I’d just like to take a small bite of one of the problems that occurs when having discussions with people who believe in the current gender fad. Let’s start with the biggest fish on the plate – what is the definition of being ‘Transgendred’. This from Wikipedia:
“Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth.[1][2][3] Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual.[4][5]Transgender, often shortened as trans, is also an umbrella term; in addition to including people whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex (trans men and trans women), it may include people who are not exclusively masculine or feminine (people who are non-binary or genderqueer, including bigender, pangender, genderfluid, or agender).[2][6][7] Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender.[8][9] The term transgender may be defined very broadly to include cross-dressers.[10]
I stopped because I have no idea what a ‘gender identity’ is. So let’s define that.
“Gender identity is the personal sense of one’s own gender.[1] Gender identity can correlate with a person’s assigned sex at birth or can differ from it.[2]Gender expression typically reflects a person’s gender identity, but this is not always the case.[3][4] While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. “All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of a person’s self-identity in relation to other members of society.[6] In most societies, there is a basic division between gender attributes assigned to males and females,[7] a gender binary to which most people adhere and which includes expectations of masculinity and femininity in all aspects of sex and gender: biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression.[8] Some people do not identify with some, or all, of the aspects of gender assigned to their biological sex;[9] some of those people are transgender, non-binary, or genderqueer. Some societies have third gender categories.”
The first (of many) problems with these definitions is that they do not correspond to the reality we inhabit:
“Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth”
This most basic premise is wrong. Sex is not “assigned” at birth. Sex observed at birth as obstetricians in the vast majority of cases can easily categorize members of the male sex class and members of the female sex class. It is worthwhile at this juncture to note that human beings cannot change the sex that they were born with, simply stated:
Biological sex is immutable.
So we have to note that right from the start, one of the foundational premises of trans-ideology is fundamentally flawed. Any argument based on the premise that sex is assigned at birth will necessarily be false. But, of course, there is just more than one flawed premise in the mix.
“in addition to including people whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex (trans men and trans women), it may include people who are not exclusively masculine or feminine (people who are non-binary or genderqueer, including bigender, pangender, genderfluid, or agender)“
It’s here that swirling morass of haphazard generalizations and faulty reasoning kick in. Gender identity is the ‘personal sense of one’s own gender’. What the hell does that actually mean? What is it like to experience the personal sense of one’s gender?
To be perfectly honest – I have no idea what it is like to experience my own gender. I know what it is like to be me, and my personality, but I have no intuitive sense of what my supposed gender identity is. Try it for yourself describe your ‘gender identity’ to yourself. Try it with this added challenge – describe your gender identity without using sex stereotypes. Here is a handy list you should avoid.
I’ll wait.
…
It would seem like the personal sense of one’s gender identity rests on the adoption of a particular set of negative sex stereotypes about the class of people you happen to be born into. That is what gender is; an arbitrary societally prescribed set of behaviours/expectations that are imposed on females and males in society. These social norms exist in society and are in no way present in human beings prior to social exposure. How do we know this? For instance we know that social gender norms change over time – the girl pink/boy blue situation was reversed or not present prior to the 1950’s. Thus, gender is something that is outside of us and we are exposed to it once we start interacting with society.
So how does one ‘identify’ with being female or male then, without resorting to the (mostly) negative sex stereotypes (a.k.a gender) that society imposes on people? Said another way, what does ‘feeling like’ a man or women feel like?
Sounds like nebulous bullshit to me.
“While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. “All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of a person’s self-identity in relation to other members of society.“
We need to approach the idea of ‘identity’ with a great deal of caution because ‘identity’ is inherently subjective and thus unreliable as an indicator of correspondence to reality.
“In most societies, there is a basic division between gender attributes assigned to males and females,[7] a gender binary to which most people adhere and which includes expectations of masculinity and femininity in all aspects of sex and gender: biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression.[8] Some people do not identify with some, or all, of the aspects of gender assigned to their biological sex;“
This sentence conflates the personalities we all have with gender identity and gender stereotypes. You as an individual in society are not a gatekeeper for the gendered expectations that are rightly or wrongly, imposed on you. Most certainly you can defy them, a man wearing pink for instance or a woman being aggressive, but your personal identification is irrelevant to societal expectations. Nor does adopting the stereotypes of the other class of people make you a member of that class of people. A man wearing a dress is still a man.
