Back in the early days of Tumblr, you'd run into people of various identities. Each one of them swearing with 200% sincerity that, despite all physical appearances, they were actually a wolf/elf/wizard/"multiple" person; the generic term was "kin." Also, there were people saying, with the same sincerity, that, despite all physical appear…
Back in the early days of Tumblr, you'd run into people of various identities. Each one of them swearing with 200% sincerity that, despite all physical appearances, they were actually a wolf/elf/wizard/"multiple" person; the generic term was "kin." Also, there were people saying, with the same sincerity, that, despite all physical appearances, they were actually a girl/boy/nonbinary. I figured it was the same thing; people looking to escape boring normie reality by creating a version of themselves that was Different. Nothing too odd; teenagers have always done that. And then I saw it happening in the real world: gender stripped of all definitions and reduced to a personal proposition. I say I am this, therefore I am. (With "and if you disagree, you're a bad person" popping up as the movement gained traction.)
The old 2-gender paradigm had its flaws; it was too reductive, overly rigid, relied more on social science than biology, and completely failed to account for intersex people, or the fact that, no matter how fine you draw boundaries, someone is always going to wind up outside. But what do we have now that the old has been deconstructed? Gender as opinion? Gender as statement of faith? Gender as non-falsifiable proposition? Gender as argument? Gender as brand? What new order do we construct, especially as this subject tears (or is used to tear) people apart, creating shibboleths and derailing other conversations. Personally, I'm tired of it.
"Nothing too odd; teenagers have always done that. And then I saw it happening in the real world"
Yeah, this is the thing. Those other identities have always happened in the real world too; punks, goths, emo, they were also often associated with mental health co-morbidities and increased suicide ideation.
But the saving graces were a) they were 100% reversible once those kids went through puberty and their hormones settled down. And b) nobody took them seriously as sacred identities. You were allowed to admit that these kids were being ridiculous and for almost all of them it was just a phase they'd grow out of.
You certainly weren't encouraged to pump them full of drugs or change your language to "affirm" them or tell them how stunning and brave they were as they chopped off parts of their bodies.
Nothing confounding about intersex. They are still male or female, albeit with deformed body parts.
Forget "gender." Just drop it. It has no more scientific value than "soul." There are two (2) sexes, and nothing outside or between. Let's treat this as the attention fad that it clearly is and move on to more important things like, oh, planetary survival.
Back in the early days of Tumblr, you'd run into people of various identities. Each one of them swearing with 200% sincerity that, despite all physical appearances, they were actually a wolf/elf/wizard/"multiple" person; the generic term was "kin." Also, there were people saying, with the same sincerity, that, despite all physical appearances, they were actually a girl/boy/nonbinary. I figured it was the same thing; people looking to escape boring normie reality by creating a version of themselves that was Different. Nothing too odd; teenagers have always done that. And then I saw it happening in the real world: gender stripped of all definitions and reduced to a personal proposition. I say I am this, therefore I am. (With "and if you disagree, you're a bad person" popping up as the movement gained traction.)
The old 2-gender paradigm had its flaws; it was too reductive, overly rigid, relied more on social science than biology, and completely failed to account for intersex people, or the fact that, no matter how fine you draw boundaries, someone is always going to wind up outside. But what do we have now that the old has been deconstructed? Gender as opinion? Gender as statement of faith? Gender as non-falsifiable proposition? Gender as argument? Gender as brand? What new order do we construct, especially as this subject tears (or is used to tear) people apart, creating shibboleths and derailing other conversations. Personally, I'm tired of it.
"Nothing too odd; teenagers have always done that. And then I saw it happening in the real world"
Yeah, this is the thing. Those other identities have always happened in the real world too; punks, goths, emo, they were also often associated with mental health co-morbidities and increased suicide ideation.
But the saving graces were a) they were 100% reversible once those kids went through puberty and their hormones settled down. And b) nobody took them seriously as sacred identities. You were allowed to admit that these kids were being ridiculous and for almost all of them it was just a phase they'd grow out of.
You certainly weren't encouraged to pump them full of drugs or change your language to "affirm" them or tell them how stunning and brave they were as they chopped off parts of their bodies.
Nothing confounding about intersex. They are still male or female, albeit with deformed body parts.
Forget "gender." Just drop it. It has no more scientific value than "soul." There are two (2) sexes, and nothing outside or between. Let's treat this as the attention fad that it clearly is and move on to more important things like, oh, planetary survival.