Dimorphic Race: Would this bother people?

[BudgetDM]

Potentially stupid question ahead. You see, I'm working on a homebrew setting and am in the process of homebrewing the races. I got the idea of a race that is very sexually dimorphic. I don't mean in the sense of female Whatevers have a minus to intelligence and strength but a bonus to charisma. I'm thinking along the line of females have wings and males have natural armor and claws. Can you think of potential pit falls to this idea? :smalleek:

[Fayd]

In my DM's setting, male elves are Gnolls (or Devourer (mind-flayer) tainted Yuan-Ti or normal Quaggoth depending the elven subrace...)

I can tell you, once you get used to it, it's really not that bad. As long as the race makes sense, in the story, by all means. Plus, it leads to interesting stories. There are some very unique opportunities for characters with this kind of system.

[senrath]

Yeah. As long as there is a logical reason for the dimorphism, and it makes sense, there shouldn't be any problems.

[Coidzor]

Forgetting to make them physically compatible.

Or making a point of noting that you didn't make them physically incompatible.

[faceroll]

In my DM's setting, male elves are Gnolls (or Devourer (mind-flayer) tainted Yuan-Ti or normal Quaggoth depending the elven subrace...)

wut


Forgetting to make them physically compatible.

Or making a point of noting that you didn't make them physically incompatible.

Reproduction needs only a transfer of a single cell. Anything that can exchange cells (and virtually anything with cells can do so) is reproductively compatible. Just because they don't reproduce the way filthy, sweating, grunting mammals do doesn't make them "physically incompatible".

[Fhaolan]

It really depends on the gaming group. Your players may *want* to explore gender bias issues via the game. Lots of groups actually like working through RL analogues using 'safe' RPGs. As long as everyone is aware and in agreement, this can work very well. It can also backfire when people start taking things a bit too personally.

As a concept there's nothing really wrong with Dimorphism. The problem may arise if the dimorphism is in a race that is too human-like and is perceived as inbalanced.

If the race is of non-humanoid fire elemental insects and the females are sentient but the males are not, it's likely acceptable because there is no basis of comparison to RL gender issues. The creatures are alien and it is expected that they will behave in an alien way.

If the race is the Gnolls, and the female gender is obviously bigger and stronger, but the males are considered to have faster reflexes, that's likely acceptable to many people. There is a balance of genders while still maintaining dimorphism, and the race is sufficiently non-human for most people.

If the race is human except for their eyes are all black, and the women are faster, stronger, and more intelligent, but the only redeeming feature males have is to be 'pretty', then you're likely to run into problems with many players who are sensitive to gender bias.

You may note the what I did there. Here's a trick: if you spec out your race, and then reverse the genders, does it suddenly seem uncomfortable and weird? Then likely you've hit something that will trigger unpleasant gender bias issues.

[Fayd]

wut

It was malefic intervention of some kind after the elven goddess of magic, and patron of the elves themselves, was killed. The Devourer taint to the Yuan-ti kind happened just after their twisting.

[dsmiles]

I can tell you, once you get used to it, it's really not that bad. As long as the race makes sense, in the story, by all means. Plus, it leads to interesting stories. There are some very unique opportunities for characters with this kind of system.
This. 100%

Reproduction needs only a transfer of a single cell. Anything that can exchange cells (and virtually anything with cells can do so) is reproductively compatible. Just because they don't reproduce the way filthy, sweating, grunting mammals do doesn't make them "physically incompatible".
What's wrong with being a filthy, sweating, grunting mammal? :smalltongue: It's good enough for me.

[prufock]

Mechanically, it's essentially just two races that breed. Humans and dragons can already breed with everything. You just re-word "racial traits" as "gender traits" for this particular race. Or call it a "male template" and "female template" which are only available to that race.

Conceptually, there's nothing really wrong with it. Plenty of species are dimorphic.

[valadil]

Neat!

I don't usually like homebrewed races. Most of the time they seem like elves with a different name or human crossed with SPECIES_OF_ANIMAL. My fantasy world does not need liger people, really it doesn't. No, they don't have an interesting culture.

But a dimorphic race is something I haven't seen before. It would have a unique culture. As far as I'm concerned, that gives it a reason to exist.

[megabyter5]

... "male template" and "female template" ...

