I'm a social liberal who is appalled and horrified by the tactics and rhetoric and anti-intellectualism and flat out hate and anger of what passes for the left these days. — fishfry
The poisonous politics of the left outweighs their good intentions — fishfry
Without commenting on transgenderism per se, I think it's too narrow to see gender as only oppressive. I think gender itself can be a vector of self-expression, to the extent that one can find joy in the expression of one's masculinity or femininity, to the extent that a gender may be as much as site of bonding, fraternity and empowerment as any other form of identification/differentiation. Which is not to say that gender is only this, but that it is, as it were, ambivalent between it's 'good' and it's 'bad' faces. The trick is in negotiating the concrete circumstances that one finds one's gender in. — StreetlightX
If we are going to call gender norms oppressive then to be consistent we would have to call all norms oppressive. We would have to call anything that demands that anybody conform to any norm oppressive. For example, we are socialized to believe that we are biologically wired to be "sexual beings". There are probably people who do not think of themselves as "sexual beings". If telling somebody based on biology that he is a man is oppressive then telling somebody that due to his biology he is a "sexual being" is oppressive. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
The US didn't used to be this crazy. — fishfry
The whole movement actually encourages struggling people to not accept themselves. For those truly struggling with identity, changing gender is not going to help the real problem of not accepting themselves. They "feel" like they should be something else, but next week those emotions could change. If they allow their feelings to rage unchecked, then how does this benefit them? How is society helping them to accept themselves if it encourages them to change based on feelings? For instance, a young girl may "feel" fat, so should society encourage her to starve herself and inflict potentially fatal results so that she may "feel" beautiful? Or should society encourage her to live a healthy lifestyle and accept her body the way it is? It is the same thing with the transgender movement, except more of mental damage being done than physical. Encourage those people to accept and love themselves just the way they are, no matter what their feelings do. — Lone Wolf
I'm saying that I think it is reasonable to believe that, given a choice, most people "feel at home" more around those who are similar to each other. And in some cases this is indeed a rational thing to feel - i.e. when a woman feels comfortable in a women-only restroom knowing that she is safe(r), surrounded by other women who feel the same thing. — darthbarracuda
A transman will not be accepted as a man because he is not a man. You can go through the "motions" of being a man, get sex reassignment surgery, physically appear "as" a man, but this will not make you a man. — darthbarracuda
A man can be feminine but he cannot be a woman, even if people treat them as if they were a woman. — darthbarracuda
Cool to hear from someone with a partner who is trans. — darthbarracuda
Do you think a transgender person can ever fully believe themselves to be not of their natal sex? — darthbarracuda
Haha, no, not mate as in partner, mate as in friend. Sorry, it's my Australianess coming through, where all friends are referred to as mate — StreetlightX
Haha, no, not mate as in partner, mate as in friend. Sorry, it's my Australianess coming through, where all friends are referred to as mate — StreetlightX
And it still does not address the other main point in the OP, that we ought to sever the link between gender and sex, so people can be free to express themselves without feeling the need to actually alter their bodies - I think transgender activism is not helping people feel at home in their bodies but rather reinforcing the idea that you need to change who you are in order to feel at home. — darthbarracuda
Is this based on some kind of evidence or is it just what sounds plausible to you? — Baden
They "feel" like they should be something else, but next week those emotions could change. — Lone Wolf
If you listen to transgender people talk, it's not a matter of fleeting emotion or whim but, for example, being stuck in the wrong body for years on end. — Baden
Clearly not everybody accepts the claim that the right body is the one you're born with — Michael
Which is self-rejection... — Lone Wolf
Oh and I said it is? — Agustino
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