• thantik@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    99
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    I think the hard-distinction that trans people have as putting themselves in little boxes like ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ are kind of harming the whole idea.

    Having tea parties isn’t girly. Playing with dolls isn’t girly. Wearing pants isn’t masculine. Playing in the dirt as a kid isn’t masculine. They’re just kid things. There’s too much emphasis on what’s boy or girl like, and people are convinced they’re “a girl” because…they like pink? They like tea parties? They like the clothes that girls wear? You can still be a guy and like those things, those aren’t “girl things”, they’re just things. I hate this idea that everything has to fall into one of those two categories, and if you like something from the ‘other side’ you’re trans.

    It’s perfectly acceptable to like/do things that the other sex does, without BEING that sex.

      • VaultBoyNewVegas@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        Yup. When I was a teen I had a lot of dark coloured clothing, I wasn’t a goth but my family thought I preferred dark clothes. I actually prefer bright colours, whether it’s pink, yellow or baby blues. The older I get the less of a shit I give with expectations of gender stereotypes. I’m 27 and had my hair dyed bright blue a couple years ago and I got comments from middle aged men telling me that there was something wrong with that. I still get comments from the guy who lives across the road too.

    • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      12
      ·
      9 months ago

      Yes it’s fine to do gender non conforming things, for both cis and trans people.

      But being trans is not simply a presentation preference.

      • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        25
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        9 months ago

        I’m all set up for the down votes, but in my experience as a non-trans individual, there are two common components to being trans. There is the masculine/feminine side of things, aka gender, which I find to be incredibly stupid because it’s a cultural construct that is largely self imposed in the adult world as long as you don’t have hair thick skin. I really want to do away with gender and gender roles entirely so no one is in a box and everyone can do what they want regardless of what they identify as.

        Then there is the body dysmophia side of things, where you physically do not feel comfortable with the way your body presents. This I totally understand, despite not suffering from it, and is imo the only legit reason to transition.

        If anyone wants to teach me anything about this, feel free to leave a civil comment and we can have a discussion.

        • idiomaddict@feddit.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          9 months ago

          I’m afab, but don’t feel like a woman. I recently immigrated to a country with a gendered language, and it feels almost like faking an accent to use feminine words to refer to myself- like I’m clearly misleading people, but in a mostly harmless way. I’m not sure if I’ll ever transition, but if I do, it won’t be because of me hating being inside my body, it will be because it feels more honest to those around me and I kinda feel like a scumbag “deceiving” them constantly.

          I don’t really know much about trans theory, so I don’t know if there’s a good argument to convince you, but I think mine is a good reason to transition.

          • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            9 months ago

            Afab? And yeah that’s kinda my point, I want to do away with gendered language because it seems kinda pointless. And can you explain more about what you mean by deceiving people?

            • idiomaddict@feddit.de
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              9 months ago

              Assigned female at birth-in my case it means I’ve been treated like a woman my whole life and have a female body.

              In a utopian world, there might not be gendered language (and the women I’ve talked to about it here mostly feel empowerment by it, so who knows), but I don’t live in that world. I don’t think it’s fair to put the burden of ending sexism on trans people before we transition (not that you were, but some do). Trans people are a pretty small part of the population and we’re having a tough enough time getting people to allow us to legally transition, we can’t change the culture ourselves, so we have to exist in a gendered culture (I also think it’s dumb, but I can’t make much of a difference there. As a basically still closeted trans person, I’m probably doing a lot to go against traditional gender roles though, on second thought).

              It feels like when I introduce myself as a woman (or in this language use any adjective or noun to describe myself), it doesn’t feel true to me. I don’t know why (and I’m not planning on making any significant changes until I do), but it just feels like I’m hiding something when I suggest that I’m a woman.

              I know that’s nebulous, but so is identity. I know women well: I have sisters and plenty of female friends and I’ve dated women. I don’t think I fit the model for how women relate to the world. I feel like my perspective is much closer to that of the men I know.