This would encourage munchkins to play hermaphroditic characters. Do you REALLY want that?

[Terumitsu]

This would encourage munchkins to play hermaphroditic characters. Do you REALLY want that?

The DM could always rule that in such cases, the bonuses are either reduced or nonexistant. Besides, nobody really likes a template beast... Okay, no sane player likes running into a template beast but I've known a few DMs that love to toss them everywhere...

But back to the task at hand, I'd say it sounds like a cool idea as long as the fluff is internally consistant.

[kyoryu]

This would encourage munchkins to play hermaphroditic characters. Do you REALLY want that?

Dude, that's just fluff. You can separate it from crunch. Stormwind! Stormwind!

:smallbiggrin:

[grarrrg]

Potentially stupid question ahead. You see, I'm working on a homebrew setting and am in the process of homebrewing the races. I got the idea of a race that is very sexually dimorphic. I don't mean in the sense of female Whatevers have a minus to intelligence and strength but a bonus to charisma. I'm thinking along the line of females have wings and males have natural armor and claws. Can you think of potential pit falls to this idea? :smalleek:

Firstly, please, NO interspecies breeding. Someone suggested templates, I say no, just no.
Secondly, go nuts, have fun.



Forgetting to make them physically compatible.

Or making a point of noting that you didn't make them physically incompatible.

A wizard did it. :smalltongue:

[huttj509]

My first thought was of the MYTH-inc series.

Trolls and trollops, male and female of the same race.

And yes, their appearance is EXACTLY what the names suggest.

[Yora]

I don't usually like homebrewed races. Most of the time they seem like elves with a different name or human crossed with SPECIES_OF_ANIMAL. My fantasy world does not need liger people, really it doesn't. No, they don't have an interesting culture.
And that's the actual problem: It doesn't matter what a race looks like or what abilities it has to make it interesting, but the culture. There's nothing wrong with liger people if you also create a culture for them. But if you don't, every race is just a freal of nature with odd racial abilities.

[jpreem]

The DM could always rule that in such cases, the bonuses are either reduced or nonexistant. Besides, nobody really likes a template beast... Okay, no sane player likes running into a template beast but I've known a few DMs that love to toss them everywhere...
.

Insert a Beast with Two templates joke here :smallbiggrin:

[Prime32]

If the race is of non-humanoid fire elemental insects and the females are sentient but the males are not, it's likely acceptable because there is no basis of comparison to RL gender issues. The creatures are alien and it is expected that they will behave in an alien way.Do you read the works of China Miéville by any chance?

Male khepri are mindless bugs. Female khepri are human women with bugs for heads.

[Susano-wo]

Yeah, there are no real pitfalls for them simply having different physical features. Its only when you hit on psychological/emotional/societal issues that it can be problematic.

And even then its ok if everyone is on the same page, and understands that you aren't saying women (or men) are worth less, just because you gae male X's these features, and female X's those features.

(which is why intelligence and wisdom, or non mechanical things like sentience in one gender but not the other, are the only real issues that come to mind)

[Skorj]

My group did a SciFi game a few years back where most of the playable races had strong sexual dimorphism, along with some interesting cultures (including a three-sexed mantoid race that was kind of neat).

[Randel]

I think it would make for a pretty interesting race. Though if there are some assigned gender roles put in place by the society then it could be a matter of them just making use of their different advantages.


For example, if the race has the females capable of flight and the males have natural armor and claws then the females could generally be expected to fight from a distance or flee from danger (as their society dictates). However, there could be plenty of winged females who take up bows and arrows or carry bombs or whatever and drop them on enemies from above. Or they could walk into battle with armored wings and club people with them (swans and other large birds can beat you up pretty badly with their wings).

The males could be expected by society to wade into battle with their natural armr and claws, though plenty of them would use weapons or stealth tactics to win.

Females might even build 'nests' or other houses or bases of operation on cliffs or other areas not easily accesable by creatures without flying speeds. They then might carry the males (or other flightless beings) to the base to maintain it or do whatever. Maybe the males have the ability to dig tunnels with their claws?

Regardless, a species with sexual dimophism like that could be very interesting to play since each gender really would have certin advantages but would still be able to cooperate and help the other. Various societies of that race might have certain gender expectaions, but there's always room for individuals to break the mold and use their abilities as they see fit.

