The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael raises a question about who is obligated to honor parents. The commandment says "Honor your father and your mother," but a related verse in (Leviticus 19:3) says "A man, his mother and his father shall you fear." The word "man" in the Leviticus verse might suggest that only men are obligated. What about women?
The Mekhilta pushes even further. Beyond women, what about a tumtum, a person whose biological sex is indeterminate, or a hermaphrodite, a person with characteristics of both sexes? Are they also obligated to honor and fear their parents?
The answer comes from the broader phrasing in Exodus: "Honor your father and your mother." This commandment uses no qualifier. It does not say "a man shall honor" or "a son shall honor." It simply says to honor, with no restriction on who must do the honoring. The Mekhilta reads this universality as deliberate: the obligation applies "in any event," regardless of the person's sex or status.
From this the rabbis derive a principle: just as with honor of parents there is no distinction between a man or a woman, so too with fear of parents there is no distinction. The Leviticus verse's use of "a man" is not meant to exclude anyone. It is simply the Torah's conventional language, and the Exodus verse's broader phrasing corrects any possible misreading.
The teaching ensures that the commandment to honor parents is genuinely universal within Israel. No one is exempt based on gender or anatomy. The obligation falls on every child equally.