              Weirdly, other people also don’t treat me completely like a woman either. No one’s ever spoken over me in a meeting (though I’ve occasionally seen it happen to other women in these meetings), I’m given heavy things to carry, and my bosses have mostly given me decision making power pretty early on. I have experienced sexism (and certainly the kind of sexual harassment that comes from existing in a city), but less so than other women seem to. I’m pretty tall and well spoken, but slim and baby-faced, so I don’t know how much can be attributed to my appearance.

              • RBWells@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                9 months ago

                I think appearance does impact this. I’m tallish (same height as average man here) and slim straight build, not the plush womanly figure and yes, people seem quicker to assume I am smart or strong than ladies who are shorter/busty/curvy. Which has got to be infuriating to be on the other side of.

                I did read once that androgynous-ish people and those who disregard sex roles are happier, on average, than people who hold tightly to sex roles. Maybe this is part of why, we get treated more as a person than simply man or woman.

            • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              9 months ago

              Assigned Female At Birth

              Basically, what did the doctors guess your gender was going to be based on your genitals.

              • thantik@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                You were assigned a sex at birth. If you have female genitals, you’re a female (the sex, not the gender). That’s what gets assigned at birth. Doctors don’t give a shit about gender, and do not assign it when you are born. Gender is a societal construct, and something you adopt as you age/learn. Sex is for the purposes of identifying you for paperwork/citizenship.

                I really hate this prevailing idea in trans communities that doctors “gender” you at birth. They don’t. They issue a classification of sex based on your genitalia for the purposes of identification.

        • MBM@lemmings.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          9 months ago

          and is imo the only legit reason to transition.

          That’s actually a pretty contentious topic in trans circles (transmedicalism/truscum). Personally I don’t really see the issue with transitioning for whatever (well-informed) reason, as long as you’re not taking up resources for those with dysmorphia

        • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          9 months ago

          Check out the Gender Dysphoria Bible online; it’s a very good resource. Or read the WPATH-8 recommendations if you want the actual scientific/medical consensus.

          In my experience as a trans person with gnc tendencies, you cannot simply wish away gender for everybody. There are people who don’t really feel any attachment (“agender” people). But most people do, deeply.

          As an aside, starting a conversation by gatekeeping how people in a group you don’t belong to are allowed to feel, then gatekeeping how they are allowed to express themselves, is generally not a way to get them to open up to you.

          The equivalent for me might be “as a white person, in my opinion there are only two valid reasons for a black person to have their hair in locks (a and b), any black people who want to respectfully explain anything about that to me are free to do so…”

          If I open the conversation like that, I’m not likely to gather much new information.

          I think that may be why you’re not getting the polite interactions you’re looking for, your post was not particularly friendly.

          • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            9 months ago

            That’s fair, I need to take more care for how I phrase things. I appreciate the resource, but I’ve found that I don’t learn as well from textbook esque resources than I do from having conversations. I’m very confident that I am agender, so I suppose my experiences are reflected in my beliefs. But it seems very odd to me that more people within the LGBT community don’t agree with my line of reasoning, as it’s a more freedom based approach to the same goal of liberation from gender roles.

            As far as the gatekeeping goes, I explained why I phrased it that way in another comment, but I do agree it was a poor choice.

            And so far no one has actually attacked me, so I consider these discussions to be fairly successful, although I wish people wouldn’t downvote that other user as that stifles their point of view.

            • thantik@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              9 months ago

              That’s the issue I have generally - is the automatic assumption people take that I am attacking them rather than trying to have a conversation so that I can educate myself on the topic and understand better.

              • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                9 months ago

                I’m just gonna quote something else you said in this thread

                You were assigned a sex at birth. If you have female genitals, you’re a female. That’s what gets assigned at birth. Doctors don’t give a shit about gender, and do not assign it when you are born. Gender is a societal construct, and something you adopt as you age/learn.

                I didn’t read this in reply to me and think “oh, here is somebody who is attempting to educate themselves and understand me better.”

                If your goal is to get people to share some of their most intimate and complex personal experiences with you, perhaps there are more effective communication styles?

                Can you see how it might come off as somebody who believes they already know the topic and is trying to educate other people?

