What's gender?

People may find this article interesting. (https://inews.co.uk/news/non-binary-american-uk-stuck-legal-limbo-gender-2242643)

about 25% of the world now legally recognises some form of non binary gender. The uk does not. The person in question is legally recognised as non binary in the country of origin. They have applied to get their non binary gender recognised under uk law. In principle the body involved has agreed. The paper work has been issued. But even if they get that paperwork other government bodies like the passport office and the dvla are saying they might not go along with it.

that said with  so many people with an X on their passport coming to live in the uk the government may be forced to make some sort of rule to account for their status at some point. At which point pressure to extend that rule to UK citizens will inevitably be brought to bare.

thing with none binary is it gets misused...

a person cant say they are none binary... but then say they are trans man to woman or something... because that is still inside the binary they just changed from one to the other inside that binary.

to be none binary a person has to say they are neither a man nor a woman but something else outside of that entirely. that is true none binary. but most people using it still call themselves a man or a woman and are still inside the binary themselves. which harms its definition and power as a word.

edit: but then theyd have trouble defining what none binary is, what is outside man or woman, they dont know, they dont have a name for it, because its sorta made up... after thinking on it myself the only conclusion i came to is that theyd have to make it like a sexuality where from straight and gay they had to go in between to make asexual... therefore none binary is redundant, they have no name for any other gender...  the only thing they could really validly say is instead that they consider themselves Agendered....

Caelus said:

edit: but then theyd have trouble defining what none binary is, what is outside man or woman, they dont know, they dont have a name for it

But we do have a name for it. Historically it was hermaphroditism and in modern medicine you’d say intersex.

🐝 Bees 🐝 (they/them) Autism resources in bio #stoptheshock #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs said:

Intersex isn't a gender though

I think some (not all) intersex people would strongly disagree with you.

as I’ve said my own view of gender is that it is a spectrum not a binary. But you’re right while some people might include performative elements (like who wears the trousers) for me personally I wouldn’t. I tend to think of it more in terms of what body parts does some one have / want to have.

it would be nice if we lived in a world where delicate guys could be treated like princesses and wooed by doting strong women and bought drinks in bars. Or where women could spend their days lifting weights and join the SAS. Alas society is not that flexible.

but for me when I think of gender identity I’m thinking, ok if I was the only one left in the world what would I want to see when I looked in the mirror.

🐝 Bees 🐝 (they/them) Autism resources in bio #stoptheshock #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs said:

Actually the population percentage is about the same at all points in history, it's just visibility

Ok in this context when I’m talking about young trans people I mean young trans people who’ve medically transitioned. The kind of people who went through tavistock or who had rich parents that sent them overseas for treatment. That only really became a thing around the 00s. (As I understand it)

and it was more of an aside anyway. The point I was making is gender is a spectrum but if you try to categorise it there must be at least 3 genders. And actually probably more. Because In a very real way there are important functional differences between trans people.

we already recognise these distinctions in crude forms in our language. We talk about pre and post op trans people for example. But I was pointing out even trans people sometimes think of their gender identity as being different from other trans peoples. That maybe 3 gender categories, male / female / other, is still too crude for the spectrum.

Not all self identifying cis women can be treated as women for medical purposes. Some have an intersex condition like complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. Some trans women can sun bathe nude on the beach and no one would know they were trans. Some couldn’t but in a bar or on the street they pass 100%. Some trans women couldn’t pass face to face ever. Some trans people can pass for either gender with some effort. Some don’t want to pass for either gender or want to pass for both genders at different times. And then the same trend continues with the trans men on the other side of the spectrum. All of these relate to how they want themselves and others to perceive  their bodies and how they and others actually do perceive their bodies and all could arguably be called a kind of gender.

yes that’s probably the most functional useful way to think about gender. Gender as the way we want our bodies to be as compared to how they actually are as compared to how they are perceived by ourselves and others.

Peter said:

But some self identifying trans people clearly aren’t trans. And yes it’s probably a tiny number but, for example, the case of a prisoner declaring they are trans because they think Women’s  prisons are softer, would be an example.

Actually while not all self identifying trans people are trans, all trans people are self identifying, they have to be by nature of how gender identity works. Unfortunately what you allude to as the "fake trans" is a criminal element, but they are seldom known for their honesty anyway, I'm sure they'd tell you they were a crocodile too if they thought there were a few bob in it.

Peter said:

I personally think if you define non binary narrowly to mean ‘trans intersex’ then a lot of self identified non binary people are clearly not ‘trans intersex.’

Intersex isn't a gender though so transintersex literally doesn't exist, to effectively become intersex might be some nonbinary folks ideal form of transition, but it isn't always and that doesn't make them less nonbinary because NB is a gender (not sex) identity (a feeling not based on anything physical).

Peter said:

And simply saying ‘I don’t conform to gender roles.’ Is not a gender identity. By that definition I’m non binary.

