The duplicity of the One power and gender

[SylviaDoreen]

I'm curious. There have been people that (well at least it hinted) swapped genders, and were able to wield the original one power of their original gender side.

 

My question... In your opinion...what would someone that is 'intersexed' (think hermaphrodite & all the variations therein) wield?

 

Cuzzz thats the wonders of biology in that not EVERYONE is completely 'male & female'.

For those that disagree look up klinefelters syndrome, gonadal dysgenesis, androgen insensitivity, hypospadias, XX XY mosaic, persistent mullerian duct syndrome, Turner Syndrome to name a few.

 

:) should be interesting to hear your responses.

[alykyn]

Add a some of both option and that would be my pick.

[Guest Emu on the Loose]

That would be a question for Brandon or Maria, since it's completely arbitrary, given the fictional nature of the One Power. We can lay out the possibilities: Each intersexed individual might possibly be able to wield Saidin, Saidar, neither, both, or either depending on the circumstances.

 

It may be reasonable to speculate that, since the One Power is sex-specific, and since all individuals have an X sex chromosome, then the One Power is sensitive in particular either to the Y sex chromosome or its absence. That might suggest that anybody in the possession of a Y chromosome would wield only Saidin, just as conventional males would, whereas anybody else would wield only Saidar.

 

But it's just speculation. Really, the answer to the question is so arbitrary that only the WoT powers that be can say with certainty.

 

Edited for clarity.

[Barid Bel Medar]

The Path of Daggers book tour 21 November 1998, VA - John Novak reporting

 

Someone actually asked Jordan whether a hermaphrodite would channel saidin or saidar. Jordan was...non-plussed. "A hermaphrodite?! I dunno. I'd have to sit down and figure that out." He shot the guy a funny look as he walked away, then remarked to the next group of people in line that he put that in the same category as the person who wrote to ask him what Donald Duck would channel.

 

edit: hahaha, i laughed at the TP option. are you suggesting that hermaphrodites are evil minions of the DO?

 

And I agee with Emu in part, however, the soul is also sex-specific (ie-Rand's soul is always male) So I would say that whatever gender the soul is would also play a part.

[Ferdawoon]

Assuming the case with Osan'gar, where he channeled Saidin in a womans body, it is based on your Soul, not on your body. The soul was Aginor, a man, who was put in a female body by the Dark One, and even though his body changed, his soul was the same man he was before, and he could still channel Saidin.

If your soul is female or male, it decide what part of the Power you can access. It is your body that is hermaphrodite, not your soul.

 

It could also be that there just are no intersex people in the WoT world.

[Zentari]

Assuming the case with Osan'gar, where he channeled Saidin in a womans body, it is based on your Soul, not on your body. The soul was Aginor, a man, who was put in a female body by the Dark One, and even though his body changed, his soul was the same man he was before, and he could still channel Saidin.

If your soul is female or male, it decide what part of the Power you can access. It is your body that is hermaphrodite, not your soul.

This.The body provides the capability to channel in combination with the soul.The soul is the critical factor about what type of power you have access to.

[FarShainMael]

Did you mean 'duplicity'?

 

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=define%3A+duplicity&btnG=Google+Search

[Eichhörnchen]

What about multiple gender siamese twins?

 

Randland is an entire world full of people. Theres bound to be such around.

[Ferdawoon]

What about multiple gender siamese twins?

 

Randland is an entire world full of people. Theres bound to be such around.

 

As far as I know, siamese twins are still two individuals, meaning two souls. It is also not neccesarily so that a siamese twin is an identical twin, meaning whatever genetics allow someone to be a channeler do not have to exist in both of the babies.

 

Not to mention, this is medieval days.. I dont think siamese twins get born the normal way even today but rather with a Caesarean section (had to go to wikipedia to make sure I got that word translated so pardon the grammar), meaning the odds of them surviving is kinda low even if they DO perform Caesarean section. Any references on how advanced surgery is in Randland? Without an Aes Sedai around to use Healing that is.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

are there multiple gender conjoined twins? that would be odd, because they're basically incompletely split identical twins. which means whatever bag of chromosomes one got, the other got the same, no?

[SylviaDoreen]

Something even more interesting than siamese are true 'chimera'. Individuals with the fused body of their twin (and not necessarily identical, or the same gender).

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

interesting and possibly not as uncommon as believed.

 

but i don't think RJ thought of anything but the prototype models re channeling. something about why not ask if donald duck could channel?

[Guest Czechs In The M'Hael]

Rand should cross balefires with Alanna and gain access to saidar

[WoTMegaFan_007]

Since we are assuming that intersexed people exist in the WOT world, we'll assume that fundamental genetic principles exist. If they have a y-chromosome they can channel the male... if they don't have a y-chromosome they can channel the female half. If they are the Dark One's bitch, they can channel the True Power either way. Unless of course their Midi-chlorians are not enough to allow them to channel anyway.

[Eichhörnchen]

Since we are assuming that intersexed people exist in the WOT world, we'll assume that fundamental genetic principles exist. If they have a y-chromosome they can channel the male... if they don't have a y-chromosome they can channel the female half. If they are the Dark One's bitch, they can channel the True Power either way. Unless of course their Midi-chlorians are not enough to allow them to channel anyway.

 

That would make channeling genetic though and not esoteric. RJ built it that what you channel depends on your soul which is why we have women channeling saidin in the later books since the DO put those former males into female bodies. However these men no longer have "y" chromosomes and aren't men in anything but past memories.

[SylviaDoreen]

Since we are assuming that intersexed people exist in the WOT world, we'll assume that fundamental genetic principles exist. If they have a y-chromosome they can channel the male... if they don't have a y-chromosome they can channel the female half. If they are the Dark One's bitch, they can channel the True Power either way. Unless of course their Midi-chlorians are not enough to allow them to channel anyway.

 

That would make channeling genetic though and not esoteric. RJ built it that what you channel depends on your soul which is why we have women channeling saidin in the later books since the DO put those former males into female bodies. However these men no longer have "y" chromosomes and aren't men in anything but past memories.

 

 

I think the 'soul' channeling is a lot more in lines with the Hinduism belief system, which there are some interesting parallels here as well.