[Jolly]

Humans are semi-dimorphic in real life, at least as far as averages go. Women (on average) are shorter, have different proportions etc. It's why the Marines Corps has different physical tests for men and women (dunno about the other branches, that's the one I have experience with).

I don't see an issue, unless one of your players is the sort that's looking to get offended. But really, that sort of person wouldn't get invited to my groups anyway so...

[dsmiles]

Humans are semi-dimorphic in real life, at least as far as averages go. Women (on average) are shorter, have different proportions etc. It's why the Marines Corps has different physical tests for men and women (dunno about the other branches, that's the one I have experience with).

I don't see an issue, unless one of your players is the sort that's looking to get offended. But really, that sort of person wouldn't get invited to my groups anyway so...

Army, too. I've met a lot of women, however, who are offended by the double standard.

[Susano-wo]

@dsmiles(yes, there are. Though she's not in the military, my wife is among them)
@jolly. I think the dimorphism of humaity is accepted, and consciously disregarded when stating races. You can fix this, and no one would get offended. Until you got the int and wisdom. Trying to monkey with that (men+INT, women+WIS would be the standard stereotype) your going to risk much offense, or at least rolled eyes and arguments over it. But you are right, that it can be handled by mature players, so its really only an issue in official game design :P

[Yora]

Different physical requirements for genders don't make any sense. If a short woman is physically able to do a job, a man of the same size would be as well.

[dsmiles]

Different physical requirements for genders don't make any sense. If a short woman is physically able to do a job, a man of the same size would be as well.

Unfortunately that's not how the American military sees it. A man should be able to do more push-ups in 2 minutes, and should be able to run 2 miles faster.

[Toric]

I actually really enjoy races that have differing characteristics that aren't found in humans. Half the fun of those races is weirding out others with bizarre observations. "You know, with your shoulder structure, you could have some big, BIG wings." "Check out the claws on that guy. He can carve me a cave any day." See also: female dwarf facial hair.

And I agree with the above, steer clear of seemingly arbitrary mental or psychological differences between the two sexes. But cultural roles that stem directly from their differing abilities could easily become part of the appeal of playing the race.

[Jolly]

Unfortunately that's not how the American military sees it. A man should be able to do more push-ups in 2 minutes, and should be able to run 2 miles faster.

Women don't even do the same activities in the Corps. Pull-ups for men, "flexed arm hang" for women. And a run time that would be failing for a man is a good score for a woman.

/shrug Women, for the same size and equivalent level of fitness, have less upper body strength than men. And for other relevant measures of fitness (chiefly run times) a woman who can do the same time as a man is much farther on the edge of the bell curve in terms of athletic ability. Hardly a novel or offensive concept, yet I've gotten into any number of arguments over the years with folks who dislike seeing a fairly self-evident truth stated. I've learned to try not to associate with those kind of folks.

@Susano-wo: I agree. People tend to hear "On average, X is Y" as "Since you are an X, you are Y. Which makes you inferior." And then the pointless fussing starts. :) I suppose if this was official game design it'd be a bad idea, but I think home brew should be a-ok.

@Yora: it's about averages. The .mil is very eager to get more female members, and if women had to meet the same physical requirements as men 1. Not as many would be able to enlist to begin with 2. Since the scores on physical fitness tests are a significant factor in determining promotion, the women who did enlist would be promoted much, much slower. This would lead to whinging about sexism, bad PR etc etc. Reduced physical requirements for women are a practical necessity.

[Susano-wo]

wow, fiteness in excess of requrements grants higher promotion. That's...silly.
I can see why negative fitness could reasonable effect promotion, but to tell prople that they will get promoted the fit-er they are is just bizarre.

I guess I could accept it as one of a large number of factors, or as a factor determining placement (you need to be this fit to join this squad, since it is tasked for such and such duties), but to make it significatnt seems irrelevant to so many positions...

[dsmiles]

I don't know about the Marines, but in the Army, physical fitness often counts for more than technical proficiency, when determining whether or not somebody gets promoted.

[Yora]

Relevant link (http://www.blastwave-comic.com/index.php?p=comic&nro=33)

[MonkeyBusiness]

Insert a Beast with Two templates joke here :smallbiggrin:

Bwahahahaha! Ahem ...

