#gender is a social construct

[this-or-that-poll]

i wasn’t sure if i should be more specific but just choose whatever you align with the most :)

[a-gay-poptart]

I have found the best ally

Straight and cis people will say that they are allies, but you will NEVER measure up to my dentist.

Me: "Hey, is it ok if I can change my name on my info from [DEADNAME] to Sai?"

Random woman that I wasn't even talking to in the chair next to me: "Honey, if that's the name you had at birth, [DEADNAME] is your only name."

My dentist, very slowly turning her rolley chair towards the woman: "Shush."

Random woman: "Excuse me?"

Destist: *closes privacy curtain while staring bullets at the lady*

Me: *pissing myself laughing*

My dentist while changing my name in my info (reminder that English is not her first language, she immigrated from Russia): "There, Sai, you have pretty boy teeth. Smile and make all girls swoon."

Me not having the heart to tell her I'm not transmasc but I'm Agender, and still pissing myself laughing: "Thank you [DENTIST NAME]."

[victusinveritas]

[astralwashboard]

autism just keeps winning

it’s because gender is stupid and autistic people aren’t

[blazestar345]

[lucidmagic]

Gender is a performance and we’re all just clowns

[strangleetomz]

Transwomen do not owe you femininity.

Transmen do not owe you masculinity.

Nonbinary people do not owe you androgyny.

Gender is a social construct.

[citricacidprince]

I don’t like people who say they instinctively don’t trust anyone who’s AMAB or presents as masc, not even letting that person prove their character and just assuming the worst of them from the moment they see them.

Why don’t you instinctively dodge this upper cut fuck head??? I’m blowing you up with my mind.

[dunesofpriam]

If gender has NOTHING to do with genitalia, and there is no wrong way to be a woman/man...

Then what is the actual difference between men and women? Genuinely curious!

Under this belief the only actual difference is pronouns. And even that gets lost when you have women saying they prefer he/him and vice versa.

What is actually the difference?

[brainrotarchive]

some thoughts on Good Omens and male privilege

Crowley and Aziraphale (as well as all other celestial beings) are canonically genderless icons. However, through all of history they present masculine and I think the reason for that is pretty obvious. It‘s not like their personalities simply align with masculine traits and that‘s why they choose it most of the time. They both love traditionally feminine (meeting up for fancy wine dinners to talk about life and gossip about their bosses) and masculine (cars) things. And Crowley in season 2 explicitly does not identify as a "lad". Also, the definitions of masculinity throughout history are neither logical nor consistent and they more than anyone would be aware of how made up gender roles really are. I also don‘t think that Above or Below are patriarchally structured especially in the show. They are supposed to be completely indifferent towards gender so why do they always choose to present as men?

I think it‘s because they are both lazy when doing their jobs and choose the path of least resistance. Think about the Arrangement, for example. If there‘s a way to make their job easier, they‘ll do it. Being a woman is and always was limiting in some way. Especially when trying to influence humans (men) into doing either good or evil, being perceived as a woman makes things harder. And as observers of human cultures they‘re very aware of that and they probably, over the years, got very comfortable with their male and white privilege and use that to make their lives easier. Aziraphale also imo got attached to his appearance at some point and doesn‘t want to change anything about it.

The only time Crowley appears as a woman, it‘s as Nanny Ashtoreth. Here, again, she benefits from traditional gender roles (woman=trusted to care for children) to reach an end goal. So, I think overall they just present as the gender that‘s most convenient at the time which is usually male.

[detectivebambam]

happy holidays to:

people without boobs that wear bras, and people with boobs that don't, people that like the Kingsman movies, people that listen to songs in languages they can't speak, people who snap their paperback books in half, people that like dark chocolate, people with dark circles, people who draw on themselves, people who can't find clothes that fit, people that spend hours in antique stores, people who have read every page of the bible, people who annotate their books, people who color their hair with markers, and people who have mini fridges

[rome-theeempire]

Me being trans has nothing to do with attention, and it shouldn't mean I have to explain myself to transphobes who won't actually listen.

I'm trans because it's who I am, it's for ME!

My new name is based on what I like, it's for ME!

