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In the episode we first meet the Borg (Q-Who) a drone enters the engine room. Picard and Q are watching it analyzing the systems as Q states that this Borg is "Not a he, not a she". Now how literally do we have to take this?

Was there a need to reconstruct parts of Picard and Seven when they were freed? We know that their digestive-system is massively changed on assimilation. So there might be need to adopt the "output-ports" of a human accordingly. Is it just an statement that they have no sex in the sense that they don't reproduce in traditional ways, so "he and she" has no meaning in the collective? Or is Q not referring to the drone but to the Borg as a whole? But when the collective as a whole presents itself it chooses a clearly female appearance and refers to it as "Queen". Was it a lie? But why should Q lie on such a subsidiary point?

John O
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    You might want to bear in mind that 'gender' and 'sex' are widely viewed as two different concepts. Which one do you mean now, exactly? – LarissaGodzilla Apr 04 '14 at 08:10
  • @LarissaGodzilla I simply don't know! What is Q referring to: Gender or sex, when he says (Quote) "not a he, not a she"? Could be, that with borg there is no difference between gender and sex. I have no clue! – Einer Apr 04 '14 at 08:12
  • Borg do reproduce, it was in a voyager episode I think. But they are grown in chambers – Dreamwalker Apr 04 '14 at 08:14
  • This is a bit speculative (hence the comment), but I suspect Q was just being descriptive of the drone’s appearance, trying to emphasise how far outside the crew’s frame of reference it was. The whole point Q was making by introducing the Enterprise crew to the Borg was that there were things out there that they couldn’t possibly understand or handle yet. Q was trying to echo their reactions, rather than give a full and complete description of what they were facing. The latter would have been too helpful. – Paul D. Waite Apr 04 '14 at 08:15
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    I don't think the Borg have a gender, as that is a social concept, which in everyday Borg life doesn't have any relevance. I think that is what Q wanted to point out. – LarissaGodzilla Apr 04 '14 at 08:17
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    @PaulD.Waite: Makes sense! But the crew has met genderless species before - hadn't they? But it's still a good explanation... – Einer Apr 04 '14 at 08:18
  • @LarissaGodzilla: Admitted. The concept of a gender can hardly be applied to the drones. But the collective presents itself as a female character. She looks and behaves classically feminine. – Einer Apr 04 '14 at 08:25
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    @Einer: well you would have thought so. But I’m not sure if there was an actual episode prior to Q Who featuring a genderless humanoid species. Imagine it in classic Trek. “KIRK: But how. Do I. Choose. Which one to. Kiss?!” – Paul D. Waite Apr 04 '14 at 08:30
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    @Einer: on the Borg Queen, her gender, like Locutus’ name, had a specific purpose. – Paul D. Waite Apr 04 '14 at 08:31
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    @PaulD.Waite: lol, if I had the reputation to rate your comment up, I'd do so! But you are right I think. Except for whobbely space-things and microscopic stuff, where kissing is out of the question... – Einer Apr 04 '14 at 08:38
  • @PaulD.Waite I thought the J'naii had joined the Federation prior to the episode they were in? Or at least, were probably known about before the episode... – Izkata Apr 04 '14 at 12:00
  • @Izkata: ah, quite possibly (I’m not familiar with that episode). Races without a gender might at least have been considered unusual, given that most of the other races we see on Star Trek have genders — even the Founders, sort of. – Paul D. Waite Apr 04 '14 at 12:26
  • @Izkata: I thought so too, but Q Who is in the second season, the J'Naii appear in season 5. So we're looking for a genderless species from TOS or the first two an half seasons TNG. I gave it some thought, but came back with irritatingly empty hands. – Einer Apr 04 '14 at 12:51
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    @Einer I know, but was that episode first contact with the J'naii, or was it some years prior and that's when they first showed up in an episode? I know the writers of Q Who wouldn't have known about them, but I'm wondering about in-universe – Izkata Apr 04 '14 at 12:59
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    @Izkata: Yeah, I know. In the pilot the crew encountered a space-jellyfish posing as a colony. No big deal. Then Q tags along a second time and thinks he can impress them with humanoids without private parts... One should think Picard read of something unexceptional as a genderless species in hundreds of mission reports before. Q thinks he didn't. Who am I to argue? – Einer Apr 04 '14 at 13:13
  • 7 of 9 suggested sex with Kim in an episode of Voyager when she noticed he was trying to chat her up so her body presumably still functioned as a woman's. I would suggest that the gender differences are not removed (what would be the point?) they are just irrelevant to a drone. – Stefan Apr 04 '14 at 13:14
  • @Stefan The Borg do seem to go out of their way to make standard drones all appear without a gender. It may be that they just remove external genitalia, which would still permit Seven to engage in intercourse. We never do see an ex-male drone proposition sex with anyone. – Xantec Apr 04 '14 at 13:28
  • @Einer What about the Bynars or the Telosians? – Xantec Apr 04 '14 at 13:31
  • @Xantec: They don't look to us as if they don't have a gender. Maybe to them that little spot on the forehead is to them a prominent secondary sexual characteristic. And since it is not mentioned that they dont have a gender, I wouldn't presume that they don't. They're just unusual looking. – Einer Apr 04 '14 at 13:37
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    @Einer Fair enough. Memory-alpha lists the Anaxar as androgynous, although I don't recall specifically if that was mentioned in the plot. Too, it aired after Q Who, but occured in the time line prior to then. – Xantec Apr 04 '14 at 13:43
  • Ond and a half gender: "We" and "Queen" – vikingosegundo Apr 04 '14 at 14:52
  • Folks, take the ongoing discussions to chat. –  Apr 04 '14 at 17:21
  • Potential duplicate: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/16512/3804 – AncientSwordRage Apr 05 '14 at 13:42
  • @PaulD.Waite - [which one would Kirk kiss] whichever one moves/breathes. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Apr 08 '14 at 19:39

