What does it mean to identify as 'male' or 'female'?

It means living as a man however they define it so I guess. Not every man drinks beer and goes hunting, not every woman wears dresses nor makeup. Everyone is different, some cis-male drag queens identify as men but wear dresses and make-up from time to time for example - doesn't mean they aren't men. That's what I'd think it means, but maybe someone who is trans can shed some more light on it.

This is a definition that makes even less sense to me. If 'male' is however the individual defines it, then surely identifying as a male would mean nothing?

It means whatever it means to them. Of course it won't make sense to you, because you aren't them. Unless they directly told you what those reasons are.

What does it mean to you?

I'm not sure you're understanding. If the definition is up to the individual, the phrase has no meaning. It would then make no sense to tell others that you identify as a male, because that would be stating the tautology 'I feel like myself'.

So, answer the question, what does being male/female mean to you? Tomboys exist, flamboyant men exist - clearly it's a very broad term. It probably is just how someone feels personally and less about their outward look/expression.

Question is ambiguous so I'll answer in cases. If you're talking about sex, there's a scientific definition for that (as far as I'm aware). If you're talking about gender, I have no idea what it means which is precisely why I made this thread.

You still haven't answered the question. 'How someone feels personally' brings us back to the original question I had. What does 'identifying as male' mean? You suggested a definition which wouldn't make sense, as I explained. So as you stated earlier perhaps it is best for a trans person to explain it.

I did answer. It clearly means different things to people.

Just like the meaning of life. You may not understand why anyone in this world may say their job/kids/family/pets are their life meaning. You may not understand why someone says the way they feel is what identifies them as male/female.

Ask yourself, what do you identify as and why?

And yes I agree, hopefully a trans person will come on here and answer.

As for gender...
It's a state of being I think.
Defined by certain characteristics and traits usually assoicated to one sex or the other. So where sex is about biology, gender is about how those biological differences manifest as psychologicaland, physiologicaland sociological traits. e.g. Girls like pink, have longer hair and are more caring and dont fight. Whereas guys like sports, cars and tend to be more aggressive.


I may be wrong and I suspect I am. But I can not find a universally accepted defintion of sex and gender that everyone actually agrees with. So I do not think you will get a satisfactory answer to your question.

You still don't understand - if the definition of 'identifying as male' is completely up to the individual, the phrase is meaningless. The concept of gender would not even exist in that case. Think about any other phrase, 'X'. If we say that it's your personal choice what the definition of X is, then would it make any sense for a person to even use the phrase X, or 'be X'? I can't really explain this more clearly, the best I can do is hope for someone else to reiterate this in a way that makes more sense.

I mean I'm biologically male and don't 'identify' as anything, but that doesn't shed any light on my question unfortunately.

Your right it is largely meaningless in the scientific sense. But hugely symbolical for some trans people.

I hate piers Morgan but he is right. If he wants to identify as a penguin he can.
A penguin is just as much a gender as is any other gender. He just needs to state what type of characteristics that defines being a penguin.

In fact I'm not even looking for a universal definition anymore but rather just a widely held one that has no logical loopholes. In reference to the bit in bold, the definition you seem to be suggesting here is that 'identifying as male' could mean having a lot of characteristics typically found in those of male biological sex. At first glance this certainly seems more promising than the blatantly illogical 'it means whatever you want it to mean' definition, but there is a subtle flaw that invalidates it - the definition of transgender here would actually depend on the number of transgender people in the world (because this would determine which characteristics really are 'typical' in a given sex). It would essentially be self-referential.

Also trans people can identify as both a transwoman, a woman and non binary and many more which makes it more confusing. How can you be multiple genders at the same time?
Also I've heard some people's gender changes based on their mood.

I don't think you will find a satisfactory answer.

you could fill a 100tb hard drive debating this,