Embracing Diversity: Gender, Sex, and Nature

In our beautifully diverse world, it's important to understand what we mean when we talk about biological sex, gender, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Though these terms can sometimes be confusing, they each represent different concepts that shape how we see ourselves and connect with others. Nature offers some amazing examples to help us explore and understand these ideas even better.

Defining the Terms

Biological sex refers to the physical traits of a person, such as their external sex organs, sex chromosomes, and internal reproductive structures. Typically, when a baby is born, they are assigned a biological sex based on visible anatomy, generally categorized as female, intersex, or male.

Gender is a bit more complex and is shaped by cultural and social influences. It includes the roles, behaviors, and expectations that societies attach to individuals based on their perceived sex. Attitudes about gender can vary widely across geographic, religious, linguistic, and political differences.

Gender identity is how someone personally understands their gender. This internal sense may or may not align with their biological sex. It’s vital to understand that gender identity is not confined to a binary; in other words, there are many ways people can experience their gender beyond just female and male. Individuals may be non-binary, genderqueer, agender — the list goes on. There are countless ways to be human! It’s also essential to note that Indigenous identities outside of a female/male gender binary have existed in the land now called North America for thousands of years, predating colonization. The umbrella term Two-Spirit is often used to describe these identities, and if you’d like to learn more, you can check out the Resources section below.

Gender expression is all about how people show their gender identity to the world. Every person makes decisions about their clothing, hairstyle, accessories, behaviors, and other external characteristics in an effort to portray themself accurately and authentically. These personal choices may fit into or break away from traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity.

Sexual orientation describes the patterns of attraction individuals feel towards others—emotionally, physically, or romantically. Similar to gender identity, this is an internal experience that includes various orientations, such as homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, asexual, and more.

Nature’s Diversity

Nature is filled with fantastic examples that challenge conventional ideas about sex and gender, reminding us that there’s abundant variety in the natural world.

Fungi

A fascinating example is the Schizophyllum commune fungus (commonly known as the split-gill mushroom), which has over 23,000 different sexual types! This unique fungus has a complex reproductive strategy that goes beyond the simple binary of male and female, showcasing the incredible diversity of reproduction in nature.

A split gill mushroom growing out of a log. Credit: Bernard Spragg

Animals

In the animal world, consider the wood frog as an example. This resilient creature exhibits remarkable adaptations, including the ability to change sex in response to temperature variations. In high temperatures, research shows that female tadpoles will reverse their sex and become male in order to increase their fitness, or chances of survival. Though transgender identities and the concept of transition are often met with scrutiny in our human world, wood frog tadpoles teach us that all sorts of transformations are natural.

A wood frog in Polk County, Minnesota. Credit: Jasper Shide

In a wonderful twist on traditional gender roles, male seahorses carry and birth their young! During a unique reproductive process, the female deposits her eggs into a special pouch on the male’s tail, where he fertilizes them and creates a safe environment for their development.

There are many examples of homosexuality and bisexuality in the animal kingdom, and one that is nearby in the Cannon River Watershed is the mallard duck. Homosexual pair bonds occur among males and females, and while same-sex female pair bonds are usually short-lived, same-sex male pair bonds can last for years and even for life. Bonded individuals stay close together, preening, swimming, and resting in unison while feeding in perfect synchrony. They also defend one another from the approach of other mallards.

Homosexual pair of male mallard ducks. Credit: Norbert Nagel

Plants

Flowering plants (angiosperms) offer another compelling perspective. Most of these species are hermaphroditic, meaning they contain both male and female reproductive structures within a single flower. The hibiscus, for example, has both reproductive parts, which allows it to self-pollinate or cross-pollinate with other hibiscus flowers. This flexibility ensures successful reproduction under various environmental conditions, including the absence of pollinators.

Hibiscus flower at Como Zoo and Conservatory. Credit: Mathieu Landretti

Lessons from Nature

The rich diversity found in the natural world invites us to broaden our understanding of biological sex, gender, and sexual orientation. As part of the natural world, human identities can be fluid and embrace a variety of forms.

Appreciating this truth allows us to have a more accurate understanding of humanity while celebrating the different expressions of life around us. By learning from the incredible variety in nature, we can better support and value the diversity found within our own human communities.

Resources

Baum, Joel, and Kim Westheimer. “Sex? Sexual Orientation? Gender Identity? Gender Expression?” Learning for Justice, 15 May 2015, www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/summer-2015/sex-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-gender-expression.

“Biological Exuberance.” Macmillan Publishers, 20 July 2021, us.macmillan.com/books/9780312253776/biologicalexuberance/.

‌“Celebrating Queerness, Gender Expression, and Sexual Diversity in the Natural World.” One Earth, www.oneearth.org/celebrating-queerness-gender-expression-and-sexual-diversity-in-the-natural-world/.

Curator, Scott de Groot is, et al. “What Is Two-Spirit? Part One: Origins | CMHR.” Humanrights.ca, 26 Mar. 2024, humanrights.ca/story/what-two-spirit-part-one-origins.

“How Fungi Are Breaking the Binary.” Science Friday, www.sciencefriday.com/segments/patty-kaishian-fungi-queer-ecology/.

Lambert, Max R., et al. “Sexual and Somatic Development of Wood Frog Tadpoles along a Thermal Gradient.” Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, vol. 329, no. 2, Feb. 2018, pp. 72–79, https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2172.

National Geographic. “Seahorse Fathers Take Reins in Childbirth.” Pages, 14 June 2002, www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/seahorse-fathers-take-reins-in-childbirth.

Pannell, John R, and Guillaume Cossard. “Long Story Short.” ELife, vol. 5, 6 Sept. 2016, https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.20314. Accessed 3 Apr. 2019.

Subramaniam, Banu, and Madelaine Bartlett. “Re-Imagining Reproduction: The Queer Possibilities of Plants.” Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol. 63, no. 4, 6 Apr. 2023, pp. 946–959, https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icad012.

‌Swift, Benjamin. “What Sexual Diversity in the Natural World Can Teach Humans about Sex, Gender, and Inclusive Biology.” BioScience/Bioscience, 11 Apr. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae018.

The Trevor Project. “Understanding Gender Identities & Pronouns.” The Trevor Project, 26 Sept. 2024, www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/article/understanding-gender-identities-and-pronouns/.

‌Wamsley, Laurel. “A Guide to Gender Identity Terms.” NPR, NPR, 2 June 2021, www.npr.org/2021/06/02/996319297/gender-identity-pronouns-expression-guide-lgbtq.

‌Whittington, Camilla. “New Research Discovers the Elaborate and Unique Way Seahorse Fathers Give Birth.” The University of Sydney, 6 Sept. 2022, www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/09/06/new-research-discovers-the-elaborate-and-unique-way-seahorse-fat.html.