Now that is interesting, now you have said that I know you must view your own gender in terms of identity and not performativity then, because performative gender is  the root of where sayings like "you can see who wears the trousers in that house" come from, and if gender was only viewed under a performative lens then you would be non-binary. But by saying you aren't nonbinary just because you don't conform to gender roles (social norms) your sense of gender must be identative, even if (presumably, because by your own words you are not trans) exactly what that gender is based on is just perceived gonadal sex.

"now this point of view is dated, probably from around the late 00s where the number of young trans people was much much smaller. Maybe the community has totally changed since then."

Actually the population percentage is about the same at all points in history, it's just visibility that goes up or down depending on how safe to leave the closet trans people feel in a particular country at a particular point in history. Trans acceptance wouldn't actually make any more trans people than there already are, just more that were previously uncounted would become known to statistal data. For example the population of lefthanded people appeared to rise after lefthanded acceptance became more wide spread as less people hid their being left handed, but after a certain point in time the number plateaued and then just kept at a steady ratio with the rest of the population, revealing the true number of lefhanded folks that had been there all along. The same is happening in more recent years with LGBT people.
There's actually a graph that shows this:
https://slowrevealgraphs.com/2021/11/08/rate-of-left-handedness-in-the-us-stigma-society/

HP35 said:

there are (sexual/reproductive) parts of my body I don't want to have, but I don't particularly want the opposite set either."

Which sits pretty comfortably inside my understanding of what non binary should be. … or it could be both. As in “I want body parts from both sexs”

I think you’re wrong to think of it as gatekeeping. I think the point is the young trans women I was thinking of are actually embarrassed by the label trans because they don’t really think of themselves as trans women anyway, just women. So they don’t really want to be members of the ‘trans club.’ It’s not about them wanting to gate keep non passing trans people out of the ‘trans club’ (I know it’s not a great term but I’m struggling for something better). It’s more that they think they are entitled to not be gate kept out of things because society reacts badly to non passing trans women.

it’s like they’re saying ‘please don’t lump us in with them, don’t kick us out just because they make you uncomfortable’

now this point of view is dated, probably from around the late 00s where the number of young trans people was much much smaller. Maybe the community has totally changed since then.

but I can understand how someone could feel that way. If you see a burly trans woman with 5 o clock shadow and a square jaw walk into the changing room at Ann Summers and the women there have a fit I could understand how a passing transwoman in that same changing room might be thinking ‘please don’t ruin this for me.’

I've certainly met young trans women at pride events and so on who I didn't realise were trans until they started talking about their surgeries, marching alongside older people who don't pass. The kind of gatekeeping you describe simply isn't acceptable in any queer spaces I've been in.

Personally when I say I'm non binary I mean it as in "there are (sexual/reproductive) parts of my body I don't want to have, but I don't particularly want the opposite set either." Whether or not I end up actually getting those parts removed, rather than simply hiding them under clothing and using medications to shut down their functioning, is something I'm not decided on, given the difficulty of access and the risks and sensory overload involved in surgery and recovery. When I first started reaching out to the trans community I worried about not being "trans enough" but I've had nothing but acceptance.

But some self identifying trans people clearly aren’t trans. And yes it’s probably a tiny number but, for example, the case of a prisoner declaring they are trans because they think Women’s  prisons are softer, would be an example.

I personally think if you define non binary narrowly to mean ‘trans intersex’ then a lot of self identified non binary people are clearly not ‘trans intersex.’ And simply saying ‘I don’t conform to gender roles.’ Is not a gender identity. By that definition I’m non binary.

but that’s not what I was talking about regarding young transitioners.

I’m only going on what I’ve been told but as I understand it a lot of young transitions, people who probably got booked in for SRS on the 18th birthday kind of thing, go close to 100% ‘stealth’ and tell almost no one they know they are trans. The only people who know are often other young trans people.

im told, now this is just what I’ve been told, that they often find older transitioners, specifically older trans women, intimidating, because to them they look like ‘men in dresses.’ (A term I have read them using) As I say these trans people you are probably not going to find advertising themselves as trans or attending trans rights groups. If they are in some LGBT group they probably just call themselves lesbians.

maybe it’s a different kettle of fish with trans men because the cosmetic results are much better post puberty. But for trans women there can be a bit of a divide between those who transitioned pre 20 and post 20.

Peter said:

the younge transitioners are more like ‘just let us have the drugs and gender identity politics can go hang. We like our new gender role and you will never know the difference.’

Peter said:

They don’t worry about being challenged using a toilet or changing room, don’t worry when they go out dating. Some of their friends maybe even some of their lovers don’t know they are trans.

No that was a very tiny minority within a minority of now older folks who very specifically could afford to transition and if they could pass would never leave the closet for fear of being murdered under the "but I'm not gay!""defence". The reality is most are unable to access means to transition in the first place. And yet despite transmedicalist barriers they remain transgender.

