Another "Reasons" thread ??

[Satrana]

The problem with these ideas is the concept that gender is an actual thing which can be identified and measured, a switch which can be turned on and off during our time in the womb etc.

But what actually is gender? It is nothing more than a collection of thoughts, feelings and general approach to life. We can compare our individual collection of thoughts and feelings against the artificial social grouping that defines males and females and then find which one best resembles our own collection.

Of course in real life, our thoughts and feelings are being formed and organized during our childhood when we are also being constantly exposed to gender conditioning influences, so we are driven in one direction without ever having the chance to choose for ourselves.

The idea of the hormone wash seems irrelevant to me. At the time when this happens, we only have about 1% of our eventual total brain mass. So unless you believe in a male/female gender switch in the brain that controls everything else, and science has found no such thing, then it does not matter in the slightest whether I was subject to extra estrogen for a couple of days in the womb or not.

My gender is determined by how my entire brain works, all the experiences, feelings and thoughts I have ever had. This is what constitutes me. My gender is not determined autonomously by a few brain cells. That seems like an abdication of responsibility for me being me.

Gender only makes sense by reference to the social roles biological men and women undertake in society. Apart from the sexual experience, all other roles men and women play are entirely dependent upon the rules society makes up for them, hence gender is nothing more than a social construct. Turn these rules upside down then all of a sudden biological females would be masculine and biological males feminine.

A person brought up alone on a desert island would have no idea what gender they were since there would be no social roles to compare against.