Budget DM, I think it's a great idea, as long as it works into the world and the campaign you run.

It reminds me of the gelflings in The Dark Crystal. There's this great little throwaway scene where Kira gets to be the deus ex machina when she leaps with Gen off the cliff ... and she spreads these beautiful Froud-inspired white wings. And when Gen stammers, "But ... I don't have wings," she cheerfully replies, "Of course not ... you're a boy!"

I loved that scene.



Anyhoo ... anything that makes your world unique - as long as it is consistent and blends well with the overall game - is good.

.

[BudgetDM]

Thanks for all of the advice. I had been planning to have male and females sharing the same mental and psychological profile. The differences were going to be purely physical.

As for the issue of templates, the games isn't d20 and templates really aren't applicable.

I also want to thank you for pointing a potentially extremely broken combo. I was planning on giving females a bonus to alchemy. The alchemy rules make it possible make some extremely nasty explosives. This is balanced out by requiring the alchemist needing to be careful or end up inside the blast radius. If they can fly however.... To make matters worse, the city-state the PC would start in doesn't allow civilians to own ranged weapons without an expensive permit. Was I out of my mind?

[vrellum]

I'm curious why nobody uses the word "sex". What you are really talking about is sexual dimorphism. Not gender dimorphism. Male and female are sex categories. Masculine and feminine are gender categories.

[Fhaolan]

I'm curious why nobody uses the word "sex". What you are really talking about is sexual dimorphism. Not gender dimorphism. Male and female are sex categories. Masculine and feminine are gender categories.

In my case too many corporate-mandated 'gender bias' seminars at work for the last five years. Most of those speakers are unaware of the difference between 'sex' and 'gender' and use the terms interchangable. So I've fallen into the same habit without even realizing it. Thanks for reminding me.

[Susano-wo]

from webster's online:
Definition of GENDER

1
a : a subclass within a grammatical class (as noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb) of a language that is partly arbitrary but also partly based on distinguishable characteristics (as shape, social rank, manner of existence, or sex) and that determines agreement with and selection of other words or grammatical forms
b : membership of a word or a grammatical form in such a subclass
c : an inflectional form showing membership in such a subclass
2
a : sex <the feminine gender>
b : the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex
Examples of GENDER

Please state your name, birth date, and gender.
The adjective and noun must agree in number and gender.
Some languages do not use genders.
Origin of GENDER

Middle English gendre, from Anglo-French genre, gendre, from Latin gener-, genus birth, race, kind, gender — more at kin
First Known Use: 14th century

SO um, yeah. gender is also sex. Gender has become a term for things other than what parts you have, do to the emergence/realization of a (relatively) large{trying to think of an inclusive term, but I'll just use Transgender} population, but that's contextual. Depending on usage it is perfectly valid to use gender a synonym for sex

The more you know....

And @ OP: hey, rules loopholes wouldn't exist if people didn't sometimes forget about the consequences of combining factors ^ ^

[hiryuu]

I'm curious why nobody uses the word "sex". What you are really talking about is sexual dimorphism. Not gender dimorphism. Male and female are sex categories. Masculine and feminine are gender categories.

That's the biggest hurdle I have when I try to run people in my homebrew setting. The predominant culture has three genders (man, woman, shaman) and two sexes (male and female, obviously), and sex isn't a guarantee of gender, and all gender does is indicate who the culture denotes that you can have sex with. It can even change daily if the most common tasks you're doing change.

[Susano-wo]

that reminds me...the poster with the thre sexed race (in this case gender would be ambiguous)...how does that work> I can envision a triple helix sort of dna that uses three partners, but how do you get a third sex?

[hiryuu]

that reminds me...the poster with the thre sexed race (in this case gender would be ambiguous)...how does that work> I can envision a triple helix sort of dna that uses three partners, but how do you get a third sex?

That was Skorj. I, too, would like to hear this. Sounds interesting. Octavia Butler did this in one of her novel series. In that, the third sex provided care for the infant and was required to fertilize the gametes with the material harvested from the other two... that this alien species was trying to turn humans into them, it got really weird.

[Urpriest]

That was Skorj. I, too, would like to hear this. Sounds interesting. Octavia Butler did this in one of her novel series. In that, the third sex provided care for the infant and was required to fertilize the gametes with the material harvested from the other two... that this alien species was trying to turn humans into them, it got really weird.