Pronouns are what make ME comfortable, they're MINE!

Just because I'm trans doesn't mean I have to look different, or act different.

Why does something like being trans, which is apart of who I am, change who I am so drastically???

I've been trans this whole time so why do I have to do a whole 360 on myself??

I'm not gonna "act like a boy" because I AM a boy so however I act IS how a boy acts.

So please as a trans person whatever decision you make don't make it to please others, make those decisions for YOU because they are important, and you being able to live in your truth and be comfortable in your own skin is the most important thing.

You being trans is about YOU.

[tenaciousgay]

Hey TERFs, I don’t like or engage with sports, so does that mean I am not a man? Your arguments are stupid and you should feel bad.

[certifieddudette]

If women don't owe anyone femininity, then neither do trans women. There, I said it.

[being-kindrad]

Gender Critical Articles

This post is intended to be a collection of gender critical articles and resources. I intend to continually update it.

An Open Letter To the Guy on Twitter Who Wonders if Biological Sex is Real

Pronouns Are Rohypnol

Sex Is Not Gender: The Validity of Sex-Based Rights

Inauthentic Selves: The modern LGBTQ+ Movement Is Run By Philanthropic Astroturf And Based On Junk Science

Break the binary, break the body

Every Gender Identity Is ‘Authentic’—Until It Isn’t

[Academic paper] The Myth of “Reliable Research” in Pediatric Gender Medicine: A critical evaluation of the Dutch Studies—and research that has followed

The Endless Contradictions of Gender Ideology

Collette Colfer: A New Religion

Trust your discomfort

Klinefelter syndrome (XXY) is a Medical and Genetic Condition: Stop Exploiting Us

In the dark: A major documentary in the Netherlands shakes the foundations of gender medicine

‘Gender-Affirming Care Is Dangerous. I Know Because I Helped Pioneer It.’

Trans People Aren't Babies

The secret life of gender clinicians

New York Times publishes bizarre case for youth gender transition

A Raging Transgender Debate in the Netherlands

[joan-of-feminism]

Gender Is A Hierarchy, Not A Spectrum or Identity

Within the last decade, I’m sure that we have all seen something like this in a sociology class or just from scrolling through social media…

Queer theory is a postmodernist theory that has put forth the idea that gender exists on a spectrum as opposed to a binary. Important queer theorist, Judith Butler, says that gender is something fluid, always changing. Not only that, gender is also a performance. We do gender by how we act, what clothes we wear, what hobbies we enjoy. Queer theory says that gender is not tied to biology, it is socially constructed, and that, in theory, there can be an infinite amount of genders (Brown, 2019). While, I can definitely agree that gender is socially constructed, everything else that queer theory says about gender is a no from me. Here’s why I disagree and why I think all people need to think critically about what queer theory is really saying.

For thousands of years, femininity has been thrust upon females and masculinity has been thrust upon males. While some aspects of masculinity and femininity have changed throughout time and culture, some things have remained inherent about those constructs. Femininity enforces submission and weakness onto women. It puts women into the caretaking and child-rearing role based on their biological capacity to give birth. This keeps women dependent on men and prevents us from attaining social, political, and financial power. Femininity also sexualizes women, and causes us to become physically weak (foot binding, high heels, avoidance of gaining muscle mass, dresses and skirts which restrict movement). All of this because we are born female. We are put into the feminine gender because of our sex. As for males, they are put into the masculine gender. Masculinity enforces domination, leadership, and control. Due to those qualities, the masculine gender gives males social, political, and financial power, not just over themselves, but specifically over women. In essence, gender is the the imposed masculinity and femininity according to our sex, and one gender is put above the other. Society has created a hierarchy of gender where people who are given the masculine gender (males) are given power over those with the feminine gender (females).

