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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Building connections across components of sex allows for more nuanced evolutionary research like comparing the specific influence of sex on genetic diversity, genome architecture and phenotypic variation or how traits like sexual systems and sex determination interact to influence each other

Text at top: Components of "sex" combine to influence reproductive trait evolution
Composite with multiple figures that make connections among many different traits
Citations for figures: Ross et al. 2022, Niklas and Cobb 2014, Gourevitch et al. 2026, Pla et al. 2022, Kruger-Hadfield 2024 and Billiard et al. 2012

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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

We use the metaphor of a labyrinth to illustrate how engaging in an active process of considering the meaning of sex can untangle the different components contributing to any particular use of sex which can be helpful for navigating comparisons in the evolution of reproductive traits across species

Background of a light grey labyrinth or maze. At the top is a black box with sex at the bottom is a white box with reproductive strategy. In between are layers of items with recombination in dark orange and meiosis in light orange, followed by syngamy in dark green, followed by gamete in light green, followed by mating type in grey and sex type in blue, followed by mating system in grey and sexual system in purple.
Terms in boxes are connected to each other by colored lines.

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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

In considering sex as female and male, we found that the implications changed based on the research question context e.g., sex as an individual phenotype, compatibility for reproduction, and/or parental relationships And while anisogamy may be critical for some aspects, it is not the whole story

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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

We review an array of scientific thinking on different ways to approach points of similarity and difference in sex across lifecycles, processes, properties of individuals, and systems of multiple individuals. Including many disagreements over the utility of the terms female and male.

Text says: Differing applications of "sex" across individuals and life cycles
Subramaniam and Bartlett et al. 2023
Meissner 2021
Wasson and Newberry 1995
Warkentin et al. in press
Bai and Xu 2013 and Bai 2015
Coelho et al. 2018
Jesson and Garnock-Jones 2012
Wagner 1975
Panell and Jordan 2022

Images show different versions of life cycles with male and female labeled as well as ways to show possible types of individuals in a system or to depict when sexual differences appear in a life cycle

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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

What traits are necessary for sex? At what point does sex happen? What type/s of individuals have sex or sexes? Across the diversity of sexual reproductive cycles (multiple generations, mixed pathways, delayed fusion, modified processes), these seemingly simple questions are difficult to answer.

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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

“Isn’t it obvious what sex is? Not really." - Lehtonen and Kokko (2014) Sex can relate to reproduction, recombination, meiosis, syngamy, gametes, anisogamy, phenotypic variation and more And sex is used to describe systems that involve different combinations or variations of these traits

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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Unique postdoc opportunity at the intersection of biological/biomedical sciences and feminist science studies at UW Madison. Can propose research in any field as long as the fellow will explore connections with feminist scholarship. crgw.gws.wisc.edu/scholarships... Happy to answer questions!

One of the only opportunities of its kind, the Wittig Postdoctoral Fellows Program in Feminist Science offers a fellowship at the intersection of biological/biomedical sciences and feminist science studies. We aim to train the next generation of feminist scientists/feminist science scholars and cultivate an interdisciplinary community of thinkers, practitioners, and advocates. UW Madison has a distinguished history of excellence in these areas and continues to be a dynamic site of research and teaching in feminist science scholarship.

Applicants with a new or recent PhD are invited to apply for this two year, fully funded position. We welcome scholars working at the intersection of feminist scholarship and the sciences, including the life sciences, public health, history of science, science and technology studies, or medicine. Fellows will conduct original research mentored by a UW faculty member.

This research can be feminist topics within existing research programs in the life sciences (e.g., studies of sex and the variability of sex), implementing feminist methodologies in life science research, or historical, philosophical, artistic, and feminist engagements in life science research. Successful applicants will be paired with a mentor among the UW faculty who has agreed to provide guidance during the fellowship period. For a range of examples of stellar candidates, we’ve included some sample profiles below. The postdoc will also take primary responsibility for planning and executing a feminist science one-day conference. Other available resources for training and professional development during your time here include: the Delta Center for Training and Mentorship, grant writing workshops, the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, the Feminist Science Reading Group, and more.

For further information, contact the Director of the Center for Research on Gender and Women (CRGW) at UW Madison

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