I understand, I think, that gender cannot really be pure biology. After all, "man" and "woman" are concepts and concepts are inherently human inventions, even if the things they name or classify exist in the material world. There are bodies of certain types and shapes and such, but they do not become men or women until they are named as such and the various social roles corresponding with the genders are divided up. This much is fairly understandable to me, but I wonder about a few things.
What is gender then, if not biological? The only thing I can think of is that it must be a mere constellation of social practices and behaviors. To be a women to is wear a dress, wear make-up, talk a certain way, walk a certain way, basically, there is no difference between being recognized as a woman (and the things you need to do be recognized as such) and actually being one. This makes sense to me also.
But then, what does it mean to want to be a woman or to want to be a man? Does it simply mean you want to do all the things associated with womanhood, you want to be recognized as a woman or a man? What about the practices you were following pre-transition feels bad, and in what way? In what way could you be a woman or a man without being one socially, what does that even amount to? Is there a feeling of being a man or of being a woman that is more than simply doing all the things associated? Is there anything beneath the surface of practices, apperances, etc, here?
A woman is someone that neurologically has a female gender identity.
Owen Hill
Also, I'm a trans woman and I behave in a quite masculine manner, though it's still feminine for an AMAB. I like to describe myself as a tomboy. I think the only way to avoid stereotypes is to consider gender identity as someone innate and determined by your brain, regardless of your behaviour.
Adam Jackson
Yeah I understand that perspective.
Elijah Cruz
social construct >The only thing I can think of is that it must be a mere constellation of social practices and behaviours you got it baby >But then, what does it mean to want to be a woman or to want to be a man? Does it simply mean you want to do all the things associated with womanhood, you want to be recognized as a woman or a man? i just want to treat my physical dysphoria but now people treat me like a woman so i kinda just try to fit in i also think a lot of womans fashion looks cool and it actually looks good on me now so biologically im male but socially im a woman and biology really doesnt matter much in day to day life
Jack Harris
Why are you privileging neurology over other physical characteristics?
(Also kek imagine still shilling “female brain vs male brain” unironically)
William Allen
gender identity: sex based instinct to have male or female behaviors mostly related to mating (mtfs want to fuck as a girl ftms want to fuck as men). mostly mediated with the hypothalamus and inutero hormones
sex: biological traits like genitals, gonads, sry gene, etc. can be mishmashed in utero as well
gender: social memes like dresses and hairstyles and other fads that can have a major or minor tangetical relation to sex biology (mating social behaviors)
William Sanders
What is a trans lesbian then?
Connor Roberts
Nta but it's more about wanting to occupy a body that has characteristics typical of people of the opposite sex (boobies, pussy, hips, woman's voice for trans women)
That preference is determined before birth and has pretty big implications on QoL if it's not met.
Colton Richardson
I'm tired rn so instead of going on a relatively logical post I'll just mention the time I had an ego death and realised that one's sense of identity in relation to sexuality and gender especially is just a framework to understand whatever chemical stuff is going on in your head. Dysphoria is just your brain's way of telling you that it thinks something about your body is off, like how depression denotes a general dissatisfaction in life, trauma is a survival mechanism and anxiety is the result of an overstressed nervous system.
Whatever the cause, your brain is indicating that something off and that it can generally only be fixed with hormones, surgeries, or whatever will induce the feeling that this wrongness is gone. And then I think gender as a social thing is just fluff added onto that; a person's way of understanding that chemical stuff and translating it over to social behaviours. Most people need to fit in, ie acceptance and validation so if they'll only be seen as members of the sex they desire to be if they stick to s certain mold then most people generally stick to it, or try to.
Parker Hernandez
Gender is just a word meant to describe some loose category of people. Some people cleanly fit inside the cloud of attributes that make up a gender - others hover on the edges. All the way at the center of a cloud we have a stereotypical manly man or feminine woman. Furthermore, since everyone perceives gender differently, it isn't absolute: you can be considered a man in one culture while still being a boy in another.
Being transgender means adapting increasing amounts of qualities associated with a different gender, eventually causing you to fall primarily within that gender's cloud of attributes. Many trans people aim for the core as that is easiest, which can be perceived as cringe or even harmful stereotyping.
One thing to keep in mind is that the sexual characteristics (both primary and secondary) don't play a deciding factor in gender. Sure, breasts are associated with femininity - but a man with gyno is still clearly a man, and a woman with a flat chest is still clearly a woman.
Isaac Lee
I have the same questions you do and I'm two years into transition, I just cannot understand gender. I'd much rather have been born afab, so I take hrt and shit, but do I want to be a woman? I don't know what that means. I want attract men and get a bf, but not in a gay way. I feel more forced into social transition by society than any other motivation, I really don't care about clothing or how people gender me, but I hated being a man (well, my pathetic twink-ass excuse for a teenage boy). This gender shit doesn't make any sense no comprende
Landon Hill
>continued One good analogy is genre. A genre has some attributes that clearly belong to it - a western probably has cowboys. But you *can* have westerns without cowboys, and there are definitely films with cowboys that aren't westerns!
Nicholas Perez
It seems a bit like Wittgenstein's concept of a family resemblance.
Charles Allen
wanting to be a particular sex or have sex in a particular way is different than sexual orientation although they can be related
Dylan Rogers
Goddamnit I really need to read more theory. Yeah, looks like I just basically stated that but worse.
Michael Jackson
same as me I never cared about gender stuff that much but I did want a different body
Tyler Clark
pretty sure genre and gender are the same word in some languages men and women are like different human genres
Hunter Reyes
now that I have such a body people treat me super weird and act concerned for me despite me being at my happiest
Aaron Gonzalez
A question for the cis: do cis people want to be a gender? Is gender such an important thing for the average person, and are they proud of their gender? Or do they simply get told by society, you are a woman/man and this is how you should act and give no furter thought to it?
I didn't feel a want to be a woman when I transitioned; I had disdain for male puberty.
Parker Watson
I don't think about being a man at all, except to be somewhat embarassed at not meeting the standards of it. I feel embarassed at not being stronger or more courageous or more confident, and this is associated with failing to be a man in a way. The rest is just habitual auto-pilot behavior, I don't think you even notice a lot of it, like how far you stand from people and how loud you talk and such.
Jackson Rivera
its the social norms attached to social roles within a society
Dylan Green
You can alter the physical body without changing the self, to alter the mind however will after the sense of self.
Even if it was possible to cure gender dysphoria through psychoactive medicine without turning the patient into a vegetable. Most people hold their sense of self close that they would not see it so readily rendered up to essentially die and become a different person.
Jackson Thomas
if psychosurgery was possible i would absolutely peace out, let male me deal with this horrorshow >pre hrt uk
Jayden Barnes
How is that differently from just killing yourself lol
