[Gem]

Originally Posted by andrew g

The way I see it, is that there was a time....not too long ago, when culture thought in terms of biological 'sex', and whatever 'sex' you are, was assumed to come with a quite specific set of behaviours, thoughts and feelings. Then....not exactly sure when....probably around the 60s/70s... the word 'gender' became a useful and popular word, that undermined the limiting set of assumptions around what it mean behaviourally to be a 'man' or 'woman', and this contributed to emancipating both women and men from their limiting box of behaviours. However....at this point....perhaps a little like Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde.....the artificial idea that is 'gender' is taking over the objective idea of 'biological sex'. Will there come a point where a doctor can no longer tell an expectant mother what 'sex' the baby is? Objectively, there is no such thing as 'gender', there is just 'biological sex'.

Yes, gender is associated with socially normalised masculine and feminine roles, and the way that is identified with.

Of course, all men and all women are different, and so we should fully dispense with the behavioural limiting boxes. Men should be free to be attracted to other men. Men should be free to be soft and gentle, and cry. Men should be free to wear dresses. Women should also be free from their behavioural prisons. I speculate that perhaps if folks were free they would be more comfortable with their biological sex. In the meantime, I understand that trans folks can often be deeply and extremely unhappy in their lives, and if operations and chemicals are going to help them...then that's good.

The basic issue is, can the psychological self-image be adapted to sit well with the form, or should the form be surgically altered to resemble the image? I'm not sure that surgery is the appropriate intervention for healthy bodies. It's really a question: is it something wrong with the body that needs fixing, or a psychological issue which can't be resolved surgically? Suicide statistics aren't improved by surgical intervention, so I'm persuaded that sex reassignment surgery is not helping, however, psychological issues related to body image are a psycho-social problems, as there are no clear lines between individual identity and the environment in which it exists.

What I don't like (or believe) is the idea that nature has made a 'mistake'. I don't see it as possible that the mind of a male is born within the body of a female (and vice versa). Firstly, the body and mind are one system, and secondly, in terms of identity, a baby is born a blank canvas...identities are socially constructed.

I could talk a lot on this, and in talking briefly, I have perhaps talked a bit crudely and over simplistically....though it is not my intent to be crude, I just don't want to write an essay right now.

Yes, the 'male brain in a female body' doesn't really make sense because the brain is an organ of the body... not a 'different thing'. Basically, the issue of identity and body image can't be measured empirically, so gender theory is philosophy - not science.