well yes, of course. I don't think that anyone is really trying to confuse that distinction. XY chromosomes are what makes a male. Sexual organs are not necessarily representative of sex (chromosomes). A penis does not make a male. You can have a male with or without a penis, and vice versa for a female. I talked about this in another thread where I discussed the difference between transsexuals and intersexuals aka. "hermaphrodites".
Yes, I see what you're saying. But generally speaking, the chromosomes do indicate the sex organs present. We would be talking about a very tiny percentage of the human population who would/could have XY chromosomes and a vagina, or XX chromosomes and a penis. And yes, as I already said, there are those people who have both or some combination of sex organs. Abberrations and anomalies do occur in nature, and not just with humans.
But what we are dealing with here is a larger category called gender which is made up of three parts.
The third part are the sex roles which is psychological/sociological. People define themselves according to their mental perspectives, and this is almost always a stronger force than the external world provides. Take people that believe in God- their entire universal viewpoint is based on their own conception. Before we are too quick to label these people as delusional, we have to keep in mind that we aren't very much different. For all humans the majority of their beliefs are based on imaginary concepts that are not reinforced by the external world- such as the economy, to name another crazy idea.
Well, yes, but not always "imaginary", but maybe sometimes arbitrary. Males and females are socialized in different ways is different societies. And I'm not denying the psychologial component. In fact, I'm accepting that explanation in large part. This goes to my point that if a person wants to classify themselves as a whatever, that's between them and the person in the mirror. I know that person above has thin skin on this issue, but no one is saying they're bad people or crazy or in need of help. What I'm saying is, don't walk up to me with a 5 o'clock shadow, an Adam's apple, a cock and a new pair of boobs and demand that I refer to you as a woman, or if we have sex, it would not be a homosexual happening. It would be.
So what it really boils down to is should we have relationships with people based only on our own perspectives and experiences, or should we take theirs into consideration as well? I think that it's obvious that it must be the later. That doesn't mean that we have to agree with other people's beliefs, but we have to understand that they are just as meaningful to them as our own to us.
Good question. And by the same standard, they should also accept, or respect the beliefs of those who don't agree with them as being meaningful as well. Quite often in these cases, it is a one way street. Despite the character above who is making up words ("biofascism"? is that like the people who claim that Obama is a "socialist", yet can't define the word?
), or who believes that presenting an anecdotal example (my friend's cousin's sister's ex-boyfriend told me...) means anything other than they're providing a cute story to be told, it does come down to your legitimate questions above. If one chooses to accept a male, shot up with female hormones and wearing a dress as a female, that's a personal decision. You can ask, even demand, to be seen and accepted as something that you
want to be (or see yourself as), but are
literally not... maybe it works out for you, maybe it doesn't. :dunno:
I understand that for some people this is probably a delicate or tender subject. I assume that's what prompted the childish insults from the poster above. And I understand this is another area of political correctness, where there is a social movement, that will potentially give these people greater power over how society views and classifies them. But I'd say the arrogance and high handedness of some of them is what will hamper their movement.
Some interesting and valid questions and points from you, Calpoon. It's something to consider and ponder.
