Hermaphrodite, Gonochorist, and More: Navigating the Complexities of Sex-Related Language in Biology

In biology, the term sex is applied to numerous and entangled concepts, leading to language inconsistencies across taxa. Navigating this entanglement and complexity is vital because language not only influences how we communicate about a topic, it also directly shapes the way we conceptualize the world. Sex-related topics (e.g., sex; gender; sexual behavior; reproduction; and sexual, romantic, and related orientations) are areas where the language to describe these nuanced multidimensional spectra is challenging, because these topics are both complex and politically charged, even if we are focused on only communicating within biology. While there are ongoing discussions in biology to address current language needs, there is also the need to use language now, in both research and teaching. Teaching the complexity of sex-related topics in biology is essential, yet these topics are often oversimplified and overgeneralized in teaching contexts. To navigate the need for simplifications in teaching and other contexts, I call for the use of contextualized simplified content, in which one discusses biological complexity before focusing on simplifications. In this way, learners have a larger context for the simplifications they are being taught. The goal of this paper is to provide a resource that supports better usage of currently existing language in biology, allowing time for further development of discussions within biology that address these challenges. To do this, I synthesize terminology in the technical literature related to these topics, identify places where terminological usage has become muddy through oversimplification and overgeneralization, and identify spaces where more conceptual work in biology needs to occur to clarify meaning. While this text still involves some oversimplification, it represents an attempt to balance complexity and clarity in ways that are broadly accessible while inviting future conversations that are necessary to further create clarity in how we conceptualize and communicate about the topics of sex, gender, sexual behavior, and reproduction in biology.