We make choices everyday.
(Boxers, briefs or panties? Yogurt or bagel? Bra or bra-less? Regular or decaf?)
Some choices are more important than others and some have long-term ramifications.
(Should I be a doctor, a lawyer or a fire chief? Should I marry her, him or it?)
Sometimes our choices backfire. Sometimes our choices are just plain wrong and we suffer the consequences, but we are still free to choose whatever we want.
So why can’t we choose our gender?
Despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary, the anti-transgender crowd claims that transgender folks choose to be transgender just like the anti-gay crowd claims that gay folks choose to be gay. And according to those crowds, making those choices is wrong.
I am naturally feminine. My feminine speech and mannerisms are a bad fit in boy mode, but in girl mode, they are a perfect fit.
I could man up and never wear a dress again, but I chose not to impersonate a male. So, yes, I made a choice to live authentically and not fit in with the boys.
But what if I was not transgender?
What if I was a guy with no gender issues, who carefully weighed all the options and decided that living my life as a woman was preferable to living my life as a man. And as a result, chose to live life as a woman.
What's wrong with that?
I say, “Absolutely nothing.”
It is just another choice. Admittedly, it is a big choice with a lot of long-term ramifications, but humans make important choices everyday. That’s why God gave us intelligence and free will ― so that we can make choices ― like choosing our gender.
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| Wearing Bebe |
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| Patrick Walshe McBride femulating on British television’s Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators. |
Nothing wrong with it except that the vast majority of males have absolutely zero interest in that
ReplyDeleteI love that picture Patrick Walshe McBride from my favorite episode of Shakespheare & Hathaway!
ReplyDeleteI like how you presented this; As a man, I choose to live my life as a woman. If it could only be that simple. As that perfectly describes my life at it's current stage. On a one on one basis I don't think anyone would have a problem with that. You could only hope. Regards, Randi
ReplyDelete"What if I was a guy with no gender issues...chose to live life as a woman?" Fundamentally, I love this question, Stana. As human beings in a free society, we should be able to express ourselves, any way we like, except of course, staying within the guidelines of common decency. As a part-time woman, I have the same right to express my feminine persona as I do my male persona, and I should be able to make that choice whenever I want.
ReplyDeleteSally
Free expression is choice. Chromosomes aren’t. So, express yourself.
ReplyDeleteI marvel at how complex people want to make this. Gender curiosity and dysphoria is real. How and the degree one deals with it varies. Far more often than not, one grows out of it. Then there’s the rest of us. To the extent I can express my feelings and pass without hurting anyone, good for me. But I can only deal with my issues; I can’t control others, no matter what their issues may be.
Dysphoria is real and for many one does not "grow out of it". Some people exist more on the expression side of the equation and don't have it while others do. Each case is different and one cannot generalize. What is most important is that people have a right to self determination and we help those whose dysphoria tips into distress
DeleteYou know one of the issues and it is a real issue is privacy. One of my problems is when I read some of this stuff is the failure to acknowledge that genuine people have reasonable concerns about some of this stuff. Certainly Nancy Mace is a "blank" but you know the real world is a lot more complicated. When the DOE in about 2014 or 2015 put out some guidance requiring schools to allow bathroom choices to be based on an individuals perception of their identity I knew then that all hell would break out. Everyone who posts here is grown up to understand that it is not unreasonable for some cis-women to be concerned about being in a bathroom with someone with a boy part. It is not being hateful or mean to have those concerns. But when we push those to the side as if they are meaningless then we are just inviting hate. I am on the fringes of your community. I do not believe I am a woman - but I also do not believe I am a 'real' man. If you really don't believe that you are a woman then it is pretty unfair to expect the rest of the world to let you act as if you are when you choose to.
ReplyDeleteGo to my comment about cis-women above. How many of your wives would have been comfortable with sharing a bathroom with a stranger some N years ago.
I am not trying to be hateful but I do think that unless some compromise is forged it is just going to get worse. And I think we have to be the ones to find that compromise.