I found this quote by feminist Susan Brownmiller, “Women are all female impersonators to some degree. “
That quote is dangerous because it got me thinking. After thinking, I wondered if it mean what I think it means…
That females have to consciously act femme in order to fit into the gender role that society specifies. And so it goes that males have to consciously act butch in order to fit into the "male" gender role.
Admittedly, over time, females and males become so acclimated to acting femme or butch that they do so automatically without a conscious effort. Nevertheless, if they chose not to consciously act femme or butch, would they end up somewhere in-between femme and butch? And is that in-between state actually their natural gender?
Meanwhile, some people are naturally inclined to be feminine and some masculine.
Everything is hunky dory if a female-bodied person is naturally feminine and a male-bodied person is naturally masculine.
The "problem" occurs when a female-bodied person is naturally masculine or when a male-bodied person is naturally feminine (like me). To meet society’s specifications for female-bodied and male-bodied persons, the problem people must become male or female impersonators to one degree or another.
If they reject society's specifications and embrace their natural gender, they will likely have a difficult time in society. To fix their gender incongruity, they may live their lives as female-bodied men or male-bodied women or they may change their bodies to match their natural gender.
Anyway, that's what I thought.