LGBTAitp 27: Of Shoes, and Ships, and Sealing Wax

[SiuiS]

First, forgive me for being pedantic. I find a value in these distinctions large enough to shake the boat, so it's not just for the sake of dissent.

And just because a system works for the majority doesn't make it okay. (Heterosexual marriage works for the majority after all.)

This is a terrible example, because you are creating one of those binaries you dislike. Heterosexual marriage does work for everyone. A lack of equal homosexual marriage does not work for everyone, but that is a wind of a different season. You cannot really equate the two. trying to do so ends with people solving problems not by building their own solutions but by tearing down the comforts and works of others. This sense of "what is good for them is bad for me" is almost inherently false, and leads to such things as uppity allies and queer folk going to war with them. It leads to feminism that is "knock down men and take their place as rulers". It is the font of everything bad about activism, and we need to be above such false dichotomies if we actually want to make the world Better.

Otherwise it is do as I day, not as I do. That never works.

Hm. Alright, I suppose I can see that. But without specifying that, you're just saying "sex should not exist", which is... kinda nonsensical considering the whole sexual reproduction and biology thing. Because sex does exist - things like hormone abnormalities, birth defects and transexuality don't negate that, any more than some kids being born with 11 fingers negates the "humans have 10 fingers" thing; it just means the whole process is a lot more complex and fallible than the simple statement "humans are male and female" implies.

The trouble there is it easily leads to declaring a male female binary Correct and tea sexuality becomes an aberration. Part of the move to view homosexual, transsexual etc. people as people involves pointing out that genetics do not define you, and are barely ancillary to whether a person is any one thing. Equality is about the heart and soul, and needs to deal with such matters. Generics and physics would tell a different story. People are NOT equal. There are people who ARE better. And that gets pulled in and people think that physically superior attributes make one superior in an abstract way as well as mechanical.

Sex is a human invention, not an inherent thing. It's a human label. Just like colours actually. Red isn't a thing that exists outside the human mind; the spectrum range does, just like the various physical features exist for people, but red itself is a human concept.

This is sophistry, luv. There is no difference between red, and light in the range of 630-750 nanometers. Just like there is no difference between red, rojo And rot. It's akin to saying language doesn't exist, there just happens to be a series of symbols we hear and see which communicate information. The difference is utterly negligible except as a thought exercise. Red is not a color, it is a code for light within that scale. Just because a dog's brain interprets it as green or someone with color blindness sees it as green or blue does not make it any less red, because it is not any less within the 630-750 range.

Edit; at the very least enforcing that binary is ridiculously harmful. Even around here people who for example don't desire SRS are denied treatment or put at the end of the waiting list; because if you don't want to be perfectly cis-looking obviously you're not really trans.

I agree. I just feel you are throwin the baby out with the bath water, and would rather burn the system to the ground and erect a new one (likely just as flawed, but skewed differently) than correct the one we have.

I am sorry about how hard things are for you though. It's ridiculous. I haven't even looked into things here, as I have been trying to move to Ireland ever since the Prop 8 debacle.

While the idea of every single person being considered on their own merits and criteria is an admirable goal, *the fact that there are 7 billion people on Earth makes this physically impossible.

I disagree. From the mindset of people being labeled, yes. But if each person is responsible for their own upkeep, the effort required is about as intensive as it is now. People are just conditioned to not do things when a system is in place to force things on them.

Generalisations are occasionally a bad thing if they miss out an important section but generalisation is essential if we are to make any sense of the world and its especially true with children. How can you explain the concept of reproduction to a child while avoiding terms like male and female?

This just requires an understanding of terms, really. Male equals born with male body, hormones, chromosomes. Masculine is a man. Female equals born with female body, hormones, chromosomes. Feminine is a woman. It's a flawless system brought low only by being two binaries, because people thing in systems of exceptions. If you make it clear these are not the only categories, and you do not need special dispensation to move outside these four attributes, you're fine.

And for anyone who brings up that they are "a feminine guy", or something, ask yourself; do you present as feminine intentionally as gender representation? Or are you just attributing 'feminine' as a title to certain traits your society has told you are more female-oriented?

Oh right, it was usually crossing the water (being burned by it tends to be used as a handwave, though that makes other problems (for one, how do the more attractive/charismatic versions manage to look like they can bathe regularly? )). ^_^'

A bowl full of water is not running water. Done.

In news; after much hanging out around a bonfire and some drinking with my cousins the night before last, we determined that we're *probably* going to join a LARPing community somewhat soon. If/when we do, my character will be a noble-turned assassin that wears a mask and doesn't speak - so I don't get called out for calling myself Madame Pistonfall. I'll be presenting as female in public, outside of my parents' radar.


~Bianca

Cool! What LARP? I've been thinking about making an N7 fury cosplay get-up for conventions, myself.

Ambiguous response generator: Yes.

But really. Yeah, the whole thing needs to be reexamined.

I mean, I biologically am male. I have at various times and for various reasons, wished for/worked toward being/presented myself as a different gender.

Except for my parts, I was for a while, a girl. (Silly Y chromosome)

But that leaves a big gaping flaw in the two genders thing.

Where am I? Man? Woman? Enigma?

I really do like that last one. Good call on that socrotov.

Male or feminine, depending on which context you needed the information for. In retrospect, you wouldn't need to tell a doctor that you are now mostly female bodies, because they always ask if you are on any medication. Female hormones are the default Yes to that question.