I recently read an article in a BBC science magazine that in the next 250 years, the Y chromosome in human beings will no longer exist, which will be an end to gender as we know it!
However, now I search for that article online I can find no trace of it.

Can anybody tell me more about this?

I wouldn't be surprised if by that stage measures will have been taken (or desperately looked for, at least.) to ensure the Y chromosome lives on, but it's an interesting thought, isn't it? That it could occour so soon.

But yes. Anybody have any more information on this?

This sounds quite incredible, to be frank.

Why would it no longer exist? Are you saying that the human species would soon go extinct, was it not for our advanced technology?

No, apparently the 'exinction' of the Y chromosome was partially due to our advanced technology.
Apparently the Y chromosome is less effective at preventing disease, and so on, male's sperm counts are decreasing, and due to our advanced technology, males are becoming less and less necessary for reproduction. (They also said something about parthenogenesis, but I can't remember exactly how it meaningfully linked to human beings. )
Apparently, the proportion of the human population with a Y chromosome is decreasing, and 'current trends' were showing that there would be none left by.. whenever it said. 250 or so (Can't remember anymore but if that's what I thought when I made this thread ... ,)
I never got around to going out and buying that magazine, but I'll try tonight, see if it's still there.

If this is true I do support preventing it. Fuck postgenderism, i want my men just as they are.

But this sounds quite interesting (and alarming), so please look for the article.

I found some sites that say it is -

http://josh-of-arc.newsvine.com/_new...e-is-dying-out
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1710838.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=4225769

And some sites that say it isn't -

http://www.livescience.com/health/05...hromosome.html
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-18-2003-41863.asp
http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v9.../6800896a.html

Couldn't find the magazine,
15 million years!
Well, I was a bit off, now, wasn't I?

Yeah I think we can call off the alarm then -- there will be manly men for generations to enjoy.

if post genderism is an inevitable part of our evolution why fight it?

Surely the progressive stance would be to embrace it.

Surely if our species was gender-removed, we would not be distracted by sexual whims that prevent us from more progressive endeavours. Because of our present minds, we fail to see the urge to reproduce as a negative, when in fact it is arguable that it is a burden rather like the need to shit and sleep (not to mention the the social stigma of people who arent getting any sex for reasons beyond their own volition).

Nothing is "inevitable."

Without making a length post in this thread I think my views on this issue are summed up in two brief points:

1. show me the evidence that this could ever actually happen. Population levels increase and decrease over time and there is no guarantee that one will continue to decline over the course of time, or that an entire gender could actually ever become "extinct."

2. Fuck post-genderism.

I don't imagine there is a reason that it is "inevitable" and I certainly doubt that it will occur naturally, but it is possible and maybe even desireable to induce an "end of gender" artificially.

Fuck gender.

By the same logic we should just remove all desire for any kind of pleasure and design ourselves so we can just feel numb all the time and live only to do what we need to do to survive.

That's not life. Part of being human is that we don't just live to survive, we live to be alive, to experience life. Sex is one of many pleasureable experiences. I also wouldn't characterize it as the "urge to reproduce". If that was the case there wouldn't be any condoms or birth control pills or even abortions.

Also the end of males doesnt mean the end of sexual desire. What about homosexuality? If people were all women theyd all be lesbians.

I dont think males are going to end though, because we have genetic technology. As long as people want men there will be men. If the y chromosome shrinks just synthize y chromosome and put it in place.

Fuck gender, genders can go to hell.

Sex on the other hand is rather more important, until one can find an infallible way to perpetually create humans without degradation beyond natural parameters. There will need to be a genetic sexual difference between male and female to nesscessitate the capacity for coital reproduction or at least the creation of new gametes to prevent genetic stagnation.

Whether that difference difference means anything in society or not is the issue.

What's bad about gender?

Good question. Personally I rather like the masculine/feminine dichotomy, although I accept that it has been used to justify discrimination, it doesn't have to be that way. Nor does gender necessarily have to be tied to sex, nor does anyone have to fall towards either extreme or even fall within the dichotomy (if that makes sense).

Concerning non-physical characteristics: behaviors, attitudes, etc; gender is largely a social construct. Essentially, people don't like being forced into the absurdity of a binary scale that weighs their lives against common ignorance. These expectation are usually referred to as gender roles.

Gender as a wide-ranging gradiential quality, inclusive of all people or relating to physicality; I have no problem with.

I would phrase this conflict as a struggle against mandated gender performance, of resisting identification by stereotyping. People generally don't like their role in society to be determined by others, and this is inherent in any struggle for self-identification. I don't identify as gender-queer though, so you should perhaps find a more personal view from someone directly involved in this area of activism.

As I understand, post-genderists in particular, see the end of the distinguishing physical characteristics of gender as a solution to the prevalent social conditioning, and some may simply want to live in an androgynous society.

If 'uploading' becomes feasible gender would quickly become a trite and meaningless concept.

For some, perhaps. I suspect that for others it will afford them an opportunity to experiment, not just switching genders on a whim or abandoning it altogether, but really pushing the boundaries - even ordinary humans are incredibly inventive, and I think uploading will serve to enhance that capability. We could end up with not just male and female, androgyne and neuter, but also there could be paragenders or metagenders for our inheritors to invent.

Gender is stupid.

On the issue of the degeneration of the Y chromosome, this article says otherwise.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with gender as long as people do not enforce a rigid bi-genderal paradigm on people and respect the rights of LGBT/Q people.

Objectively post-genderism might indeed become a possibility, or it might not. Either way it's a natural development and there is no need to force it one way or another.

However, since I am personally queer, I will struggle against the attempt to impose a rigid bi-genderal paradigm on society by anyone.