Should it be okay if a man wants to wear a dress? Absolutely. It should be encouraged as gender non compliant behaviour illustrates the coercive and arbitrary nature of the system we know as ‘gender’.
What wearing a dress for a man does not do is make him a woman.
This is tip of the iceberg level of what is going on in the faux-progressive areas of society. Feelings and the subjectivity inherent within them are being lauded over the empirical reality we all share. The implications for females in our society are quite foreboding, but that is another post.
9 comments
February 13, 2021 at 5:46 am
Notes To Ponder
My sister’s first husband, father of their four children, struggled with gender identity for years. Out of respect for her family I’ll spare details, suffice to say he became “Barb” following gender reassignment surgery. Here’s the thing, as a man he was attracted to women. As a woman, he was attracted to women. Post surgery, Barb expected their children to call her “Mom”, send greetings on Mother’s Day. Realize I’m off topic, but find it fascinating.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 13, 2021 at 6:32 am
Carmen
. . and now La Leche League is wanting its Midwives/Breastfeeding coaches to call it ‘Chestfeeding’. Idiocy with a capital ‘I’.
Men telling women what to do/how to think/how to talk, writ large.
LikeLiked by 2 people
February 13, 2021 at 6:56 am
tildeb
What I don’t get is why gay and lesbian organizations refuse to see this ideology as an existential threat. If gender identity trumps sexual ‘assignment’, then there is no longer any biological justification for same sex attraction. Iran uses exactly this reasoning to force gays and lesbians into either sex reassignment surgery or death: Like transgender ideology, it doesn’t recognize same sex attraction as biologically inherent. So why the alphabet soup of LGB includes T is like accepting drivers at the opposite ends of the same bus who are claiming to be on the same team but trying to drive in opposite directions. Without the biological justification for same sex attraction, LGB becomes a perverted sex club whose members supposedly ‘choose’ their gender attraction. Yeah, good luck with that.
LikeLike
February 13, 2021 at 8:17 am
The Arbourist
@NtP
That must have been very traumatic for the family. I hope your sister and kids are recovering after the experience. There are websites available that where people with similar experiences are talking about what happened to them – https://www.transwidows.com/index.php/transwidows/ .
Not really off topic, as men pursuing their desires at any cost pretty much defines what transactivism is all about.
LikeLike
February 13, 2021 at 8:19 am
The Arbourist
@Carmen
We have to fight back against this misogyny that is cloaked in the pink garb of ‘inclusion’. If there ever was a modern day Trojan horse against the rights of females it would be this.
LikeLike
February 13, 2021 at 8:46 am
The Arbourist
@Tildeb
Right now, the major attack and infringement on gay people is focused on lesbians. Women struggle to be heard in society by default, so the feet of clay on behalf of the gay organizations would seem to be par for the course. Also, taking that step to oppose the erasure of same sex attraction is putting one’s head far above the parapet – like the LGB Alliance in the UK; they were immediately branded ‘transphobic, exclusionary and accused of being in cahoots with the Right Wing. Plus the usual personal threats, threats to employment, and online attacks.
I think this is prime example of how much power males have in society. The trans ideologues are pushing for gender-feelings to be taken more seriously than the material reality we all share. Like for me, in no possible world do male feelings of gender supersede female boundaries, yet here in 2021 this is the battle that is being fought.
Much of the headway that the T has made has been under the auspices of inclusion and being kind. It’s like what happened to the pride flag, the standard rainbow used to be good enough for the LGB community, but now the men with gender feels have added their pastel nonsense to it and are trying to normalize its use. Like… wow.. how does the LGB community allow mostly straight men to alter its standard? Seems a bit insidious, to be honest.
Patriarchy 2.0 is what trans ideology is. It cloaks male dominance and demands for submission in the garb of inclusivity. In once genuinely progressive organizations, it attempts to rewrite history and subvert their goals to serve male power. It would seem that trans ideology is a strongly reactionary movement that is hellbent on reestablishing the gender hierarchy and the male dominance that goes long with it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 13, 2021 at 11:24 am
john zande
“Agender”?
What the hell is that?
LikeLike
February 13, 2021 at 11:33 am
silverapplequeen
Trans ideology is the patriarchy on steroids. It’s also gay conversion. It’s the erasure of lesbians, in particular.
LikeLike
February 14, 2021 at 1:38 am
The Arbourist
@jz
A desperate plea for attention…😀
LikeLiked by 1 person