3 Answers3

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I think to reconcile what Q is saying, with what we later find out about the Borg, he has to be describing the Borg's lack of individuality disallowing specific gender identity. While wired into the Collective, male or female designation for Seven of Nine would serve no purpose, but biologically she would still be female.

Out of universe it's possible that they were originally intended to be genderless biologically as well. A lot of things about the Borg have changed over time, like how originally they were only interested in acquiring new technology, not people. It's possible that as new storylines evolved, so did the Borg.

sumbuddyx
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I believe male and female drones are physiologically different and retain psychological gender differences only subconsciously. But as far as the collective is concerned, they're functionally interchangeable.

Based on following observations:

  • Seven of Nine's original Borg armor was built to conform to her breasts and er, her hip area. This is also true of the other female drone that crash landed with her in the episode Collective.

  • Borg do not seem to mess with genitals -- consider the episode where Chakotay finds himself in a colony of former drones who crash landed on a planet. They seem to have formed families without having access to any reconstructive surgical technology.

  • In Unimatrix Zero, active drones clearly regain their gender identities while they are in the dream/virtual state.

  • The Borg seem to accommodate physiological differences of species when converting them to drones to some extent. Consider Seven of Nine's comment about the suitability of Talaxian physiology for drones. We can assume that this is true of the physiological differences of genders as well.

HNL
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With regards to why Q described the drone as “Not a he, not a she” — in the context of the episode, this looks like Q highlighting how foreign the Borg are to the Federation.

The whole point of Q taking the Enterprise to meet the Borg was to make the point that there are life forms in the galaxy for which the crew has no adequate frame of reference.

Picard, you are about to move into areas of the galaxy containing wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine... and terrors to freeze your soul.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation#Q_Who_.5B2.16.5D

Right after he describes the apparent gender-neutrality of the drone, Q hammers his point home again:

Interesting isn't it? Not a he -- not a she. Not like anything you've ever seen.

http://www.st-minutiae.com/academy/literature329/142.txt

Q was attempting to narrate their reactions to this drone, rather than give a full and complete description of the Borg as a species/collective.

With regards to Borg gender in general, it seems that drones don’t exhibit much in the way of gender-specific appearance or behaviour, unless the Collective decides that special circumstances make it advantageous. Specifically:

  • In The Best of Both Worlds, Picard is turned not just into a Borg drone, but into Locutus — a Borg with a name. It’s not particularly relevant to gender, but this, I think, is their attempt to adapt to the Federation’s love for individuality and negotiation. Look, here you go, here’s a Borg with a name you can talk to about how we’re going to assimilate you all. You’re happy now, right?

  • In Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg Queen attempts to use sexual gender relations to make Picard and Data do what she wants. I think this is because humanity has proven a particularly difficult assimilation nut to crack, so they’re breaking out time travel and sexy disembodied aliens in an effort to get it done.

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Paul D. Waite
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    Interestingly enough, Borg seemed to have been patterned after insects... where the drones can be males (ants) or females (bees) but always SAME gender – DVK-on-Ahch-To Apr 08 '14 at 19:43