@xSiFiGamer2016x Hi there, it's true that transgenderism can be quite difficult to understand as a phenomenon. (Even if you don't believe in the credibility of transgenderism, you do have to accept that it's at least a real phenomenon because there are real people who call themselves transgender.)
Something that helped me understand it better is that the term transgender doesn't come from "transitioning gender", it comes from "transcending gender". So if you believe in transgenderism, then you believe that there exists some (possibly more abstract) notion of gender that transcends the traditional notion. And this is exactly it, the CLAIM of transgenderism is that there is a better notion of gender which has nothing to do with what your body looks like or what your "basic biology" is. The more abstract definition of gender of course being that a person's gender is simply whatever they FEEL it is.
By the way, this is a HIGHLY Lutheran idea (as in Martin Luther, not Martin Luther King), because it is simply the statement that a person's gender is consubstantiated, NOT transubstantiated, i.e. your gender is determined by a conversation which happens entirely between you and God, and the rest of society may not intervene in this conversation. (Luther's idea was that a person's religious faith is consubstantiated and NOT mediated by the Church). This is relevant because the United States of America was FOUNDED by Lutherans and Lutheran principles. So to be American is to support transgenderism.
@xSiFiGamer2016x Sorry, I have a little more to say if you'll let me.
To give you an idea of the sheer PROFUNDITY of these kinds of Lutheran notions of faith and identity, when Luther originally expressed them (famously, by nailing 95 thesis to a church door in Germany), the upset to society was so enormous that it started a war that lasted 100 years and killed a third of europe. It also kickstarted the protestant revolution, one of the most essential ideological steps for the foundation of the USA. These protestants (as in PROTESTERS) were protesting against the church for the right to determine their own faith within themselves, instead of having it dictated to them. In much the same way, people who are pro-transgenderism are protesting for the right to determine their own gender within themselves, as opposed to having it assigned to them.
If this is somehow still interesting to you, there is a good book by Francis Fukuyama (a conservative american political theorist) where he makes these points much better than I ever could :)
@MartinTheFirst How about just letting people use the public restroom they feel the most comfortable in? There aren't enough trans people to justify the expense of remodeling every public toilet.
@MartinTheFirst They're like, what, 1% of the population? Republicans are just using them as a convenient scapegoat to get their base worked up. They lost the gay marriage issue, so they're focusing on oppressing trans people, a small and harmless minority.
It's basically the Nazi playbook - pick a small, harmless group that's easily identified, blame all of society's problems on them, oppress them in the name of "protecting the children," and demonize anyone who expresses support. The Nazis went after Jews; the Republicans are going after trans. We have to nip this in the bud to avoid disaster.
"woman" same as "man" are social/cultural categories not biological ones. Male/female sex can be considered biological. Current research in biology has found that a trans persons brain structure is closer to the opposite sex they were born as.
@Emele Not at all but that for example as a society we agree under which condition someone is considered a woman. Historical girls who got their period have been refered as a woman but these days we wouldn’t dream of doing so. Now there is the social category "teenager"
Also yes there are cultural markers like dresses, long hair etc. that we use to recognize someone as a woman. Chances are transphobes like Gamer here wouldn't recognize a woman as trans therefore would treat her like a cis-woman. Of course stereotypes are at play to a certain degree it's part of how we express gender. I'm all in favor of getting rid of them. Also men in dresses would be considered femboys so there is still the implication of femininity and womanhood.
Assuming a boy who plays with dolls is transgender is reductionist obviously.
@Gloomy I looked up what you were saying earlier. It's strange that I never knew this, the whole time I never knew this. But yeah, I get it now. You learn something new every day.
@RileyLandS it is called "assigning gender" because it assignes a gender based on sex and since at this early age gender just cannot and hasn't formed yet it is reasonable to assign it but we should keep in mind that this doesn’t have to be correct.
@BohemianBoo Here's the problem. We all make mistakes, even for the things I said. That's on me. But it's clear that people, including me, will often have a misconception between the 2. It's been a long time that I was doing things in any science class. This picture explains a lot and refreshing my memory, thanks. 👍
@TurtleEclipseOfTheHeart I did just explain to someone about that. I agree, they can do whatever they want. I'm just stating a fact that people should know.
