Originally Posted by StephaniAnn
Very good question. But it also makes you wonder why people simply must know which gender a person of undeterminable gender is. Other than just the fact that people are determined to solve any mystery they encounter (ex: everyone wanted to know what KISS looked like under their makeup in the 70s, lol).
I think there are several reasons many unconsciously expect everyone in public to "match" their natal gender. Also, everyone (of each gender) is socialized to treat females one way and males another. Body language and other subtleties can change depending on which gender we are interacting with or even approaching.
This socialization happens from a very early age, although sometimes it is a subconscious conditioning.
So we have these preconceived ideas (even the most liberal and open-minded of people) about how we will interact with someone based upon their gender (and to a lesser extent, age).
Some of those preconceived ideas are valid!! For example: I would NEVER yank a woman's chain the way I do male friends'.
Most females simply don't take kindly nor feel comfortable with that sort of joking or teasing.
Anyway, the point is that human beings aren't terribly flexible when it comes to gender issues. Socially, it evolves pretty slowly.
AND, of course there is the issue of attraction. The majority of the population is not (naturally) bisexual or homosexual. So when most straight guys see "a skirt", there is the hope of the possibility of chasing said skirt.
Uhhh, CDing throws a bit of a monkey wrench into that um, "automatic reflex", causing skirt chaser to "look (and pause) before he leaps".
S,
Well, you have some ideas there...
The gender issue is a binary thing and it "should" be simple enough to determine so that things can move on to other matters. Nobody likes doing extra work when they'd prefer "A" or "B" instead of having to refigure everything all the time.
The subconscious conditioning you mention is just that, conditioning that penetrates all the way to the subconscious. We've almost all been taught about germs and react when the fry cook sneezes on our BLT. Three hundred years ago, few would have noticed anything amiss, miss.
Preconceived notions, as a term, is a misnomer. It's not preconceived if it previously programmed by social and educational conditioning and nothing else. There seems, in fact, to be no "else." Human being actually seem to know very little about anything, actually - not even how to go about having sex or where babies come from. You live, you learn, you practice, you get a clue. Along the way, your blank slate get scribbled on by everybody on the planet. One day, you have to start reading it and making sense of what's written there, and what you see, hear, feel, taste, smell, recall....
The point is, human being are remarkably flexible when it comes to just about everything. They have to be just to figure out what century they live in, what language to speak, where they parked the car..
The majority of the population would "naturally" have sex with anything that came to mind, or, hand - and they do. But, again, they are, by others, discouraged from some things and pushed towards others. But, sex and "handiness" aren't unique to humans - witness cows and horses humping whatever cow or horse comes by, male geese doing the same thing, camels in zoos getting friendly with fire hydrants, dogs loving that fabric on your leg... Get over it, there's "natural" drives - and where you wind up may depend on who's standing around when you both get in the mood.
And, yes, there is attraction with clothes - and many women work it. Some don't, and it makes you wonder.... I work with enough scantily clad young ladies that I often think, "Man, I bet she'd look great in a dress!" Clothes can create all sorts of illusions, which can be a saving grace for those not perfectly endowed, and a great thing to announce, "game on" because they suited up to play.
But, I digress...
Is crossdressing, by yourself and others, fine with you?