There's another fun three-sexed species in David Brin's Uplift novels, but I don't remember the details.

[vrellum]

from webster's online:
Definition of GENDER

1
a : a subclass within a grammatical class (as noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb) of a language that is partly arbitrary but also partly based on distinguishable characteristics (as shape, social rank, manner of existence, or sex) and that determines agreement with and selection of other words or grammatical forms
b : membership of a word or a grammatical form in such a subclass
c : an inflectional form showing membership in such a subclass
2
a : sex <the feminine gender>
b : the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex
Examples of GENDER

Please state your name, birth date, and gender.
The adjective and noun must agree in number and gender.
Some languages do not use genders.
Origin of GENDER

Middle English gendre, from Anglo-French genre, gendre, from Latin gener-, genus birth, race, kind, gender — more at kin
First Known Use: 14th century

SO um, yeah. gender is also sex. Gender has become a term for things other than what parts you have, do to the emergence/realization of a (relatively) large{trying to think of an inclusive term, but I'll just use Transgender} population, but that's contextual. Depending on usage it is perfectly valid to use gender a synonym for sex

The more you know....

And @ OP: hey, rules loopholes wouldn't exist if people didn't sometimes forget about the consequences of combining factors ^ ^

I'm well aware of the dictionary.com definition of gender. The existence of transgendered persons should not have anything to do with the merging of the two terms. In fact, it should encourage them to remain distinct. Their change in gender identity or the embracing of their new gender identity does not have any effect on the types of gametes that they produce, for example. That is also true even if they have surgery. So transgendered is the correct term.

The terms "sex" and "gender" are slowly merging in our society. Though I wouldn't recommend that you talk about the gender of deer in your biology class.

English is a living language and words change meaning. However, when words become synonyms when they originally had distinctly different meanings it makes it harder to communicate, not easier. And we lose some of the ability to precisely convey the meanings of our thoughts. In fact, it becomes more difficult to have clearly defined thoughts because we use words to think.

So I'm interested in why don't people use the word "sex" when it is technically more correct. Is it because they don't know the meaning? Is it because "sex" is a dirty word and gender is perceived to be more polite?

[vrellum]

You could also have three sexes if A could breed with B or C, but not A, B breeds with A or C, but not B, etc.

However, I don't see how it could be a stable situation. One of the sexes would disappear due to natural selection (in the real world, anyway).

[vrellum]

That's the biggest hurdle I have when I try to run people in my homebrew setting. The predominant culture has three genders (man, woman, shaman) and two sexes (male and female, obviously), and sex isn't a guarantee of gender, and all gender does is indicate who the culture denotes that you can have sex with. It can even change daily if the most common tasks you're doing change.

That is... complicated. I bet it's challenging to keep track of everything.

[dsmiles]

that reminds me...the poster with the thre sexed race (in this case gender would be ambiguous)...how does that work> I can envision a triple helix sort of dna that uses three partners, but how do you get a third sex?

I'm guessing that it involves chromosomal triads instead of chromosomal pairs. But that opens the realms of possibilty to have 27 (correct me if my maths aren't working; it's 5:50 am) different chromosomal combinations.

[FMArthur]

An easy way to do it is one creature supplies the sperm, another supplies the egg, and the last one supplies a womb. Only the first two actually pass on genetic material but all are required in mating.

[Yora]

This assumes a cell structure like we have in most multicelular species on earth. It could be a bit far ftched for fantasy creatures, but with aliens in a sci-fi setting, you could come up with more different concepts.
However, more sexes increases the difficulty of successful mating, as you need three individuals at the same location, at the right part of their mating circle, and they have to sufficiently like each other in sentient species.
Two sexes probably is that common on earth, because it provides all the benefits of sexual reproduction (constant mixing of genes in different combinations) while limiting the number of required individuals to a minimum.

True assexual reproduction only works well for very simple organism, for creatures like aboleths, illithids, and others it just doesn't make much sense, as the lack of genetic diversity would make them extremely vulnerable to diseases, genetic defects, and changing environment conditions.

[Quietus]

So I'm interested in why don't people use the word "sex" when it is technically more correct. Is it because they don't know the meaning? Is it because "sex" is a dirty word and gender is perceived to be more polite?

