Male gender
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In bisexual reproduction , the male sex is the sex that provides the greater number of germ cells ( sperm cells, sperm ) with which the female germ cells ( egg cells ) are fertilized and one or more offspring ( multiples ) arise. It is marked with the Mars symbol ♂ .
Many animals and plants require two sexes for their reproduction : the female (feminine) and the male (masculine) - in contrast to species with self-fertilization . Bisexuality has developed independently of one another several times in the course of evolution (see also disadvantages of sexual reproduction , basics of the female sex and gender determination ).
human
In humans , the male gender is determined by four biological characteristics:
- one Y chromosome , next to the X chromosome , of which women have two
- the sex hormone testosterone
- the primary sex organs, the penis , testicles , scrotum and spermatic duct
- the secondary and tertiary sexual characteristics that develop in the course of life, such as beard growth (see man , masculinity , human gender differences )
In intersex people (formerly: hermaphrodites, hermaphrodites ), the primary gender characteristics are less pronounced and cannot be clearly assigned to the male or female gender; sometimes female gender characteristics are also present ( gynandromorphism ; see also third gender ).
A masculinization ( virilization ) is present in men or women when androgenic sex hormones pronounced physical and sexual characteristics imply (especially Behaarungen) significantly from the normal appearance ( phenotype vary) gender (the feminization of men see effemination.a ).
Other animals
In animals, different physical and genetic mechanisms determine the sex of an individual :
- male bees (drones) develop from unfertilized eggs, female bees from fertilized ones (see sex determination )
- in birds , males have two identical sex chromosomes, while females have dissimilar ones
- In some crocodiles and other reptiles , the sex is determined by the incubation temperature of the eggs
plants
In the case of seed plants , a distinction is made according to whether an individual
- only produces pollen (male),
- only produces seeds ( female ),
- or both ( hermaphrodite ), like the majority of all seed plants.