                • thantik@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  4
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  9 months ago

                  I’m correcting a misconception that person had about their experiences. Doctors do not give you a gender. They assign a sex (M or F) for the purposes of identification.

                  Basically, what did the doctors guess your gender was going to be based on your genitals.

                  Is wholly untrue and counterproductive to tell people. I’ve been told many times that your gender is not your sex, and they are two separate things. To incorrectly espouse that doctors assign gender and not sex upon birth, is frankly, appalling. This is not something that is open for opinion, it is a statement of fact. And an incorrect statement of fact is either ignorance, or malice.

        • Fal@yiffit.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          11
          ·
          9 months ago

          which I find to be incredibly stupid because it’s a cultural construct that is largely self imposed

          Oh please explain this more. We need your cis gender expertise to explain how gender doesn’t matter

          and is imo the only legit reason to transition.

          Wtf. First, why else would someone transition? And even so, who are you to gatekeep what reasons are legit?

          • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            7
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            9 months ago

            As for the first part, I feel like I explained it fairly well. Literally just do what you want. It’s the equivalent of saying “I’m nerdy, so I can only do nerdy things.”

            As for the second part, yeah I mean I shouldn’t be gatekeeping but I phrased it that way to show that I do understand that reason.

            With that being said, I posted that with the hope of learning, and while your comment feels a little aggressive, I appreciate that you stayed civil. Can you explain why my understanding of gender does not work?

            • Fal@yiffit.net
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              9 months ago

              Can you explain why my understanding of gender does not work?

              Because it’s mostly coming from a place that you simply can’t understand. Gender isn’t just a social construct. Gender roles are, but telling trans people that “hey gender doesn’t matter, just do what you want” is extremely patronizing coming from someone who feels comfortable in their gender.

              And even if gender was a social construct, we live in a society. And part of being a particular gender is how people in society treat you. Seeing cis women treated one way, and then being treated another can be dysphoric as fuck, even when the difference is sexist as fuck and obviously just a social differentiation. In the end, you’re right, most of the differences in how the different genders are created are due to society, but that doesn’t make them any less part of living as a particular gender.

              • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                In my eyes, swapping genders to get treated differently seems to be a hopeless endeavour, and it reinforces the idea of gender roles. I understand that society doesn’t change because you want it to, but it would also help to fight sexism if we ignored the concept of gender roles.

                If someone makes fun of you for being masculine while wearing a dress, publicly shame them and society will eventually realize that that doesn’t work. But by transitioning to be treated like a woman, you are letting them win because you are simply accepting that “this is the way women are treated”

                I’ve heard that it’s not something I can understand because I’m comfortable in my gender, but I don’t think that’s true. I’m extremely open minded and very capable of putting myself in others shoes, which is why I have the views I have. Also, I don’t feel like I have a gender because I simply don’t engage with society in a way that would allow for gender, hence why I believe everyone should be agender. I just want to take the shortest path to actually fixing the problem instead of prolonging it. If someone could accurately explain what it feels like “to be a man/woman” without bringing gender roles into it, I feel like I would be able to understand that. But every time I ask, I get answers to how they choose to engage with society instead of what that feeling actually feels like.

                I did hear someone in this thread say that they enjoy expressing their gender, and unless they’re referring to gender roles that they engage in, I currently don’t understand how that is possible.

                That was a bit of a rant but I wanted to add in as much context as possible, thank you for your comment

                Edit: I phrased part of that poorly, so here’s a correction: in order to do away with sexism and treating genders differently, we as a society and as a movement should choose not to engage with bigots who perpetuate gender roles, such as not working for companies that have a wage gap, and not dating people who won’t let you wear the clothes you want. In this way, we will eventually force people to accept that the genders are equal in all ways, thereby eliminating them as a necessary construct.

                • Fal@yiffit.net
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  ·
                  9 months ago

                  Also, I don’t feel like I have a gender because I simply don’t engage with society in a way that would allow for gender,

                  No, it’s because you’re comfortable with your gender. Thinking you’re too enlightened to be concerned with gender is again, patronizing as fuck, implying that trans people just care too much about things that don’t matter.

