We have come to the place where it is no longer socially acceptable to say that a woman is necessary for producing a baby; or that ‘husband’ means ‘male’ or ‘wife’ means ‘female’; or that one’s biological sex is determinative of your gender; or that biological sex has anything to do with the careers people choose. In these instances, and others, we are meant to say a thing that evidently, objectively, is, isn’t – and woe betide us if we don’t toe the line.

The trouble is, reality has a way of making itself known. So the evidence mounts up that the most progressive societies are also those in which occupation is most closely linked to sex; and two men are not actually capable of becoming parents without hiring a womb; and biological sex is determinative for all manner of things.

Denying this last point has all kinds of negative consequences – not least for physical health. In Gender Medicine Marek Glezerman describes the differences in male and female bodies, their differing responses to medical treatment, and different medical needs. Ironically, from our current cultural standpoint, the core of Glezerman’s case is that doctors have treated male and female bodies as essentially the same but increased understanding of the differences between them calls for much more deliberate ‘gender medicine’.

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