I'm really starting to feel* strange* about transgenderism movement. It is not that I don't support people or their rights. I also acknowledge that for many, maybe they were 'born this way.'
It is all starting to hint at aspects of Brave New World.
This is a discussion thread. I really really want to hear your thoughts.
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dreddor ago
I have grown up with trans people, and they are regular people like you and me.
That said, people that feel they are the wrong gender have a serious problem in our culture. Their bodies are not corresponding to the gender that they feel that they should be. This is a serious problem for them, because try as they might, they can't change their genetics. Unlike sexuality, genetic gender is a truely binary proposition (XY or XX). Let's just ignore hermaphrodites for this discussion.
That said, it is possible for a person to be born with the perception that they were born as the wrong gender. As a society, we have a choice. We can either treat these people as someone with a disease, or someone that is just following what is right for them.
As with most things that are inside the human existance, things are never actually black and white. Usually the determination of these things falls on a spectrum. There will be people at both ends. People who identfy with their genetic gender will be in the majority, while people that do not will be in the minority.
Among those that DO have a gender identity crisis, some will be able to live with the fact that they are not the gender that they 'feel' themselves to be, and others will not be able to cope.
At the point that we have found a person that both is not able to cope with the fact that they do not feel that they are the gender that was assigned to them at birth, and is so far beyond the ability to 'deal' with it on their own, we have a choice:
As a society, we seem to be moving toward option two. I'm not necessarily opposed to that, because I think that would allow more people to thrive in our socitey, and the more voices we give to people, the better our collective perspective becomes.
birds_sing ago
You seem like an intelligent person who actually has some in-site into this so I would like to ask you a question.
If I were to write a list as to why I am male the list would begin with my sex organs. Then I would write 10 pages of why I "identify" as male. The list would include my hobbies, the sports I like to play, if I have any urge to wear makeup, my favorite color, etc. Then when the list was done I would hold it up and say this is why I "identify" as male. But then I would look at what's on the list one by one. I don't want to wear makeup, does that make me male? - No. I enjoy playing hockey, does that make me male? - No. My favorite color is blue, does that make me male? - No. Do those things make me female? - No. Everything on my list would get thrown out and I would be left with blank sheets of paper.
In the end the only thing that I can actually say that makes me male are my sex organs. Do I want female sex organs? Maybe, I dunno, they seem like they would be more fun, other than the whole period thing. I think it would be cool for my child to grow inside me from inception and have that bond, I think that would be kinda neat. I like peeing standing up, I don't want to have periods, doing the helicopter makes me giggle and smile. If someone says they don't want periods, that doesn't make them male. Someone who says they don't like sweaty balls, doesn't make them female. But the point is, in my mind, I don't see any reason as to how someone is able to "identify" as male OR female.
I see and hear about people who identify as the other gender and they do/say all the things that they associate with that gender. They wear/don't wear makeup, they cut/grow their hair, they say that this is their favorite color. But none of these things (if you actually look at them one by one) makes them that gender.
So in the end my question is this - How can someone "identify" as a different gender? Maybe this is like trying to explain color to a blind person, but I just don't understand how someone can "identify" as a gender. I have no hatred towards trans-gendered people, I just have no idea how this is possible.
Dysnomia ago
Or we can just accept that gender is a spectrum and "third gender" people of one kind or another have been present in every society ever documented.
I appreciate your openmindedness btw.