was confirmed by Paul's lecture. I do not agree however that the notion of two sexes is a social construction. Biologically speaking, the majority of people are born either male or female. Socially, the majority of people identify themselves as being either male or female. I do not see how such an innate difference can be attributed to social conditioning. Men and women are both hardwired and built differently. There are some parts of gender in a society that can be seen in the "story" of gender but are these differences really more socially than biologically based? Just because an individual falls under the category male or female does not necessarily tie them to a particular "story" in their existence. 

Reading Middlesex also confirms my ideas about there being two distinct sexes. Desdemona doesn't predict the birth of an individual but of a boy or a girl. If I was asked "who are you?" I would not immediately identify myself as a girl. I would identify myself as a person. This identification comes from my mind but biologically I would identify myself as being female.

Also on a side note, I found it pretty ironic that Desdemona's husband would lose his capacity for speech when Cal was born. One man lost his voice as a girl gained hers?