Now of course, as a feminist, I am very against this gender binary/hierarchy, and many feminists in the 90s and early 2000s pushed back against this which is how queer theory started. The issue is that queer theory ignores the hierarchy part of gender. Gender is a social hierarchy just like race and class. In our white supremacist, capitalist society, white people unfortunately still hold power over other races, and the rich hold power over the poor. This same line of thinking applies to gender, because gender is a system that gives men power over women. Queer theory ignores/dismisses gender being a system that oppresses women based on our sex. Which leads to my next disagreement. Queer theory posits that gender is not actually tied to sex at all. This is a blatant lie. How have we decided for thousands of years who is put into the fem gender and who is put into the masc gender? We use sex. Females are put into the lower class of the gender hierarchy and males are put into the upper class of the hierarchy. So actually, sex and gender are intimately tied together. This is not to say that sex = gender. Gender, again, is a social construct of femininity and masculinity, but more than that, it’s a system of oppression that is based on sex. Now you could say, “well wouldn’t queer theory actually be good for women? It gets rid of the strict gender roles forced upon them?” Not true. It actually is dependent on gender roles and it implies that in order to get rid of oppressive gender, women can simply choose not to perform femininity. The issue with that is there is an abundance of research out there (and personal experiences of GNC women) to show that choosing to not be feminine doesn’t get rid of the social hierarchy that is attached to something we can’t change. Our sex. Queer theory of course says that sex is also a social construct.

“For Butler, the linguistic (discursive) norms we apply to talk about sex, sex organs and the body themselves create the idea of bodily sex (ibid.). Some theorists thus argue that the idea of male and female bodies with definitively different organs, hormones and chromosomes is an understanding that we have created through language and through the social meanings we inscribe on the body” (Brown, 2019).

Queer theorists like to argue that the only reason a body with testes, a penis, and flat chest is male, is because we as a society have all agreed that those characteristics make up a male body, that there is nothing innately male about that body. The same applies to the female body. The thing is, that just because us humans have the ability to categorize and name things found in nature, does not mean we constructed it. If it can be naturally observed, untouched by cultural ideas, then it is a natural phenomenon, not a social one. Humans were being born as males and females long before we had language or culture. Male and female are sexes found in many species, with or without understandings of gender.

Conclusion

So gender as a performance just doesn’t hold up. It reduces gender down to our actions, our clothing, etc… It is also dangerous, since it says that gender is not a hierarchy, but a spectrum of identities and outward expression. This causes feminists to ignore or dismiss the power struggle and oppressive systems at play between the sexes. The gender spectrum also relies heavily on oppressive gender roles and even perpetuates them. Take another look at the first two images from above. The first image shows gender as being a spectrum between traditional femininity and traditional masculinity. You are either a “Barbie” or a “GI Joe”. In fact, gender as a spectrum doesn’t get rid of gender at all. It doesn’t push back against gender norms or stereotypes at all. It simply says that there is a spectrum of gender between highly feminine and highly masculine. It is dependent on the two genders. It relies on the two genders to create gender identities that are a mix of the two. Queer theory’s gender identity relies on keeping this hierarchy alive, while simultaneously ignoring how this hierarchy puts men above women. Here is a quote and image I found that really sums up this entire post if some of you are still confused or if I just didn’t explain things that well.

“Gender is a hierarchy that enables men to be dominant and conditions women into subservience. As gender is a fundamental element of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy (hooks, 1984) it is particularly disconcerting to see elements of queer discourse argue that gender is not only innately held but sacrosanct. Far from being a radical alternative to the status quo, the project of “queering” gender only serves to replicate the standards set by patriarchy through its essentialism. A queer understanding of gender does not challenge patriarchy in any meaningful way – rather than encouraging people to resist the standards set by patriarchy, it offers them a way to embrace it. Queer politics have not challenged traditional gender roles so much as breathed fresh life into them – therein lies the danger.To argue that gender could or should be “queered” is to lose sight of how gender functions as a system of oppression. Hierarchies cannot, by definition, be assimilated into the politics of liberation. Structural power imbalances cannot be subverted out of existence – reducing gender to a matter of performativity or personal identification denies its practical function as a hierarchy” (sisteroutrider.Wordpress.com).

Sources:

Extra Readings that I think are helpful in understanding this topic:

Gender heriarchy and the social construction of femininity; the imposed mask by Kouadio Germain N’ Guessan

It’s not about the gender binary, it’s about the gender hierarchy: a reply to “letting go of the gender binary” by Jeanne Ward (especially page 291-294)