Gender, a Spectrum?

“Bill, Bill, Bill!” Children chant as images of the scientist and colorful beakers scroll across a screen. As a student that was brought up through the American education system from a young age, I am familiar with this chant that would often fill classrooms during teacher sick days. But recently Nye has come under a wave of controversy because of remarks on his new show “Bill Nye Saves the World”. In a new step for his career, he has shifted from family friendly science videos to less rated G content.

In one of his episodes, he addresses the subject of gender. Nye makes the argument that gender is on a spectrum and not strictly biological. However, this makes a clear distinction from Bill’s claims earlier in his career that gender is based on chromosomes as conception.
I have lost my respect for my childhood scientist and hero.
First I will address the absolute hypocrisy of Nye’s beliefs. In 1996, Bill Nye stated that “[Chromosomes] control whether we become a boy or a girl.” But in 2017, he argues that its false. No major scientific discoveries have been made to prove that gender is not biological.

So why is he doing this? After looking around the Internet it seems that many people believe that Nye is now putting his political views before actual science. But in fact it’s quite clear Nye is selling out his views to appeal to an more mature audience. Bill Nye has spent most of his life making science videos for children in school, and he made a statement to shock audiences and change perceptions.This is despicable. He has sold out his scientific reputability for shock value and some controversy around his show.
Now, on to the gender debate; are there more than two genders, and should we tolerate multiple genders. No, there are scientifically and religiously only two genders- male and female–and these are decided at conception. In fact, gender dysphoria, or the changing of genders, is a classified as a mental illness by the World Health Organization. The same classification used for autism.
Also, if society begins to tolerate a few genders, then this pandemic will spiral out of control. There have already been pushes for dramatic reform in other countries. For example, a branch of the Swedish Liberal People’s Party said that they support the legalization of consensual necrophilia and incest. Groups are using the same justification to argue for horrible, horrible things.
Where is the line drawn between right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable? We have to draw the line here or our society will crumble under our feet.

By Nick Silva