When it comes to biology, female physiology is typically (though not always) the default. Males (of which I am one) were only introduced to add a bit of randomness to the genetic mix during reproduction though, as I've pointed out, they are far from the only example. Strictly speaking, females are present in all species that reproduce through gametes while males are only present in some. In embryonic development, embryos also typically appear female before they begin differentiation, which is one of the reasons why hermaphrodites in humans (such as cases of androgen deficiency syndrome) are almost always male in a genetic sense.
Of course, male in a "genetic" sense doesn't actually mean anything, because in several species there is no "genetic" sense of male vs. female; crocodiles, for instance, are differentiated by the temperature at which the eggs are incubated and there's no genetic difference between male and female crocodiles. The only real definition of male vs. female is that males create spermatozoa (which are essentially the cheap and expendable gametes) and females prodouce ova (which are expensive and long-lived). In species where there are only ova-producing individuals (such as that reproduce via parthenogenesis) the species is technically female, even if there are no males.
In this case we're talking about
sex. As I said previously (and provided references for) sex and gender are
not the same thing. Gender is a case of cultural and personal identity (for example, a man can identify as female and vice versa) but sex is physiological and (at this point in time) is irreversible and unchangeable in humans. Asari are all
female. It is likely - though not definite - that at some point in their evolutionary history, some of the asari ancestral species had a male population. However, for whatever reason in the evolutionary past (of which I have completely unsubstantiated theories) they lost their male half and developed another method of sexual reproduction and differentiation (melding). Either that, or they never had males in the first place. But they are all sexually female.
As for gender, the asari have
no gender. Such a concept does not exist in their minds because, as others have pointed out here (on both sides) there should logically be no female identity when there are no males to compare against.
Of course, no gender is pretty much the same thing as having
one gender, so the monogendered thing in this case is, in a sense, correct. However, it is
wholly inaccurate to claim that asari are, in some way, completely devoid of female characteristics or that they are somehow hermaphrodites or truly and wholly asexual creatures.
Modifié par Nivenus, 01 juin 2010 - 03:13 .
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