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Originally Posted by Lucem Ferre
Yeah, that makes sense, but for me personally, it's all about what the physical body is. And, what if they never transition? Like that girl in the post above I gave as an example?
And like, that's the thing I find weird. Why do people change who they are or how they behave when they decide or realize they are a different gender? Isn't that just reinforcing stereotypes?
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This isn't the greatest example/thought experiment, but: would you be comfortable if, suddenly, you were forced to dress like a woman and act like a woman forever? If not, why? Can you explain it? And regarding the reinforcing stereotypes thing-- the fact is that trans people are often murdered for not "passing"-- even if they are passing, in fact, they get murdered just for being trans. There is far more pressure on them to conform.
And, I mean, biological males/females reinforce stereotypes, too-- you do it, I do it--all of us have certain ingrained behaviors that we perform endlessly. That doesn't mean they're not genuine necessarily, even if they are in fact rather stereotypical behaviors. (Women are traditionally expected to be hyper-accommodating, and cook and clean, for instance. We are often punished for not being perfectly accommodating. Fortunately, I genuinely like to be accommodating+cook and clean. But those are stereotypical behaviors, yes. Nothing wrong with doing or not doing them, it's just unfortunate when those traditionally masculine/feminine behaviors are expected of you for no logical reason.)
Also, why is it all about the body for you? (
Aside from the fact that external genitalia is part of what makes one biologically male/female) Personally I've never understood the obsession with another person's genitals. Is a floppy appendage between one's legs inherently more
masculine than anything else? Why? I mean, can you explain it beyond "penis = MALE" ? I'm not even asking to debate; I'm genuinely curious, since, to me, a vagina is no more inherently feminine than a penis regardless of who it belongs to. It's just... genitals. Who cares.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucem Ferre
When did gender become defined by social behavior rather than your sex? Not denying it is, looked it up, but still. Because they are both synonyms. And isn't that just reinforcing stereotypes? That's what I don't get most. Like, we're conditioned to believe that a gender/sex is supposed to act a certain way, some people that feel as though they don't fit into that gender box but feel as though they fit into a different gender box start identifying as a different gender and even go as far as to mutilate their genitals just to fit a social construct that is forced on us. Of course that CAN'T be the only reason for people to transition, but they it constantly gets put on me seems that way. Shouldn't it be pushed that your sex shouldn't define your behavior rather than having people transition to fit our boxes?
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It's always been that way. Our society happens to have very narrow accepted mode of gender expression. It's unfortunate that, even after one transitions (even if they do not--not everyone can afford it), they still must flawlessly perform what society's idea of male/female is in order to receive a modicum of respect from others. All because they committed the great crime of having the "wrong" genitals in the eyes of others. Also, all trans people are different-- not all of them desire to "mutilate their genitals" at all. Plenty are content with just hormone therapy and/or top surgery, or surgery to make their faces look more masculine or feminine. Would they feel quite as compelled to do those things if not for our society's rigid expectations of what a man/woman should look like? I don't know. I mean, I'm a biological woman but I still often feel I don't look perfectly feminine enough due to the insane and constantly-shifting beauty standards.
All I'm saying is, gender is a nebulous thing, and even I cannot entirely explain WHY exactly I identify as female. Just as most can't explain
why they're straight or gay or asexual; they just are. (This is probably my last post on this topic; I've already argued about this endlessly in real life so it's a bit draining and tiresome at this point.)