A woman concerned about physical strength, which she believed she needed in order to not be considered the weaker gender.[2]
Gender was a biological trait found in most species, especially animal species. The most common genders were male and female, although there were other less common genders as well.
Traditionally, genders were referred to as "sexes," generally referring to those between masculinity; which was typical of males, and femininity, which was common in females. In most species, during sexual intercourse, a male inseminated the female, and that was how they produced offspring.
The females typically carried the unborn child inside of their womb, and then gave birth to the child at a later time. The time a child was inside the mother was called pregnancy. Mammals generally gave live birth to their young, while reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and spiders usually laid eggs, which eventually hatched their newborn babies.
Genders in various cultures
In many cultures, members of certain genders might be considered inferior to another. On Earth, some men viewed women as the weaker sex. A woman named Amy Zahn had this view and she developed a chemical potion to increase her strength, so she could be equal to men. This only ended up turning her into a giant, and making her insane.[3]
Still, other women, such as Queen Ocina, believed that men were the weaker sex, and that they should be dominated by women. She and her Atlantean followers from her homeland even tried to conquer the surface world, but they were stopped by the Super Friends.[4]
Differences between genders
The differences between genders were noticeable in some species, however in others, a closer inspection might have been required. With humans for example, a male or a female could usually be fully clothed and still can be told apart from each other.
However some species did not have gender, as they did not reproduce through sexuality. One example of this was the alien race that Starro belonged to. Starro was neither male nor female, nor was Starro any other gender. Starro's race was capable of reproducing using its' own DNA, which was a process known as Bio-Fission.
One other species that was unique when it came to the genders of that race; was the Culacaons from the Vega system. The males of that race were quite humanoid in appearance, but the females resembled giant snails.[5]
Also, the majority of the males of the planet known as Bizarro World were duplicates of Superman, whereas the majority of the females were duplicates of Lois Lane.[6]
Male and Female
The most common of genders was the male and female, which were generally referred to as opposite sexes. For most humanoid species, an adult male was called a man, while a young male was called a boy. For females, the adult was called a woman, whereas a young female was called a girl. Women, as mentioned above, was the sex that carried a child prior to its' birth. Her breasts were unique to her gender, as they were capable of lactation, which allowed her to feed her baby warm breast milk. The genitals of males and females also were different. The male's genitals were designed to penetrate the females' genitals; so as to impregnate the woman.
For cattle, a mammal species native to the planet Earth, a female was called a cow, whereas the male cattle was known as the bull. Like other quadrupedal species, cows have udders, rather than breasts, to feed their young. For dogs, there were also male and females, and the female was sometimes called a bitch.
References
- ↑ As seen in The All New Super Friends Hour (Episode 11).
- ↑ As seen in The Fifty Foot Woman.
- ↑ As seen in the Superfriends season 2 episode The Fifty Foot Woman (1977).
- ↑ As seen in Return of Atlantis.
- ↑ As seen in the Atlas of the DC Universe.
- ↑ As seen in Revenge of Bizarro.
