Defying belief.

There is a movie that I’m somewhat hesitant to recommend since it does have some problems antithetical to its message, but it’s called Transamerica. Flawed though it may be, it was fairly instrumental in changing my perspective for the better. 

I think that’s a very dangerous view. If you take the tack that gender is societally created, then you’re basically saying that every transgender person is full of shit. “You’re a man who was biologically born with a woman’s body? Hogwash! Gender is but a societal construct!” I don’t think that’s true. 

Here’s a bigger issue with it. There have been medical cases where botched circumcisions have led doctors to decide to simply give babies sex change operations at birth. “Oops! I fucked up his dick. Let’s just turn it into a pussy and you can raise him as a girl.” The problem is that these boys who are being raised as girls wind up with a profound sense of wrongness about their bodies and their identities. Here’s a paper on that for anyone interested: http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/1961to1999/1997-sex-reassignment.html

Select quote: “Girl’s toys, clothes and activities were repeatedly proffered to Joan and most often rejected. Throughout childhood Joan preferred boy’s activities and games to those of girl’s; she had little interest in dolls, sewing or girl’s activities. Ignoring the toys she was given, she would play with her brother’s toys. She preferred to tinker with gadgets and tools and dress up in men’s clothing; take things apart to see what makes them tick. She was regarded as a tomboy with an interest in playing soldier. Joan did not shun rough and tumble sports nor avoid fights.”

This does not jive with the idea that we are born gender neutral and that society gives us our sense of gender.