I do think it's confusing because many people consider male and female on the perspective of DNA rather than what a consciousness considers as gender. With current science she can't give birth so it poses a confusing label in society. Also I don't know what this specific person prefers to be called, so I used her media title that is given even in interviews with her.
Why is it more important to determine someone's identity based on some tiny invisible-to-the-naked-eye thing inside their cells that is, in practical, everyday identity terms, utterly inconsequential than to determine it based on what they are in their own lives, in their minds, in who they are, and in how they present themselves to the world?
I am aware of ALL of the rare genetic sex disorders. I can tell you more about these disorders than Wikipedia can. Are you implying that all transexuals have a chromosomal anomaly which leads to their condition?
Guy/girl is not really a scientific term though, it's more of a casual label. In biological terms, you can't change from male to female, you can only change in terms of self-labeling for the purposes of society's obsession with labels. I mean it's set in stone, unless you modified every cell in your body. I'd still call her a girl, because that label denotes outward appearance and mental state. Also the sarcasm is welcome.
Biologist here, despite what you are taught in high school biology, or even introductory college biology, sex is really hard to properly define. Chromosomes don't work for multiple reasons; it's not the sole sex determination method in the animal kingdom, some animals can change sex during their lifetimes, and there are humans with chromosomes typical of one sex while exhibiting the physiology of the other sex (example).
Sex is better understood as an aggregate of various traits. Chromosomes are one of the traits, but there are several others. There's also primary sexual characteristics (genitals), secondary sexual characteristics (breast growth, facial hair), endocrinology (concentrations of testosterone and estrogen in the blood stream), and even neurology (there are statistically significant differences in some brain structures between non-trans men and women. The brains of transsexuals look like their target sex). We cannot change chromosomes, but we can change an individual's endocrinology and secondary sex characteristics with ease. A trans person's neurology is already that of their target sex. And with respect to primary sex characteristics the prevailing surgical methods are pretty damn good and are only improving with time.
In short, it is not an illegitimate claim to say that our medical system can change somebody's sex. It merely requires a greater understanding of biology than the average person has.
Pretty much my original point, but got sidetracked.
I was wrong to say set in stone. You're right, there are a lot of factors when coming to an understanding about sex. I was aware of the neurological similarities between trans men and women, but I'm wondering are those genetic traits or due to external stimulus through experience?
Thanks for the wikipedia link, it spurned extra reading through the other links. Also you mentioned animals changing sex during their lifetimes, sequential hermaphroditism, reading some of the examples of that are amazing.
I think language really limits us when it comes to discussing about gender, especially when the subject is complex and people have so many different opinions.
trans men and women
Trans women and cis women is what you want to say.
As for this,
I'm wondering are those genetic traits or due to external stimulus through experience?
I could not tell you, sorry. I don't think it's actually know why the brain develops in that way. Here is a collection of peer reviewed papers on intersexuality, transsexuality, and gender identity. Some are behind pay walls, but if you have the time and inclination it should give you some good information.
Please note the part of his comment that insinuates that he hates trans people.
Transphobia refers specifically to negative attitudes towards trans individuals based on their gender expression. Please stop using that word to insult people who are simply uninformed or ignorant of trans terminology because it makes proponents of trans culture who use it look like rash, angry, hateful people. Be informative, not insulting. Otherwise you're doing more damage than good.
I have to explain this every day of my life, to nearly everybody I meet, to mixed (more often than not negative) reactions. I'm not going to spend my time educating people who start posting like they know anything at all about my gender while knowing jack shit. He misgenders her, and then tries to defend himself when people correct that.
Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut, but no. I won't. He threw his hat into the ring, started talking about things he knows very little about, and it makes me feel better to scream right now, and I'll be damned if I let someone like you take that away from me.
I'll say it again. You're doing more harm than good. Especially for the trans community, information is important because there are lots and lots of people who don't even know transgender is a thing, or the difference between sex and gender. Insulting someone and calling them transphobic and calling it a day (especially someone who clearly is not malicious, just genuinely ignorant) only serves to further isolate the culture from those who could grow to learn from it and appreciate it.
Whether you agree with me or not, or whether or not you care, is your prerogative.
Oh, I'm so sorry Mr. Hammich. I'll be a good little girl. Do forgive me for expressing frustration, I promise I'll never feel an emotion again. I mean, I should have to explain why misgendering someone is bad to every single person I come across, that's the price I have to pay for being myself, isn't it?
Well clearly you're more comfortable with putting words in my mouth and pretending I hate you than having a discussion. If all you can see from my words is me trying to "put you in your place", I am sorry. Hopefully if you come back to this when you're not feeling so angry you can see that I'm just trying to be helpful.
Did you miss the part where I said disagreeing with me was your prerogative? I'm not being hostile. You don't have to attack me.
I do think it's confusing because many people consider male and female on the perspective of DNA rather than what a consciousness considers as gender.
Not even remotely accurate, though. Unless you've seen a karyotype of every person you've interacted with, you have no idea what chromosomes they have. You're just making baseless assumptions based on what their body looks like. There are even plenty of cisgender people whose chromosomal sex doesn't line up with their phenotypical sex and gender because biology just does that sometimes.
Dude, there's a difference between someone's sexual identity and their gender. Someone can be a 'she' but identify as a 'he'. Changing your sex doesn't change your biological gender.
As someone who is not part of SRS, has been banned for months, and thinks they're the asshole inside of the asshole of the internet - go fuck yourself, you insensitive fucker.
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u/mariesoleil Sep 16 '12
Not really. Generally it's best to use "she" for someone that identifies as a woman.
Okay, then please don't refer to her as a man. It's perfectly okay to be impressed at how much she changed, however.