In my opinion, it's due to the latter that the terms "sex" and "gender" are merging. Some excellent points have been brought up here, however, about why they SHOULDN'T, when they describe different things - the physical differences versus the... psychological? social? differences, in this case.

Hopefully, as sex itself - the act, rather than the physical qualities of an individual - becomes viewed as less of a dirty thing, those two words can drift apart once more, and be used as they were intended.

[HenryHankovitch]

An easy way to do it is one creature supplies the sperm, another supplies the egg, and the last one supplies a womb. Only the first two actually pass on genetic material but all are required in mating.

Which is basically how Giger's xenomorph from Alien works. :smallbiggrin:

[Yora]

In my opinion, it's due to the latter that the terms "sex" and "gender" are merging. Some excellent points have been brought up here, however, about why they SHOULDN'T, when they describe different things - the physical differences versus the... psychological? social? differences, in this case.

Hopefully, as sex itself - the act, rather than the physical qualities of an individual - becomes viewed as less of a dirty thing, those two words can drift apart once more, and be used as they were intended.
We don't have that seperation at all in German, it's the same word for both. And it's really impractical. When you really need it, it's not uncommon for people to introduce the english term "gender", because you often can't talk about certain topics without the distinction.

[Susano-wo]

of course! chromasomes. And you don't even need extra chromasomes, I don't think. 3, with any combonation, would actually get you 9 sexes o.O. if the race can have 2 'y' chromasomes, that can be the 3rd sex. There is also no necessity to have all three present for mating, I don't think
(anyone more knowledgable about biology/genetics than I [should be many] please PEACH:smallwink:)

RE sex/geneder, first a correction. From looking at things, its the Feminist moevement that split them. I know wikipedia is not 100% reliable, but it was the most comprehensive overview I could find. According to the gender article, it was sexologist John Money in 1955 who first began using the term to describe societal roles, and the rise of Feminism in the 70s that popularized it as a societal term as well as a biological/gramatical term. (and I was not saying that the rise of a transgender population created the meddling of hte terms, but the spliting)

Originally, it came into use in english to describe grammar in languages. At some point , the term begins being used as a synonym for sex, (id guess more due to certain words having different gender in ceratin languages, and thus referring to male or female, rather than due to the 'dirty' rep of sex as a shorthand for intercourse/mating) to refer to sex. Then gender becomes used to be used in a socialogical sense. So the original modern definition was synonymous with sex.

The word itself simply means 'kind or type,' so its much more generic than might be implied by modern usage

[hiryuu]

RE sex/geneder, first a correction. From looking at things, its the Feminist moevement that split them. I know wikipedia is not 100% reliable, but it was the most comprehensive overview I could find. According to the gender article, it was sexologist John Money in 1955 who first began using the term to describe societal roles, and the rise of Feminism in the 70s that popularized it as a societal term as well as a biological/gramatical term. (and I was not saying that the rise of a transgender population created the meddling of hte terms, but the spliting)

Originally, it came into use in english to describe grammar in languages. At some point , the term begins being used as a synonym for sex, (id guess more due to certain words having different gender in ceratin languages, and thus referring to male or female, rather than due to the 'dirty' rep of sex as a shorthand for intercourse/mating) to refer to sex. Then gender becomes used to be used in a socialogical sense. So the original modern definition was synonymous with sex.

The word itself simply means 'kind or type,' so its much more generic than might be implied by modern usage

Wikipedia is actually more reliable than Encarta and World Book. It's been tested. Multiple times.

It's worth noting, however, that many aboriginal Americans had variable gender and sex roles. In the Lakota, a woman could be a man simply by wearing a man's clothing and going hunting with the men. In addition, a man could be a woman by dressing as a woman and staying at home.

Samoans have a not man/not woman gender that is male, stays at home, and the women are said to like having them around because they have male strength but are women. This "third gender" can only have sex with men, and it's not considered a homosexual act.

[LibraryOgre]

An easy way to do it is one creature supplies the sperm, another supplies the egg, and the last one supplies a womb. Only the first two actually pass on genetic material but all are required in mating.

Well, also don't forget the massive influence that womb has on fetal development... from blood antigens to fetal alcohol syndrome. The selection of a proper womb (call it a muftale (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-12-11)) could be as important as the selection of a mother or a father.