Read Online The Cage of Zeus by Sayuri Ueda, Takami Nieda - Free Book Online
Authors: Sayuri Ueda, Takami Nieda
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other.”
“But as perfect as the artificial organs are, do the organs of both sexes function together inside the same body?” Shirosaki asked. “Aren’t hormones responsible for initiating the reproductive functions? The body requires male sex hormones to produce sperm and an abundance of female sex hormones to nurture an ovum in the uterus. It’s hard to believe that both sex hormones can act upon the same body.”
“Yes, that posed the biggest problem. Our endocrine system can’t stimulate the organs of both sexes to function despite having them transplanted in our body. Both men and women have gonadotropin-releasing hormones that stimulate the secretion of both female and male sex hormones. Even so, it isn’t easy to stimulate the growth and maturation of both sex organs. With regard to the reproductive organs, one has to dominate the other,” Kline said. “One person can be biologically intersex, be psychologically male or female, be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual with regard to sexual preference, and either have male or female sexual functions—the variations only increased. Far from restoring our concept of gender to the old gender binary, medical technology served to complicate it, and so too our choices. After all, this technology enables humans who are biologically and psychologically male to give birth.”
“Is that something men even wanted?”
“At times, yes. That notion has existed since the twentieth century. By implanting the fertilized egg in the abdominal cavity, men can also become pregnant. It’s basically the male variation of an ectopic pregnancy. Male pregnancies aren’t rare in the natural world. Seahorses, for example.”
“Human males are hardly the same as fish,” Shirosaki said.
“I’m merely illustrating a point. That is to say, once this technology became a reality, the woman-equals-childbearing sex paradigm was completely destroyed.”
“But a normal man wouldn’t think of such a thing, much less desire it.”
“What is normal , Commander Shirosaki? One person is biologically female but identifies as a male. And if that person accepts that contradiction rather than regard it as a gender disorder, is that person male or female?”
Shirosaki grimaced. “By your explanation, I suppose that’s entirely up to the individual.”
“Exactly. Sexual diversity means to no longer think of the disparity between one’s sex and gender as a disorder. So if someone expresses a desire to bear children, we must acknowledge it regardless of sex or gender. We’ve already acquired the technology. The issue isn’t with the number of surgeries already performed. Neither is it a matter of how many people support it. It’s about somebody having an idea and all of humanity waiting for the technology to make that possible. That alone can give rise to an entirely new sex.
“Surprisingly, it wasn’t the minority that fought for bigenderism. In fact, a good portion of the minority disdained the notion more fiercely than the majority.”
“Then who wanted it?”
“People who belong to the gray zone.”
“The gray zone?”
“A broad group that positions itself between the minority and majority,” Kline said. “They live as part of the majority without ever revealing their allegiance to the minority. Well, not that they’re part of the minority anyway. Straddling the line between both groups, the people of the gray zone empathize with the positions of both and yet do not openly declare where they stand. They’re fascinated by the marginalized culture, even as they continue to live and have families in dominant society. They’re usually the ones that, with a little push from behind, come upon a novel idea. And so it was the people of the gray zone that came at the idea of sexual diversity from a different perspective and made it real and commonplace.”
“I don’t think I quite understand.”
“That’s all right. You don’t have to. In any case, the words
“But as perfect as the artificial organs are, do the organs of both sexes function together inside the same body?” Shirosaki asked. “Aren’t hormones responsible for initiating the reproductive functions? The body requires male sex hormones to produce sperm and an abundance of female sex hormones to nurture an ovum in the uterus. It’s hard to believe that both sex hormones can act upon the same body.”
“Yes, that posed the biggest problem. Our endocrine system can’t stimulate the organs of both sexes to function despite having them transplanted in our body. Both men and women have gonadotropin-releasing hormones that stimulate the secretion of both female and male sex hormones. Even so, it isn’t easy to stimulate the growth and maturation of both sex organs. With regard to the reproductive organs, one has to dominate the other,” Kline said. “One person can be biologically intersex, be psychologically male or female, be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual with regard to sexual preference, and either have male or female sexual functions—the variations only increased. Far from restoring our concept of gender to the old gender binary, medical technology served to complicate it, and so too our choices. After all, this technology enables humans who are biologically and psychologically male to give birth.”
“Is that something men even wanted?”
“At times, yes. That notion has existed since the twentieth century. By implanting the fertilized egg in the abdominal cavity, men can also become pregnant. It’s basically the male variation of an ectopic pregnancy. Male pregnancies aren’t rare in the natural world. Seahorses, for example.”
“Human males are hardly the same as fish,” Shirosaki said.
“I’m merely illustrating a point. That is to say, once this technology became a reality, the woman-equals-childbearing sex paradigm was completely destroyed.”
“But a normal man wouldn’t think of such a thing, much less desire it.”
“What is normal , Commander Shirosaki? One person is biologically female but identifies as a male. And if that person accepts that contradiction rather than regard it as a gender disorder, is that person male or female?”
Shirosaki grimaced. “By your explanation, I suppose that’s entirely up to the individual.”
“Exactly. Sexual diversity means to no longer think of the disparity between one’s sex and gender as a disorder. So if someone expresses a desire to bear children, we must acknowledge it regardless of sex or gender. We’ve already acquired the technology. The issue isn’t with the number of surgeries already performed. Neither is it a matter of how many people support it. It’s about somebody having an idea and all of humanity waiting for the technology to make that possible. That alone can give rise to an entirely new sex.
“Surprisingly, it wasn’t the minority that fought for bigenderism. In fact, a good portion of the minority disdained the notion more fiercely than the majority.”
“Then who wanted it?”
“People who belong to the gray zone.”
“The gray zone?”
“A broad group that positions itself between the minority and majority,” Kline said. “They live as part of the majority without ever revealing their allegiance to the minority. Well, not that they’re part of the minority anyway. Straddling the line between both groups, the people of the gray zone empathize with the positions of both and yet do not openly declare where they stand. They’re fascinated by the marginalized culture, even as they continue to live and have families in dominant society. They’re usually the ones that, with a little push from behind, come upon a novel idea. And so it was the people of the gray zone that came at the idea of sexual diversity from a different perspective and made it real and commonplace.”
“I don’t think I quite understand.”
“That’s all right. You don’t have to. In any case, the words
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