Reply to comment

The idea that science is a 'story or a collection of unassailable observations' as opposed to a concrete set of facts does not have a profound effect on me. Maybe this is so because I am an English major and pre med. In other words, I realize the dual nature of science as a long, ageless,constantly evolving, occasionally refined, yet strictly adhered to tale and a continuum of hard facts. As for gender and sex, the two are easily distinct in my mind. Gender is a social construct and identity, whereas sex is biologically and physiologically pre-determined. Sex is important because it is a way of categorization: male/female. Fear of the 'unknown' or 'in between,' for the most part, is human(and animal) nature, which categorization attempts to absolve. Personally, I identify as female and woman, so its easy for someone like me to accept the categorization of male/female and man/woman. However, I do wonder, along with Professor Dalke, why sex is a necessary detail on a SEPTA pass. I wonder how a president or chairman of SEPTA would address that question.