                  If someone could accurately explain what it feels like “to be a man/woman” without bringing gender roles into it, I feel like I would be able to understand that.

                  You’re actively trying to not understand it. Being a man/woman is simply a matter of being treated like you would any other man or woman. And I know you’re going to respond with “I don’t treat people differently”. Even if that were the case, which there’s no way that’s true. Even if you were 100% bisexual, attracted to both genders identically, and really could ignore 10s of thousands of years of cultural history, that’s not what most people want. Even if YOU could, most people prefer there to be gendered differences. There are just some inherent biological differences. No one is saying people’s roles should be defined by their gender, or for limiting people of any gender to express themselves any way they see fit. But if you’re saying that football or hockey or boxing aren’t inherently masculine, then I don’t know what to tell you.

                  we as a society and as a movement should choose not to engage with bigots who perpetuate gender roles, such as not working for companies that have a wage gap, and not dating people who won’t let you wear the clothes you want. In this way, we will eventually force people to accept that the genders are equal in all ways, thereby eliminating them as a necessary construct.

                  Those are forced gender biases, not necessarily roles. Unless you’re saying that it’s possible for everyone to be 100% bisexual and have no preference whatsoever for gender in any way, then your whole argument is missing the entire point, just so you can proclaim you “don’t see gender”. It’s similar to how racists always say they “don’t see race”.

          • papertowels@lemmy.one
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            By simply mocking the person for saying gender roles are stupid, the naive conclusion is that you are for gender roles.

            If there’s nuance there, it’d be great for you to tease that out, otherwise it just looks like you’re for gender roles, or gatekeeping the topic.

            • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              4
              ·
              9 months ago

              Many trans people (me included) strongly identify with a gender.

              If we didn’t strongly identify with a gender, why on earth would we put ourselves through this lengthy, expensive, socially punishing, and often painful transition process? The joy of living as yourself (which, for many of us, includes gender expression) makes it worthwhile.

              Gender roles, like “men are doctors, women are nurses?” Very often, those are fucking bullshit.

              Wanting to be recognized as a man/woman, and valuing that, does not imply being on board with sexism.

              • thantik@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                Shouldn’t we be making the distinction between TransSex and TransGender in that case then?

                I’ve been told very conflicting opinions on the whole topic; from genitals don’t matter AT ALL in terms of being identified as a man/woman, to genitals being the defining thing that needs changing for a person to feel whole.

                I’m the type of person who needs to understand things logically, and a lot of the time upon trying to understand - I’m given completely different goalposts by completely different people. How do I understand all the different opinions on the topic, in a way that allows me to logically follow a thought process in order to distinguish these different ways of thinking?

                • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  9 months ago

                  All of this resists easy categories because we are talking about people and societies (which are both incredibly complicated).

                  The position that “genitals are the only thing that matters in all cases” is very much not a position I agree with. I had such bad bottom dysphoria that I got the surgery. But I have friends who are gender conforming, sexy women that don’t experience bottom dysphoria and have no plans for surgery. They are no less trans or less women because of it.

                  In the community, the term “non-op” is often used to refer to people who can get where they want to be without surgery (wish it had been me, would have been a lot less work), and “Pre-op” / “post-op” for people who do want it, depending on status.

                  You may very well have talked to people who said “my surgery was everything, I needed it so much and that was what I needed to feel happy”. That’s a completely legit way to feel, I don’t want to downplay that. For me personally, hormones were almost as important; for a lot of people hormones are The Thing, for others it’s attire and presentation and social interaction.

                  I can’t give you simple answers. There aren’t any.

                • Fal@yiffit.net
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  9 months ago

                  There’s simply no logical answer that will apply to everyone. But no, transSex isn’t a thing. You can’t change your sex, because that’s biological. Your gender is simply your presentation. It doesn’t mean you necessarily have to fit into any specific box. It can definitely be confusing. But no one is talking about gender roles. It’s about presentation. There is generally a feminine way to present and a masculine way to present. And a boy presenting feminine is just fundamentally different from a trans-fem person in ways that are difficult to classify. Because gender is a spectrum

            • Fal@yiffit.net
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              9 months ago

              By simply mocking the person for saying gender roles are stupid, the naive conclusion is that you are for gender roles.

