Sex of Souls

What if...
...souls were male or female?

What if...
...male and female souls could inhabit any human body - regardless of that physical body's sex?

To understand this theory, first we need to establish definitions of sex and gender.

sex: a person's biological maleness or femaleness
gender: nonphysiological aspects of sex - the cultural expectations for femininity and masculinity

Thus,
femaleness does not equal femininity
maleness does not equal masculinity.

Example of appearance: In nearly all of the USA, skirts are considered feminine. A woman wearing a plaid skirt would not challenge our societal notions of feminine, whereas a man wearing a plaid skirt would challenge notions of masculine. In Scotland, however, a man wearing a plaid skirt - or kilt - would be within notions of masculine.

Example of behavior: In the USA, a man embracing another man on the street is more likely to draw curious glances and disapproval than would a woman embracing another woman. In other countries, however, it is more acceptable for men to show emotion, whereas women are expected to be more subdued and less physical.

But what does all this have to do with souls? Souls reside in bodies, bodies are imperfect, bodies appear male or female, and maleness and femaleness is separate from masculinity and femininity.

Our bodies are imperfect; I do not know of a single religion that believes otherwise. Some imperfections are minor and temporary, such as colds and sore muscles. Other imperfections last a lifetime, such as multiple sclerosis or chronic arthritis; other imperfections take people's lives, as can cancer or Lupus.

And some imperfections blur the line between male and female.

• people who are chromosomally one sex, yet have external physical characteristics of the other sex
  An example of this is a young woman who, upon her wedding night, discovered penetration to be impossible. Upon medical examination, it was found that her vagina was not complete; it did not extend more than an inch or so into her body cavity, nor did she have a uterus or ovaries. Further tests discovered she was not chromosomally female; she had XY - male - chromosomes.
  Her vagina was surgically elongated, and she and her husband chose to adopt children, as she could not bear any.
  What do you think - was she a man or a woman?
• hermaphrodites
  people born with both male and female sex organs
  What do you think - are they men or women?
• people who feel "wrong" in their bodies, as if they should have the other sex's physical characteristics

What happens when a male soul inhabits a female body? If bodies are imperfect, and souls perfect, a soul will guide itself despite its body.

What if there is no such thing as homosexual and bisexual...
What if a male soul is always attracted to a female soul,
and a female soul is always attracted to a male soul...
but the sex of souls does not always coincide with the sex of bodies?

Because gender is separate from sex, there is no way to tell
the sex of souls.

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