this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (7 children)

The entire, "adult human female," argument is BS. Trans women are clearly both adults and humans, there's no debate around that. It's the female part that people get hung up on. It's the assumption that gender is defined by sex, which isn't how humans think about things on an intuitive level.

When you see a person with all the outward characters of a woman, most people, especially most conservatives, simply label that person in their head as a woman. In most societies we rarely see each others genitals, and often can't fully make out certain markers of woman or manhood due to clothes or masks, worn for practical or cultural reasons. In fact, most apparel isn't inherently gendered outside of cultural context, as dresses, pants, makeup, and countless other fashionable displays have been gendered very differently through history, even in the English speaking world. When you categorize someone as a woman in almost all circumstances, you use "female" to denote gender, not sex.

If you recognize the empirical reality of how humans use the word female, you realize that sex is almost irrelevant for most uses of the term. Trans women get recognized as female all the time by people, and because female is both a term to denote gender and to denote sex, insisting those people are only male once you learn their, "sex," is not only a rude thing to do, but also objectively wrong. Trans women are often undeniably adult human females, so pretending the definition is incompatible with Trans women is a lie.

The thing you might have a problem with is people that don't pass being referred to as female, but this isn't an absolute truth either. Tons of cis women identify as women and are of the female sex, but don't get gendered as female by many people. The same is true for some cis men, and while there are less of them due to social stigma against femininity, male failing cis men do exist. Almost no one insists that butch women are men for their male gender presentation, or that femboys are women for female presentation. Conservatives might demonize these people as, "abnormal freaks," and people that gatekeep trans identities might get very uncomfortable, but I've yet to see them insist that GNC folks are the gender they most present.

As a trans person who often doesn't pass as my gender identity, it's frustrating when others complain about people like me inconveniencing them. I'm sorry interacting with me challenges your contradictory worldview as I know critical thought takes effort. I want to pass to everyone, but not because I want to put anyone's mind at ease. I want to look like a woman because it makes me happy, while feeling like a man makes me miserable.

I'm sorry that the unavoidable reality of cultural change makes you unhappy, but there has always been change and will always be change. All manner of changes in our lives are more extreme right now. The change might be more drastic than at any point in history, but no one chooses where or when they are born. It is wise to make the most of the hand you're dealt instead of demanding a reroll than cannot happen. You can change neither the past or present, but you can shape the future.

It's impossible to actually rid the world of trans people, so the tension between the outdated gender ideology of the past and material reality will always exist. Instead of attempting an impossible task or burying your head in the sand, find a consistent worldview and learn to live with us. Everyone should learn to peacefully exist with benign difference in others.

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