How does transgenderism actually exist? How does gender actually exist?

I don't get how it is real. Its something people made up and then for this reason some people will say they're transgender. How Can one know they're the other sex? When they start explaining how they're transgender they start talking about the gender they prefer and why. Well gender is man made isn't it? I mean women weren't made where they were supposed to wear dresses it was a choice many made due to societal pressure. Without it we're either female or male sex. That's something that can not change. I think the reason people feel they're a man inside a woman's body is because society paints a picture of what a man and a woman is and they realize they're not the stereotype and more of the other stereotype. But it's all made up at the end of the day why play the game? And instead accept not everyone is the same?


i am not trying to be hateful. I have always been more like the opposite sex gender wise but I feel what does it even mean or matter? Just because society says one thing doesn't change that my body will always see it as the sex it was born so i don't get why gender exists a thing we can't see with our eyes more than sex? Something that's actually tangible?

Seeing a man walking down the road in a dress is ridiculous and laughable imo, your a man not a woman.

I don't really understand it either. Especially when people claim that gender is a "social construct".

But as long as they're not hurting anyone.

It exists, inasmuch as any metaphysical classification does. Is it a physical manifestation? No, you're either male or female.

Haha that is ridiculous when you start talking socially constructed. The stuff between the legs (thats what I mean by gender) is not socially constructed... otherwise babies would be.

My rationalisation is that it's when physical gender doesn't match brain gender. I know a couple of transgender people from my quiz team and I am fine, so fine with that.

I don't understand why the hand-wavy social construction BS.

I suppose it is somewhat of a paradox arguing that gender is a social construct but then saying that you are the opposite gender/don't adhere to this social construct. But from experiences with transgender people and various reading, your sex is your genitals and you gender is how you feel. What composes your gender is, as others have mentioned, what is stereotyped to be your gender (i.e. female = feminine attributes, male = masculine attributes). Generally, being biologically female equates with being stereotypically feminine and vice versa. People who are transgender feel as though that their biological sex does not correlate with their sense of gender. A biological male might identify more with the female gender... if that makes sense.

So yeah, while gender is a social construct, it shouldn't negate the existence of transgenders or the validity of their identity. That's like saying that racism is a social construct and then arguing that racist behaviour/victims of racism aren't "real".

if gender is a social construct. Then it stands to reason I should be able to swap my penis for a vagina with the power of my mind.

I don't really understand it either. Especially when people claim that gender is a "social construct".

But as long as they're not hurting anyone.

Because trans gendered people feel like they're the opposite sex. It doesn't mean that if they're a trans woman, for example, they'll be feminine.

The word gender is a social construct. For example, some cultures may deem a woman's role to take care of families whilst the man works. That is a gender role and is described the way people perceive men and women (i.e. gender).

Sex is male or female. Gender is the way people see male or female (based on their own perceptions, not scientific/objective facts).

The word gender is a social construct. For example, some cultures may deem a woman's role to take care of families whilst the man works. That is a gender role and is described the way people perceive men and women (i.e. gender).

Sex is male or female. Gender is the way people see male or female (based on their own perceptions, not scientific/objective facts).

I know what gender is.

What I'm more confused about is how you can believe you're the wrong gender yet at the same time say that gender is simply a social construct? To take your example, yes many societies say women should look after kids and the man should work but in the West women can also work so what is deemed appropriate gender roles changes both over time and across different societies. Does that mean that a woman who wants to work in Saudi Arabia is actually transgender because that's what men do? Obviously not. Is a man who wants to stay at home and look after kids in the UK trans? Again, no.

So if what is expected of each gender changes how can you be the "wrong" gender - if you like wearing dresses that doesn't mean you're female it means that societal expectations do not match you. But in some societies men do wear dresses and no one thinks this is wrong. There's no inherent reason for women to wear dresses or have long hair.


I don't mean to be offensive, it's just something I never understood.

What you're describing doesn't sound like a typical transgender person at all, more someone who doesn't fit in with arbitrary cultural stereotypes associated with gender. Different transgender people do have different experiences, but one very common thing is what's known as "Gender Dysphoria", where you feel sometimes extreme levels of discomfort at your own body because it's the "wrong" gender. This obviously has a pretty big effect on transgender teenagers going through puberty as their bodies become more and more divergent from their gender. The one thing in common though is that they would want to be a member of the opposite sex in any situation, society, culture, historical period etc - it is not that they don't fit certain social norms, but that they are psychologically a member of a different gender to that assigned at birth. It'd be highly unusual for a transgender man in Saudi Arabia for instance to say "I'd happily live as a woman in the UK because of the way they have greater equality there", since it's much more innate than a rational response to social privilege.

What you're describing doesn't sound like a typical transgender person at all, more someone who doesn't fit in with arbitrary cultural stereotypes associated with gender. Different transgender people do have different experiences, but one very common thing is what's known as "Gender Dysphoria", where you feel sometimes extreme levels of discomfort at your own body because it's the "wrong" gender. This obviously has a pretty big effect on transgender teenagers going through puberty as their bodies become more and more divergent from their gender. The one thing in common though is that they would want to be a member of the opposite sex in any situation, society, culture, historical period etc - it is not that they don't fit certain social norms, but that they are psychologically a member of a different gender to that assigned at birth. It'd be highly unusual for a transgender man in Saudi Arabia for instance to say "I'd happily live as a woman in the UK because of the way they have greater equality there", since it's much more innate than a rational response to social privilege.