brimstoneSalad wrote:Beyond biological genders, which is genetic, and a superficial matter of gene expression due to environment and hormone balance, all gender roles are social constructs; they're all essentially made up.
Biologically, there is no true gender change.
All mtf are still genetically male, and none of them have vaginas, ovaries, or wombs (they do have functional breasts due to gene expression, but those aren't inherently sexual organs); they have penises and scrotums that have been surgically reshaped into something that looks like a vagina, but does not function as one in biological terms.
Does that matter, though? No, not unless you're trying to have children. If it looks like a vagina and feels like a vagina, and she's hot, that should be good enough.
But in terms of how real it is, it's about as relevant as somebody having his or her back skin surgically reshaped into wings for a species change.
But in moral terms, here's the important question: Does breaking the two gender social norm help more people who feel they don't fit into them, or harm more people who ONLY want to fit into them and be seen as normal and credible by society at large?
How many people feel like they identify as dragons or whatever, and how much are they harmed by a denial of the validity of that identity?
How many people are transgendered and just want to identify as a normal social gender role, and how much are they harmed by a minority trying to include things people see as absurd as genders?
This is in part my criticism of intersectionality in veganism; when we attempt to be inclusionist to the point of absurdity in the eyes of the public, we can harm the overall goals of the movement.
EquALLity is basically factually right, that it's all arbitrary, but may be unintentionally morally wrong on this subject by missing the consequences of unchecked inclusionism.
Maybe we need to work on moving into a post gendered world, where we just don't worry about any of this shit, and the only question we ask is "would you hit that?" on grounds of aesthetics and emotional connection. But that's not the world we live in now, and many FTM and MTF transexuals still struggle with acceptance. If undermining the social notion of binary genders harms that, and it hurts more people than it helps, there's some argument to pace ourselves on pushing for this.
I agree with this, in terms of gender it would be nice if we could just stop thinking about it. No Male, Female, or made-up otherworldly gender subtypes. No Xe, Xhey, Thir, Them, whatever either. Gender stereotypes and social roles hurt people, I agree, but so does making new genders up. That's why the LGBT went from Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgenders, a group of people that can be seen as respectable, to LGBTTQQPIAADBBQWTFROFLMAO. Whatever the hell 95% of those are.
The idea that Trans* is any different than Trans, or that Pansexual is any different than Bigender, and the homophobic notion that Bisexuals are trans-exclusive by nature, and many other things, only encourages infighting, and people not to care about the LGBT as a whole. I can tell you, as a Bisexual, that gays and lesbians hate the fuck out of us. So Pansexual was made because Bisexual was not seen as inclusive enough for 2 genders. Because apparently some bisexual people said that they would not screw someone who identifies as Toast.
The thing is, the trans-community is now a laughing stock, because otherkin, transracial, and "two-spirit" people started flooding the scene, taking those of us who just want to pass as normal and make that nearly impossible, because all they know of the trans-community is a 13 year old boy who wears makeup and dresses as a girl and wants to be called Brittany but also wants to be known by as a male. Or a 17 year old highschool student who swears up and down that they are not male or female, but some other random gender, and yells at people who won't use their preferred pronouns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeaNesXC4vo
Then again, what if I am wrong about all of this? What if I am really just mentally ill, like many people have told me I am? What if I actually should be forced into therapy, loaded on drugs, get chemical castration, electroshock therapy, until I am "normal" again? What if all this is just a psychological damage to my brain, and that being who I feel I should is just feeding the delusion?
There is being tolerant, there is being inclusive, and then there is just people making shit up. But where do you draw the line? I mean, according to these people, "who are YOU to tell us our identity is not real?". Anybody can say anything, make up an identity on the spot, and have it accepted by many people, because if the horoscope fits a large number of people, it must be it's own identity, right?
And what makes Otherkin different? What really makes us in the trans community different than people who feel like they should be a cat? Who am I to say that people who feel phantom sensations in a non-existent tail are just faking it, or delusional? Maybe I'M also just delusional.
Why do we draw that like that third gender and agender, but ignore transracial and otherkin people? I know people say that race isn't really a thing, it is a made up idea based on skin color, but people also say that gender is a social construct. Rachael Dolezal and Andrea Smith identified as, and lived as, "someone of a different race" for
decades. Why should I see this and go "must be made up for attention?"
The more someone comes out as Demisexual, Androgyne, Pangender, Genderfluid, Gendervariant, Genderqueer, Polysexual, Skoliosexual, Neutrois, Aromantic, Autosexual, or any other made up gender or sexuality, the more I feel as if transsexualism itself might just be made up as well.
I understand the gender spectrum, but not every fetish or every spot on the gender spectrum has to have it's own label and name. A masculine female does not need to be it's own gender, someone who has a low sex drive is not their own sexuality. You like to masturbate but you're not al that into relationships? Stick a label on it, you're Aromantic! You like to fuck guys but you only find them attractive if you really get to know them? You're now Demisexual! You have a fetish for trannies? You're Skoliosexual! You like men and women but you hate Bisexuals because you erroneously believe them to be trans-exclusive? Join the snowflake club! You're now Pan/Polysexual! Have a fetish for butts? You're now a Asinumsexual!
There is being inclusive, and then there is whatever the hell is going on with this. Overuse of labels only bring in-fighting, and only makes us look uncredible, and like we as a whole are looking for attention. So yes, I do agree with you Brimstone. It's just getting ridiculous, and I am not the only transperson to point this out and be treated like the gender version of an Uncle Tom.
