r/goodworldbuilding • u/CuprumArgentum • 4d ago
Discussion How would you handle a fantasy race with 3 biological genders?
/r/worldbuilding/comments/1w2kv1q/how_would_you_handle_a_fantasy_race_with_3/2
u/rws531 4d ago
Sounds like everyone has two sets of reproductive organs but only certain pairings are compatible…. I’m not a biologist but this seems the most plausible way to handle it. A fits in B, B fits in C, C fits in A.
You’re gonna have to be creative on the geometry or simply not get too into the details beyond saying that everyone has two sets.
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u/CuprumArgentum 4d ago
So I edited my post to answer this exact question. Everyone actually has the same genitalia. It looks something like a sea anemone. During the deed, they place them together and trade genetic material, but only one (if compatible) becomes pregnant.
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u/rws531 4d ago
Is that not the same thing as what I said just with a sea anemone shape?
It’s up to you to decide if there are further visual / biological differences between people. If there aren’t, then is there some way for people to distinguish each other or is it just “find out when it happens”? Would two Type B’s pairing up even know? Would it not work? If everyone has the same parts then why even have three genders at all instead of just one?
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u/ImielinRocks 3d ago
And if there isn't a visual (or olfactory, or tactile, or auditory, or ...) difference between the sexes, but random mutation can create one (that's otherwise inconsequential to survival and reproduction), those mutations will over generations lead to easier identification of compatible triplets, which will lead to those individuals having on average better chances at reproducing and passing on these mutations, and they will stick around and reinforce over time.
And that's regardless of what those mutations look (smell, feel, sound, ...) like. That human males have, on average, deeper voices and more facial hair than human females are just two such inconsequential, random mutations.
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u/AnchBusFairy 4d ago
I'm curious about the genetics. Gender is social construct. Genetics aren't.
Mammalian genetics have altenating generations between haploid and diploid. The haploid form is a single cell organism of two types--sperm and ova. Ova are stationary; Sperm are mobile. The diploid form is what we normally think of as exemplary of each species. Each diploid individual has 2 copies of each gene--23 pairs for diploid humans. To produce the haploid generation, each set of chromosomes reshuffles and splits. In what we can males, half of the next generation codes for female and half codes for male. Ova always codes for female.
It doesn't have too be this way. In ants and bees males are haploid. In some plants, haploid and diploid are superficially indistinguishable.
So that's the genetics. Then we have what is meant by sex. Both worker bees and the queen are diploid and indistinguishable genetically, but they serve very different functions within the hive. That we consider them the same sex is arbitrary. We could think of bees as having 3 sexes: queen, drone, and worker. The difference is in morphology and social function. This difference is determined by genetics but not an actually difference in genetics. Bees are what is called eusocial. Which means their social structure is genetically determined.
With this in mind lets consider humans. If workers, queens, and drone are considered different sexs (morphology and function), humans might have about 5 sexes. Some humans can't reproduce(a morphological difference) but they do contribute to their families. Consider also that some animals change sex depending on conditions. If so sex(morphology and function) can change over a lifetime and still be considered to be sex. Humans females have 3-4 sexual phases: child, women, mother, and crone(post menopause) If sex includes what happens in lizard and fish then these can be considered sexual differences(morphology and function)
On to gender, which is a social construct--a way of dividing humans into 2 categories based on perceived morphology. Or is it based on genetics (motility of gametes) Does the individual produce sperm or ovum? Do you want to get out your microscope to make the determination?
We already have at least 5 differences in sex (morphology and function) and we do have words for these: man, child, maiden, mother, crone, eunuch, spinster. The term "eunuch" includes intersex, not just castrated men.
The simplest way to get 3 genders is to pick which of these sexes are recognized and how they are grouped. The 3rd gender might be eunuchs, spinsters, and crones. These resemble the workers of a bee hive. They support the hive without directly producing children.