Am I the only one who *kind of* believes in transsexualism as a valid thing?

submitted by gencritcurious from self.GenderCritical

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[–]slushpilot 19 insightful - 1 fun19 insightful - 0 fun20 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

There are multiple genders

Hmm, there are?

Are they discrete things with their own characteristics? What would make something count as a gender rather than a personality trait, a fashion clique, a medical condition, or something else in that case? What is it based on?

Or, is it like points on a continuum along a spectrum? If it is a spectrum, then what dimension is its axis and its limit at both ends? Oh, right—a spectrum has two ends. We usually call those "masculine" and "feminine"... so two genders then?

Or can you name a third?

[–]Shesstealthy 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Fa'fafine is a recognised gender. A fa'fafine is male but lives "in the manner of a woman". They are not a woman in their culture. They're not a man though their maleness is acknowledged. They are a fa'fafine. There's nothing wrong with acknowedging culturally inscribed gender identity. It's when we pretend that sex is fake that we have a problem.

[–]MarkTwainiac 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

The fa'fafine also compete in male sports and do not try to invade or insinuate themselves into female spaces and programs.

[–]Shesstealthy 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yea exactly. They are not women.

[–]slushpilot 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

As far as I can tell, we're still at two. "in the manner of a woman" just means feminine, and "in the manner of a man" means masculine. There is nothing new or "third" here. It actually sounds fundamentally sexist.

Whether we agree that wearing a dress and cooking are the domain of women is the more interesting question.

[–]MarkTwainiac 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

LOL, what's with this idea that cooking is the domain of women? Most/nearly all the greatest and most acclaimed chefs in various countries and cultures have been men, not women.

Amongst the people I know from my generation (Boomer) who grew up in the USA, UK, Europe and parts of East Asia, the guys were/are much more likely to be into cooking and the culinary arts than the women. I (born 1955) have never had any interest in cooking, and I frankly suck at anything beyond grilled cheese, oatmeal and toast - but the majority of my boyfriends were into and quite skilled at cooking, as was the man I finally chose to marry.

[–]slushpilot 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Haha, I think cooking got in my head as an example because I was referencing the Wikipedia article that mentioned Cook Islands. It did specifically mention dress, though so I got that part right. (I was making a point about gendered expectations more generally... and those home duties like cooking do most often fall on mothers.)