4 ms·
Simplified explanation that leaves out the discussion of people who are agender, genderqueer, etc.: If you conceptualize gender as 'manliness' or 'femininity',
by Pfhreak 6y ago
Simplified explanation that leaves out the discussion of people who are agender, genderqueer, etc.:
If you conceptualize gender as 'manliness' or 'femininity', you can pretty easily see that some folks are more or less 'manly', that gender must therefore exist as a spectrum. There are men who are very feminine, and women who are quite manly, so in my mind, these spectrums have some overlap.
Most folks have a pretty rigid understanding of where they fit -- they see themselves as a manly man, or ladylike, or a tomboy, etc. and that remains relatively unchanging over time. For me, it's not so simple, there are days I feel masculine and days where someone using "Mr." or "Sir" feel really viscerally wrong.
That's the quick version of how I conceptualize my own gender fluidity.
- empthought 6y agoI think you might overestimate how strongly or rigidly people in general conceive of how they “fit” on a daily basis, or how strongly they link activities, dress, or title to “manliness” or “womanliness.” For a simple example, some days I want to listen to Tori Amos and cry, and other days I want to listen to Metallica and punch things, but nothing in any of this has any bearing on my identification with any gender. I have some pretty obvious male secondary sex characteristics so it would be a big problem if that caused me daily discomfort, but that doesn’t really seem to be what genderfluidity is about?
- Pfhreak 6y agoMany of us are not tightly attached to all parts of our identities. For some, they might care deeply about their identity as a devout Christian/Muslim, others might not really care. Some might care about their political party affiliation, others might not care. Some might care about their gender deeply, others might not care.
- empthought 6y agoBut for you, as gender fluid, it seems the thing you care deeply about is the ability to be free to conform or not conform to gender expectations of any particular sort? If so, isn’t this freedom something that would just be good for anyone?
- Pfhreak 6y agoI think so, unfortunately many people do not. Ideally I'd be free to express myself however I wanted without facing prejudice for it, but we're not in that world today.