I don't really want to get into a whole discussion about it, as I could write for hours about this and I don't think it would convince you anyway..But gender is not ontological--it is performative, a nexus between the individual and society. If you want to talk about stripping things down to their essence without the frills and glamour, it'd be worth noting that trans people as a general rule show brain patterns much more in line with those of the sex/gender they identify as (of course sex and gender are not the same thing whatsoever, but this simplifies it nicely for those who don't want to go down that rabbit hole). The right to self-determination is a wonderful thing; what I don't understand is how so many people who are supposedly pillars and bastions of personal liberty and freedom fail to recognize that people should have a right to choose what role they play in society. I understand as well that not everyone will recognize trans people's identities as valid. But LGBTQ+ identities have been notoriously stigmatized and treated as mental illnesses for so long, and if one looks at the medical history of how such orientations and identities have been treated (i.e. not correctly, in service of religious dogma and supporting the traditional order of things), it's so easy to see that the majority of trans stigmatization is a holdover from that.
One of the best ways to break it down though is to look at the margins. Roughly 1 to 2 out of every one hundred individuals born in the U.S. is intersex. If sex is the only thing that makes up gender, and somehow one's mind by its very essence must be one thing or another as defined by their physical anatomy, how should these people be categorized? It just demonstrates how arbitrary, baseless, and ridiculous anti-trans arguments are, as there is a multiplicity of individuals who biologically-speaking do not "fit in" to the binary. You don't have to respond, and I don't even really expect/need you to as I don't have the emotional energy for this. And I'm sorry if this is all gibberish as it's late; but hopefully that makes a little sense at least, even if you disagree.



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