What is a woman? What is a man?

What prompted this submission, was the following from an AT article

The clearly understood meaning of the word "woman" is a biological person with two x chromosomes. Presumably in an effort to avoid offense to the minuscule number of trans women who biologically are male (one x and one y chromosome) ...

Error!  Too exclusive.  Medically/scientifically too inaccurate.  Not "clearly understood."

First, the correct definition, then the supporting argument. 

A "woman" is an adult human whose karyotype includes one or more X chromosomes and no Y chromosomes.  

As an added bonus, a "man" is an adult human whose karyotype includes one or more properly functioning Y chromosomes and one or more X chromosomes.  There is no viable OY karyotype. 


A doctor reviews the results of chromosome and DNA testing (public domain).

Here are your females (emphasis added): 

1. XO — Turner syndrome (TS), also known as 45,X, or 45,X0, is a genetic condition in which a female is partially or completely missing an X chromosome. ... Turner syndrome occurs in between one in 2,000 and one in 5,000 females at birth. 

2. XX — a person with a normal female karyotype, including two X chromosomes. 

3. XXX — Triple X syndrome, also called trisomy X or 47.  XXX is a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 1,000 females.  Females normally have two X chromosomes in all cells — one X chromosome from each parent.  In triple X syndrome, a female has three X chromosomes. 

4. XXXX — Tetrasomy X, also known as 48,XXXX, is a chromosomal disorder in which a female has four, rather than two, copies of the X chromosome.

Now for the boys (emphasis added): 

1. XY — An individual with one X-chromosome and one Y-chromosome, the normal male karyotype. 

2. XYY — XYY syndrome, also known as Jacobs syndrome, is an aneuploid genetic condition in which a male has an extra Y chromosome. 

3. XXY — Klinefelter syndrome is a genetic condition in which a boy is born with an extra X chromosome. 

4. XXYY — XXYY syndrome is a sex chromosome anomaly in which males have an extra X and Y chromosome. 

...and a whole bunch more X and Y combinations leading to our last example of 

5. XXXXY — 49,XXXXY syndrome is an extremely rare aneuploidic sex chromosomal abnormality.  It occurs in approximately 1 out of 85,000 to 100,000 males.

Intersex is defined as follows: "Intersex is a group of conditions in which there is a discrepancy between the external genitals and the internal genitals (the testes and ovaries)." 

A female can appear male when she is exposed in utero to excess male hormones.  A male can appear female when he has a problem making, metabolizing, or using testosterone. 

And, to revisit a point made earlier, where I qualified the Y chromosome with "properly functioning," a male can appear female or ambiguous when his Y chromosome fails to act like one.  This occurs when a gene, called SRY, that lives on the Y chromosome, malfunctions or is absent.  SRY "causes testes to form in the embryo and results in development of external and internal male genitalia.  If there is a mutation in the SRY gene, the embryo will develop female genitalia despite having XY chromosomes."  This is because SRY codes for a "protein (which) starts processes that cause a fetus to develop male gonads (testes) and prevent the development of female reproductive structures (uterus and fallopian tubes)." 

So there you have it.  A "woman" is an adult human whose karyotype includes one or more X chromosomes and no Y chromosomes.  A "man" is an adult human whose karyotype includes one or more properly functioning Y chromosomes and one or more X chromosomes.  There is no viable OY karyotype (though there might be an OYVAY phenotype). 

99.9% of use cases covered. 

QED.

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