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Transhumanist postgenderism is a diverse social, political, and cultural movement whose adherents affirm the voluntary elimination of gender in the human species through the application of advanced biotechnology and assisted reproductive technologies.
Advocates of postgenderism argue that the presence of gender roles, social stratification, and sexual dimorphisms are generally detrimental to individuals and society. Given the potential for advanced assistive reproductive options, sex for reproductive purposes will eventually either become entirely unnecessary or all human beings will have the ability, if they choose, to both carry a pregnancy to term and father a child, eliminating any biological need for different sexes. The ultimate ethos of postgenderism is the desire for a world in which gender is optional for all people, and in which reproduction itself is a matter of individual choice and convenience.
An influential work in this regard was socialist feminist Donna Haraway’s essay, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.” Haraway is interpreted as arguing that women would only be freed from their biological restraints when their reproductive obligations were dispensed with, once they became postbiological organisms, or postgendered. However, Haraway has stated that her use of the word “post-gender” has been grossly misinterpreted.
Many postgenderists believe that a mixing of both masculine and feminine traits is desirable – essentially the creation of androgynous individuals who exhibit the best of what males and females have to offer in terms of physical and psychological abilities and proclivities. Just what these traits are exactly is a matter of great debate and conjecture.
Future technologies
In regard to potential assistive reproductive technologies, reproduction could occur outside of conventional methods. Advances such as human cloning, parthenogenesis and artificial wombs may significantly extend the potential for human reproduction.
It may also be that posthuman space will be more virtual than real. Individuals may exist as uploads or users engaged in completely immersive virtual realities. These types of existences would allow individuals to morph their virtual appearances and sexuality at will.
Sexuality
A genderless society does not imply the existence of a species uninterested in sex and sexuality. It is thought that sexual relations and interpersonal intimacy can and will exist in a postgendered future, but that those activities will take on different form.
The act of sex may be performed in virtual reality, while one-to-one communication may be enhanced by such potentials as technologically-enabled telepathy. For those who wish to continue engaging in physical intercourse, advanced sexual reassignment surgical techniques will allow easier alteration of morphology to one, neither, or some combination of the sexes.
The possibility also exists that some postgendered individuals will choose not to engage in any kind of sexual activity whatsoever. Posthumans, or the postgendered, may be involved in different activities altogether or have a mind-space that is beyond sex and gender.
Sources:
Postgenderism: Beyond the Gender Binary
Wikipedia