*Part 1 of 2 - read part 2 ‘The Consequences of Conflation’ here
**for more informed/stimulating/referenced discussion read:
Kathleen Stock / Jane Clare Jones / Maya Forstater
You are not more or less female/male because you do not fit into or conform to dated, spurious notions of gender, be they social or emotional or otherwise.
Not fitting into or conforming to the ‘gender roles’ of your sex does not make you a different sex.
Nothing you do, think, feel or wear makes you more/less male.
Nothing you do, think, feel or wear makes you more/less female.
STILL,
Men and boys are told or hear people say they sound, talk, look, act, walk, throw, run, dress, laugh, think, write, dance, nag, cry … like a woman/girl.
Women and girls are told or hear people say they sound, talk, look, act, walk, smell, think, write, eat, dress, shout, climb ... like a man/boy.
^^These regressive attitudes^^ are society’s problem. They represent external, cultural problems. They DO NOT represent an individual’s internal problem.
STILL,
You might have been told or heard people say that being attracted to men makes you a woman or being attracted to women makes you a man.
^^These regressive attitudes^^ are ridiculous and are society’s problem. They represent external, cultural problems. They DO NOT represent an individual’s internal problem.
The people who say these things might be friends, family, neighbours, classmates or colleagues, teachers/employers, doctors/nurses, strangers/loved ones.
They might be calculated or callous, concerned or indifferent, thoughtless or considered, cruel or caring, gentle or vicious.
Their intention might be to exploit or support you, to exclude or understand you, to hurt or help you, to expose or protect you, to attack or defend you, to praise or humiliate you.
They might be people you trust, respect or admire. They might be people who intimidate you or reassure you.
Who they are, why they say this and how often you hear it may (in some cases drastically) change the impact of what you hear though it does not alter the substance.
No clothes, hairstyles make you more/less female/male. No emotions make you more/less female/male. No posture, shape or size makes you more/less female/male. No-one is more/less female/male because of who they are attracted to. No-one is more/less female/male because of who they spend time with socially.
Those who have experienced social exclusion, verbal attacks, physical assaults on the basis of gender non-conformity might well feel ill at ease with their sex.
This is both compounded and driven by regressive messaging and marketed images of women and men who typify these gender-conforming characteristics, forms and roles in a hyper-nomalisation of altered-image norms.
People individualising / internalising issues with gender non-conformity is a result of regressive ideology being spread, endorsed and substantiated where it should be challenged, exposed, and refuted.
The beliefs underpinning 'gender identity ideology' are inseparable from the beliefs underpinning misogyny and homophobia. They assert that instead of bodies it is our conformity to stereotypes of 'femininity' or 'masculinity' that determine whether a person is male or female.
It is neither kind nor reasonable to affirm or acquiesce to falsehoods which seek to medicate or medicalise individuals to treat symptoms of cultural oppression.