Happy Intersex Awareness Day!
This
year, I bring you a muslin moth. These moths are often cited as boldly
illustrating "sexual dimorphism," which is the idea that sex is a
binary, and males and females are very different creatures indeed. In
the muslin moth, it's framed as day and night, with the males being
black and the females being white.
Only
sex is not a binary. Yes, muslin moths too can be intersex! Generally
this won't be visible, but being moths, sometimes it is strikingly so,
because unlike humans, moths can be "bilateral gynandromorphs," with
typical male coloration on one side and typical female coloration on the
other.
Sex is never a binary, even when it's black and white.
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