such as like this:
The concept of gender identity is said to be real as an experience, (like how theists claim to see god [a claim basically]), but scientifically under-defined, weakly grounded biologically, and sometimes treated as more fixed or explanatory than current evidence justifies.
But it isn’t meaningless. Society gives meaning to gender. Woman means dresses, man means beard. It’s discordant when you see a person with a beard in a dress. Less so now, as we’re pushing against gender being what defines fashion.
A house has meaning, there are specific laws and regulations that govern how you and I interact with it, but there’s nothing fundamentally "House"y about it. Remove all society and that building is just a building.
That doesn’t mean that “House” is meaningless, it isnt. “House” could be meaningless, but it isn’t currently. We give it meaning.
Taking the least gracious interpretation of transgender: gender is entirely performative. A person assigned Male at Birth grows up thinking that: how 'Man" is performed sucks, but how “woman” is performed is awesome. That’s still, as we agree, a valid experience.
Honestly, I don’t think that Trans people want to be trans. What about the trans experience is attractive to you that makes you think people want it? The meds? The surgery? The bigotry they face? The gender dysphoria? Is it the chosen family because many of them were disowned by their biological one? They go through these things because not doing so would be worse for them personally.
I never said the trans experience was attractive. However, some people make it an aesthetic and romanticise it. Although I don’t think the average transgender person does this. People also romanticise difficult periods in time such as the Second World War or the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I’m just trying to figure things out. I guess a third position is then that “gender is meaningless, but just play along”. Possibly similar to a position of “there is no objective morality, just play along” which I cannot seemingly rationalise. Abolishing the idea of gender entirely seems more rational ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thrice you’ve asserted gender as meaningless. Twice I’ve shown you it isn’t.
A house isn’t just a building. It’s society that gives the building meaning and power. Turning the construction of brick and glass into a “house”. Society gives the construction “House” meaning, it gives it power, it gives it protection. Just because without society all that meaning falls away, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have meaning at all. It has the meaning society is currently giving it. Now thrice I’ve shown you it isn’t meaningless.
Perhaps. It’s probably a good idea to try. If nothing else we can stop using gender to oppress people. If gender doesn’t have any meaning, what idea would you be abolishing? Your second point undermines your first assertion. Why abolish something meaningless? It’s meaningless.
It might turn out that there is a “man” chemical/gene expression/brain structure. All I can tell you is that I am a man. Where my “Manness” comes from be it societal construction, or some biological function I don’t know. I’m comfortable being a man, I’m comfortable being labeled a man, I’m not forced to confront it.
What is it that you think makes it attractive to them? The meds? The surgery? The bigotry they face? The gender dysphoria? Is it the chosen family because many of them were disowned by their biological one? The shorter life spans? The increased chance of having violence visited upon them? They go through these things because not doing so would be worse for them personally.
I didn’t assert that gender was meaningless. I asserted that from natural reasoning, either it’s meaningless or a biological binary fact. I am criticising people who are both claiming gender is meaningless but also strongly argue for the likes of neopronouns, etc. If gender is non-binary then that idea of a non-binary is essentially a modern concept that’s popped up in the past decades, rather than something you can argue is either a biological binary from the beginning of man or an oppressive social structure built upon sex.
Same thing that makes rationing, hiding in air raid shelters, having men in you and your friends family sent home in boxes, or terrorist attacks, constantly looking behind you, getting searched, etc.