Many genetic disorders are carried on the X chromosome. For women, in order to have them, they must be on both. However, since guys have only one, they're more susceptible. Like red-green colorblindness. Autism and things of that nature are higher in men than women. Plus, women don't need guys to make babies sometimes. Check out certain insect species, crocodiles, and snakes.
Double X-chromosome ftw!
lol, you just inadvertantly started a genetics argument with a guy that worked in a genetics lab for two years and wrote a thesis on recombination genetics.
So now allow
me to twist some facts about genetics to prove once and for all the males are the superior sex (clearly I'm joking btw. the sexes are obviously equal).
First to address what you said about diseases related to the X chromosome. In every cell in your body, one X-chromosome is inactivated randomly because the cell
does not need the extra genetic information. This structure can be seen in the nucleus under a light microscope and is called a Barr body. Indeed, when this process fails, you end up with fragile X syndrome. This process is also what causes Calico cats to by tri-colored fyi. In the early embryo, the X-chromosomes (each carrying a different color allele) were inactivated randomly, producing the patchwork pattern.
Many other diseases are caused by a lack of an X chromosome all together or the presence of an extra one. These cause severe abnormalities in secondary sexual characteristics. Klinefelter's syndrome is XXY, Triple X Syndrome is XXX (not to be confused with late night cinemax), and Turner's Syndrome is XO.
So you see, while men may be susceptible to certain diseases that would otherwise be "homozygous", and this is indeed very common, women are susceptible as well to conditions resulting from abnormalities in X chromosome number. (Klinefelter Sydrome being the exception, I just mentioned it for completeness although males with the syndrome do have female sex characteristics).
And finally to address your last point - indeed, not only do many higher animals (such as the California Whiptail) not need males to reproduce at all, as well as the vast majority of asexual reproducing lower animals, these animals are at the whims of their environment and subject to easy extinction because they cannot adapt as efficiently as animals that reproduce sexually.
The purpose of sexual reproduction is to introduce genetic diversity into the species. Without it, you are left with primarily two forms of genetic diversity - random genetic mutations and genetic recombination during meiosis. The purpose of the male sex is to increase genetic diversity. Without males complex life on this planet would likely not have developed. So ironically, you owe your existence to the male sex.
BAM. Your serve, teaflower.
