Love it. That’s totally the way I look at things as a natural science nerd.

Um…

Hah. You and asofterworld! I’m going to drown in creepily relevant comics if this doesn’t stop.

While it is interesting to see some of these issues in a comic form, the debate in this case deserves a more thoughtful consideration. Bifrucations can represent a reality and not simply arbitrary designators; at the same time, to render male and female as ‘opposites’ isn’t quite right, as much as it appears in both ancient and feminist literatures. There is, after all, an earth of humanity making up both men and women.

huzzah transsexuality

men cant get pregnant. the opposite of that: getting pregnant (women can do that!)

The North and South Poles are actually a lot more like each other than they are like anywhere else. I mean, okay, one has polar bears and the other has penguins, and one has land under the ice and the other has ice down to the water, but… hmm, I feel as if I should be able to make some metaphorical connections here, but it really isn’t working.

I’m so sick of the eternal Yin-Yang -debate (but not of this comic!). Let everyone be what they want to be.

the polar bears are dying.

Nny – Not all women can get pregnant.

The Mercator Projection is huge in Greenland!

Not truly oposites. Female is XX while male is XY. More like North Pole and Equator. Guess which is which?

When I was young and idealistic, I thought that the dymaxion (Fuller) projection would obviously, easily replace the mercator maps. You know, because they were geometrically more truthful, and had less cultural bias. Did I say I was young?

While there is some middle ground the distribution is shaped more like a bathtub than like a bell. So, yes, Mercator rules.

The opposite of pregnancy is a uterine tumour. Is that a word?

I don’t know if all that is worth the A

If one is on the southern hemisphere, does a compass point to the north pole or the south pole?

Nick;

the end marked “N” points North, and the end marked “S” points South…

but only based on magnetism? if your compass only has a magnet in the north hand it might point somebody in the wrong direction…………………..

Genetically, males are a special case of female.

And on Earth, compasses point to a mass of iron-containing rock in Canada. It works as “North” for most of the world, but not all. Not having a universal reference point like that is one of the challenges in robotic exploration of the moon and Mars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anekantavada

The opposite of pregnancy is terminal disease. (If pregnancy is the expectation of birth, terminal diseases are the expectation of death.)

When I was still reading C&G backwards, I disliked Boy for taking that opinion in this strip. Now I just look at panel 5 and shrivel up inside.

Here’s how I see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ8dHxb21Sg

Some philosophers believe, and I agree, that masculine and feminine transcend gender. There are social constructs, I agree–the color pink being feminine, or liking football being masculine are two examples–but the concept is deeply rooted in out very beings. It has nothing to do with giving birth, and goes far beyond genitalia.

Colour gender is very cultural. Colours in general are cultural. In the West we wear white for a wedding; in many Asian countries people wear white for a funeral. The only colour that seems universally interpreted is red and even that would be pushing it a bit. It’s sort of silly to say ‘x colour is a girl’s colour’ because it’s probably different in China/the Middle East/[insert geographic region here].

Physical gender and psychological masculinity/femininity are two different things. One you are sort of stuck with no matter what. The other one you can change! Sometimes. It doesn’t always work out. Never stops anyone though.