Gender Hypocrisy

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The only time we define being a man or being a woman by genitalia is when that man or woman is transgender.

Think about it? When you ask a person what's it mean to be a man, having a penis doesn't even make the list. It's always about being strong, being good with your hands, being able to fight, being able to fix things, being a person of action. But if it's a transman asking the question, the first words out of people's mouth is having a penis and testicles. That is the hypocrisy of mainstream society.

The same thing holds true about being a woman. Ask a person what it means to be a woman and you get words like being nurturing, being kind, being soft, being social, and the list goes on. Having a vagina and breasts never enters into the equation, unless the person asking is a transwoman and then anatomy is the end all be all of femininity. That is what needs to end in society. Not the definition of male or female, but choosing to deny those definitions to a select few solely on the basis of anatomy.

Comments

Also Chromosomes

laika's picture

I've noticed that they do that. They also bring up chromosomes,
as if those little strands of molecules are some cosmic police force
that dictates who we have to be, even though they personally have never
made a life decision based on their DNA. Great blog!
~Veronica

Thanks

Thanks Veronica.

I didn't even think of those poor chromosomes, but I've heard it too. The whole "You can't be a woman because you have a y chromosome" b.s. that some people shout. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)

Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life

Katie -

You are not helping the definition. Being a "man" has nothing to do with the genitalia - those are what define a "male" while the feminine genitalia define a "female" while the characteristics you mention define "woman". Four words - four definitions.

Ruth

May the sun always shine on your parade

Excuse me

erin's picture

I thought that was part of Katie's point. ??

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Binary versus reality

To save me reinventing the wheel, here's some comments I made on the general theme earlier:

Categorisation (11th May 2013)
Education [and the media] (1st May 2011)
Continuous, not discrete!

Then you run into additional complications if someone's appearance / behaviour don't match their preconceptions of a particular gender...
Labels (8th June 2015)
Horses for Courses (1st May 2011)
More on labels (3rd June 2012)

And not strictly related, but since it also turned up in my searching:
Data entry forms (7th September 2010)

I'm sure I've written plenty more comments than those on the subject, but finding them in amongst the myriad of other comments I've posted... :)


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!