So we can add @PsychToday to the list of mental health publications that have no qualms about publishing transphobic op-eds.

"If you have a Y chromosome, you're technically a man." https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood-microbe/202002/sex-and-the-microbiome

So let's do some myth-busting, shall we?

"Mental disorders are not gender-neutral. Far more women than men suffer from depression, for instance, while men are more likely to be autistic. These sex differences are intriguing, and the most obvious explanation is hormones."

Actually! The most obvious explanation isn't sex or hormones! The lack of diagnoses of depression and autism in certain gender identifications has more to do with diagnostic criteria and clinician biases than they do some magical, innate biological difference.

Help-seeking behaviors in men can also account for the rate of diagnoses, and stereotypical representations of autism may prompt a lack of responsiveness on the part of caregivers for autistic girls.

To completely erase the diagnostic impact that racism, sexism, et al plays in how conditions are represented in different populations is irresponsible at BEST.

"The latest research shows that mental issues have a connection to inflammation, which typically originates in the gut. So it may not be surprising to find out that gut microbes are also not gender-neutral. Some gut diseases, like IBS, occur twice as often in women than men."

Inflammation can be connected to chronic stress, which also impact gut microbes and the development of chronic illnesses.

Which are overrepresented in marginalized groups. I wonder why that is?

"Gut microbes, in general, are different between men and women, likely due to those same hormonal influences."

Right, so we're talking about testosterone-dominant and estrogen-dominant bodies. Because cis people and trans people alike have a WIDE breadth of hormonal differences.

"Sex is determined by your genes: If you have a Y chromosome, you're technically a man."

Why are we still talking about this? Most people haven't gone through chromosomal testing, so no, sex is assigned based on secondary characteristics perceived at birth.

Regardless, biological sex has its own unique spectrum, as myriad characteristics are technically under the umbrella of "sex." And none of those determine whether someone goes on to identify as a man or woman.

If you want to talk about people who have Y chromosomes, there are ways of doing so that do not erase someone's gender identity.

If you want to talk about people who have testosterone-dominant bodies, you can do so as well.

Both will be more scientifically accurate.

I assume I have two X chromosomes. But I underwent hormonal transition and my levels of testosterone and estrogen vary based on my dosing, what hormones I'm taking, and what surgeries I go on to pursue.

There are other regulatory parts of the body whose functionality impact hormone levels that are NOT relevant to chromosomes... at all.

So dare I ask WHY it would be helpful scientifically to split this research into "man" and "woman" — terms that refer to GENDER — rather than looking at the role specific hormones play in biome health, and allowing the reader to make conclusions based on their own physiology?

"Amazingly, some gut microbes can both create and respond to steroids—including sex hormones like estrogen. Microbes use these chemicals to talk to each other, which is the same role these chemicals play in our own bodies."

Right. So what we're actually saying here is that everyone's gut may have a unique way of responding to and producing hormones like estrogen and testosterone, even within clusters of sex characteristics... almost like these characteristics exist on... a spectrum?

"Men really do have an inner woman—in their gut. But it goes both ways: Women have an inner man when they harbor testosterone-producing bacteria. In this sense, your microbiome acts like a gonad, producing different sex hormones."

It's almost as if these terms "man" and "woman" are not scientifically accurate or useful in a conversation about your microbiome because of the breadth of human variability??

"Crazy as it seems, your gut microbes may have their own gender identification."

Or, here's a thought: Your gut microbes have different hormonal makeups, which have nothing to do with gender.

"The idea that mere bacteria—with no sex of their own—contribute to animal sexuality is a bit humbling . . . more research is needed to see what impact, if any, the gut microbiome may have on gender identity."

Sexuality or gender identity? Or are we just conflating the two now.

The Mars and Venus rhetoric is really getting old.

No one is saying that sex doesn't matter. Researchers are rightfully questioning how to classify and describe sex characteristic variability in service of more accurate information and reporting.

The conclusion that we need sex-dependent therapies completely misses the mark, because sex has multiple dimensions that you simply can't isolate for by relying on an inaccurate binary.

Are you talking about chromosomal-based therapies? Hormone-dependent therapies?

The funny thing to me is that rather than perpetuating transphobic ideas that gender is determined by sex, we could just be using scientifically-accurate descriptions of physiological phenomena that capture the natural variability throughout the human body.

If this author wants the "battle of the sexes" to end, he first needs to do some reflection on how conflating sex and gender is ever in service of ending that battle, or how it could ever lead to the level of scientific rigor needed to better understand the microbiome.

We DO need to parse out what role chromosomal, genetic, hormonal, and metabolic differences play in gut health. And from there, untangle the mental health impact as well.

But "Y chromosome = man" is not going to cut it. For trans people, certainly. But even for cis people.

And a newsflash for any health publication, your credibility is going to take a nosedive if you lack a basic level of competence around sex, gender, and the nuances thereof.

You can't engage in rigorous scientific inquiry if you take for granted that the human body does not perfectly conform to the construction of a sex binary.

You can't engage in rigorous scientific inquiry if you take for granted how those constructions inform your observations.

All that aside, let's take out the trash: Your chromosomes do not determine if you are a man, a woman, or any other gender.

Chromosomes are a part of the human body, and the arbitrary selection of chromosomes as a classification system is entirely rooted in cultural hegemony.

You can talk about sex characteristics and speculate re: their impact on the human body...

...WITHOUT upholding a ridiculous binary that clusters many features together despite the fact that they impact the body in DISTINCT, DIFFERENT, and even contradictory ways!

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. @PsychToday, you can Venmo me for the fact check: SD-Finch.