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/02/us/02murder.html

It's terrifying how often people who are neither in the community nor have actually studied the biological or social sciences will wade in to give "knowledge" on a whole group of people they've no connection to based purely on their reactionary feelings without so much as a verified source to back up what they say.

I see what you mean. If I could access T I might put less effort into presenting masc.

I've never, ever seen a younger person invalidate an older trans person for not passing though. The opposite is far more likely. As evidenced by your post - a trans person in their 20s would never say something so transmedicalist as "some non binary people don't deserve the term." Groups run by this demographic explicitly have codes of conduct saying that attitude is not acceptable.

Actually it’s more the issue that puberty blockers don’t put growth hormones on hold. And you need the growth hormones and sex hormones to be synced to get the full puberty effect. The delayed puberty is therefore blunted some what.

trans girls who take oestrogen in their 30s grow smaller breasts compared to female relatives for example. You need high oestrogen and high growth hormone to optimally grow breasts.

and trans hrt protocols don’t generally include toping up hGH to puberty levels.

but doesnt that cause issues though? ... it has to take place while your body is growing and developing, you cant just pause it, wait, and restart it.... because when you restart it your body may have gone past its growth phase and thus the whole point of puberty and it effecting your growth is gone, and with it blocked likely youd get disabilities and issues from blocking it and interfering either way with your bodys growth phase. so a doing nothing or taking a hormone replacement would even be better and safer than a puberty blocker. but puberty blocker id guess would hinder your growth phase and cause defects and disability.

This is why they use puberty blockers. It pauses the physical changes that come with puberty and gives them to consider whether it's what they really want.  Then, when they are sure they can make use of whichever hormones they need to guide their body to the comfortable shape.

But doesn’t that fit with the completeness of the transition. The more you look like the transition gender the less you feel you need to perform as that gender. The non binary people I’m slightly unsure deserve that term are largely those who have not modified their bodies and have no plans to. Some of them it might just be technical issues or concerns about complications but the rest it seems it’s not really about the way they feel about their bodies at all. It’s about gender roles and tbh gender roles are a very different thing than gender.

The more male you look as a trans man maybe the less fussed you are about acting manly. 

As a non binary person whose friendship group is mostly made up of trans and enby people of a wide range of ages, I have the opposite experience. Younger people seem far more likely to play around with gender and flaunt stereotypes. E.g. I have a much younger friend (he/they) who has transitioned with testosterone/surgery and now looks male but presents very femme in terms of clothing, makeup, nails, jewelry etc, which I find fascinating and joyful. Older trans people seem more likely to stick with one set of binary pronouns and present more conservatively within their gender identity.

aye but then you have to weigh up whether they truly want it or whether its a phase. if they use the drugs but then change their mind later on then they dont pass as the original they then decided they want to stay as and thus have negatively effected the quality of their life too. so its a dual sided blade.

I am grateful for your calm sharing of your knowledge on these matters.  It is how I like to inform myself on things that I know little about.  Thank you.

The cruel reality is it’s very hard to undo puberty so if trans people don’t have puberty blockers or transition in their teens they are going to be much less passable which is going to massively effect their quality of life. There are comparatively few trans people who transitioned mid / early puberty but Most have what might be called passing privalidge. They don’t worry about being challenged using a toilet or changing room, don’t worry when they go out dating. Some of their friends maybe even some of their lovers don’t know they are trans.

I have been told that among many young transitioners there is a sense that they are more true or completely trans than older transitioners just because a lot of older transitioners do not have that passing privalidge.

it’s an irony that those who are most vocal about their trans identity are often those for whom the transition was, in terms of their ability to pass, only partially successful.

the younge transitioners are more like ‘just let us have the drugs and gender identity politics can go hang. We like our new gender role and you will never know the difference.’

Yes, very difficult for all concerned.

aye thats the thing, it then goes onto human rights and experimentation on humans so it becomes more taboo and not allowed... but yet making surgical choices for a person before they are old enough to make up their own decisions is also kinda taboo too, so its a lose lose situation both ways on human rights when you think on it lol

Trouble is they are so rare, and also not all the same anyway. They wouldn't want to be treated as an experiment. I would think they might need to pick their gender before puberty unless they chose to remain as they were.

they sorta need to research it alot more, instead of change them let them grow up like that to see how it works out, to see how puberty works and how the body ballances the two genders in one...how their body structure turns out whether it becomes more male or more female and their levels of testosterone and so on. alot of stuff can be learned from allowing that to go ahead and study it.

aye thats true, alot of defects are rare too but they are harmful and make life difficult. 

but id consider a born hermaphrodite to be one of the only true none binarys and theyd have my respect if they stuck with that and was allowed to embrace who they are,  theyd have more validity to it due to being naturally that way by birth.

aye thats true, alot of defects are rare too but they are harmful and make life difficult. 

but id consider a born hermaphrodite to be one of the only true none binarys and theyd have my respect if they stuck with that and was allowed to embrace who they are,  theyd have more validity to it due to being naturally that way by birth.