by Ray Fauteux

Created on: October 20, 2007   Last Updated: March 07, 2009

At what point do we become who we are? When are we actually individuals who are completely different from anyone else on Earth? What exactly is it that determines our place in the world? If our chromosomes are supposedly organized into 23 pairs, should we not as a result have half the traits of our mother and half the traits of our father when the 22 sets are paired up?

It would seem that if this is true, then all that's left to be decided is whether or not the remaining pair are either XX for female or XY for male before they fuse together again to restore the cell to 46 chromosomes within the baby. If that's the case, why are some off-spring over-loaded with their mother's mannerisms and physical traits, but bear little resemblance in any way, shape or form, to their father?

Also, what causes a woman to be trapped within a man's body? A feeling so profound in some, that a sex change is the only answer to becoming who they think they should be. Is a transvestite a man destined to be a woman at birth, or does something happen in the formative years of childhood to guide him in that direction that ends up in a journey that continues on through his life?

It's no different for women who from childhood are more at ease with a hammer than with a doll. They don't want to dress like girls and they don't want to look like girls. So they look at skirts, dresses, long hair and make-up with disdain and opt for short hair, pony-tails and blue jeans. A pet name for these girls is "tomboy." As the years pass, these girls are more likely to become mechanics or truck drivers because like the boys, they are set on this path early in life.

Are these kids just victims of their family structure and social culture, or is it a chromosome screw-up at birth? I suppose one could argue that their chromosomes combined in such a way that caused them to be "tomboys" so in effect that is a culture they now belong to.

However, what does all this have to do with culture as it pertains to where we live, and the people we are descended from? The chromosomes that define our physical make-up have nothing to do with our cultural heritage. We might live in any country in the world, but that has little bearing with how our chromosomes match-up to determine our physical make-up.

Comparing chromosomes with culture seems a lot like comparing apples and oranges. There is really no comparison. If a child is born in China, Hawaii, or the United States, their physical make-up has nothing to do with the culture they are born into, but everything to do with the chromosomes that create who they really are.

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