It is not clear to me that a self (intelligence) has a gender. If it does, that is fine (although I learn towards thinking that it does not). I think it makes more sense to suppose that gender enters the identity equation after one obtains a body and becomes a child of God. Nevertheless, I leave open whether or not: a) one chooses to be male or female, b) if the process of gender selection is made by God (perhaps taking into account your self’s desires, proclivities, and cognitive factors), or c) if sex lays dormant in the intelligence and is ‘activated’ (like genes in moral bodies) through the process of receiving a spirit body. I think it makes the most sense if one chooses to become male or female (but does not choose which) by choosing to become a child of God. If that picture is accurate, then c) is the most likely option—the seeds of gender lay dormant in the self and are activated/added upon through the agency of the personhood. Nevertheless, what does seem clear is that gender is a clear essential agency that to which a self is ‘added’ upon. If this is right, it is important to note that one exists prior to gender and their personhood (self-intelligence). But it is equally critical to note that your existence as you (your conscience awareness of yourself as a unique being—aka your person) cannot exist independent of your gender. (Peter Carmack, What is Doctrine? 2:132-33 n. 294, emphasis in original)
