Casual Shinji said:
Da_Vane said:
Mad World said:
No. In my opinion, if you were born a man, you will always be a man. Same for women.
Ooooh. Ooooh. Ooooh. Can I try and be smart and witty here?
Everyone is also born with a complete lack of knowledge too. If your opinion was correct, then everyone would always be clueless and stupid. Instead, it's just a choice that some decide to make.
Yeah, that was me blowing off some steam and cracking wise - but seriously, why are there so many people that are so determined to be set in their ways.
It's not just about denying the opinions of those who don't get it, but the fact that they seem to have deliberately decided that they never want to get it.
Well, I am about to get very crude here, but as I have stated to people before:
"If you want to define people by their genitalia, then that makes all men dicks, and all women c**ts."
I feel very sorry for those that wish to view life in that fashion, but I will warn people - in that case, I am a c**t. Deal with it.
If you really think this, why aren't you also getting this pissed off at transexuals; Shouldn't they then also not care about their gender? You know, the very reason they're having a sex change.
From your posts you seem to
demand suggest that men and women should not be labeled by their gender, but then get pissed off when other people don't label a transexual by their gender of choice.
So in your words; Only transexuals are allowed to care about their gender and everybody else needs to shut the fuck up.
Who's pissed off?
Firstly, hands up anybody who actually knows the difference between sex and gender? Sex is based on the physical sexual characteristics of a person, and this is where the genitalia comes into play. However, gender is an entirely sociologicial contruct based on percieved perceptions on how sexes are supposed to behave. There is the very common misconception in society that these are the same thing, when they are not.
Transgendered individuals are an umbrella term for those who have changed gender roles - they don't even need hormones or surgery to do that. They don't even need to change their name. It's a sociological construct, because, we as a society have decided that men do things and women do things. It's patterns of behaviour, identity markers, and other social constructs that mark what being a man or a woman is in society. We enforce this behaviour from a very early age in childhood, from as young a four, but it is entirely enforced by society and completely psychological.
Transsexuals are those who take the step to change their sexual characteristics to match their chosen gender. The main reasons for this is because by doing so, they find it easier to pass in society and live a normal life. Many put the focus on how transsexuals don't feel right in their bodies, but who do think makes the majority of them feel this way in the first place? Who do you think makes transsexuals realise they feel out of place, makes them unable to form relationships, and subject to the other aspects of gender dysphoria?
Society makes transsexuals what they are today, because it makes the process a trial and forces them through extreme anxiety to deal with an ignorant society that really doesn't have a clue.
In fact, quite a few of the people here who seem to take opposition view points really don't have a clue - and are really lacking in human empathy, if not intelligence. It seems people are all too keen to fight for their own rights, but don't actually care about the fact that other people have those rights too.
Now, I ask this - what part of accepting a person's chosen gender undermines another person's gender identity? Does it make someone less of a man or less of a woman to accept a transgendered man or woman as a man or woman? You don't need to know the state of their genitals - their gender identity will be plastered in everything they say and do, in the clothes they wear, the actions they take, and words they use. You can treat people as a gendered person without even knowing their sex.
But, so many people grow up taking their gender identity for granted, and feel challenged by the fact that people have the ability to change something so fundamental to improve their own lives for the better, when they cannot. That's what the real issue is usually about. It's usually because they are suddenly faced with having to ask difficult questions and think about things they wouldn't normally think about, that they have taken for granted and haven't experienced outside of prejudice and stereotypes from the media, and feel challenged. It undermines their own identity, because it makes them question things they've never had to question before.
Unfortunately, because most people are so arrogant and egotistical, they would rather act indignant at the idea of being questioned, even if it is only within their own heads, dealing with their own insecurity and their own inferiority complexes, than just shrug it off, realise that everyone is human, that everyone is exactly the same as them, and reinforce their own identity so that they know they do not have to take it for granted.
People are people - people are strange, and most of all, they are hypocritical. It's a very complex and diverse world out there, and the ignorant really need to go out and get an education.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I am irreverent, not disrespectful. Everybody has the right to say what he or she thinks, but that doesn't mean I am not going to treat you like an idiot if I think your opinion is stupid. If it's any consolation, I don't expect anyone to treat me any different, and I don't give myself any slack either.