              Maybe the VERY naive conclusion by someone who isn’t interested in any nuance at all. Because I didn’t quote anything related to gender roles. I mocked him for his comment suggesting that gender itself is a construct. Which is patronizing as fuck by someone who feels comfortable in their gender

              • papertowels@lemmy.one
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                So this might be because I personally have not experienced qualms with my gender, but if someone takes away societal gender norms, and takes away body dysmorphia, what is “left” to define gender as?

                I see that you mentioned “how society treats you” is another aspect, but is that not just another cultural gendered norm?

                I know I’ve expanded gender roles to gender norms - I believe the latter is what OP was asking about since he claimed gender is a societal construct.

                And like I’ve said in other parts of this thread - there’s no need to answer if you’re not feeling it. You’re just chilling online, this isn’t a challenge to your existence or anything else meant to make you feel uncomfortable. Just someone who attended diversity and sexuality courses almost a decade ago who doesn’t know much these days.

                • Fal@yiffit.net
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  9 months ago

                  but if someone takes away societal gender norms, and takes away body dysmorphia, what is “left” to define gender as?

                  I mean, this is becoming so hypothetical. You assume that taking away gender norms is possible or even desired. I don’t know the latest research, but as far as I understand it’s not certain that there’s 0 biological component to gender expression. Like another poster mentioned, people are tied to their gender. They like how they express it.

                  And furthermore, “removing body [dysphoria]” is hand waving away a LOT. That’s the primary reason people transition. But it’s tied into how society views gender, and that view is at least informed by biology. So extracting that isn’t a useful exercise imo. It’s possible that in a different society that doesn’t differentiate between gender, then trans people wouldn’t feel a need to transition. But yeah I don’t know how that would be a helpful thing to think about.

                  this isn’t a challenge to your existence or anything else meant to make you feel uncomfortable

                  Full disclosure, I have decided not to transition. And I’m hesitant to call myself trans only because I think that label comes with a lot of implications for how the world treats you, and I would feel that I’m co-opting the term. So I’m basically coming from the place of someone with dysphoria.

                  Because to be honest, I actually don’t relate much with the trans people like the post in the OP who liked stereotypically girly things as a kid. But now I wonder if that was because I felt I couldn’t, or I would be judged, or just because I happen to not like those things. I don’t really know where I’m going with this. But I guess my point is, you’re asking for a logical explanation and concrete rules. And that’s just not possible to give because many trans people don’t even know themselves what “being a woman” or “being a man” actually means. Just that something is wrong. And there’s not a simple fix. It’s not just a matter of clothes, because whenever I see myself in women’s clothes it actually makes my dsyphoria worse. Because all you see in the mirror is a man in a dress, not a woman ( a common feeling https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/vz3qlf/overcoming_man_on_a_dress_feeling/ ). And it’s not about your interests, because as you correctly point out, girls are totally free to like “boy” things and vice versa, and that doesn’t and shouldn’t necessarily imply they’re trans.

  • Zoidsberg@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    69
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 months ago

    I (cis male) used to have tea parties with my dog all the time. Had a little set specifically for it. Stop forcing fun childhood activities into rigid gender groups.

  • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    67
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    9 months ago

    That’s not a sign of being Trans, that’s a sign of liking tea parties. Fucks sake. Quit shoving activities into gender roles.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    49
    ·
    9 months ago

    My daughter has a room decked out in pink, loves Hello Kitty and collects Raggedy Ann dolls. She also loves The Ramones and The Dead Kennedys and wears a leather biker jacket and spiked collars. And I love it all.

    Fuck societal norms. Being who you are and doing what you want because you enjoy it is awesome.

  • RBWells@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    47
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    9 months ago

    Ok, my youngest identifies as a trans boy and honestly I was so very surprised when he told me, because my concept of womanhood is so broad that it didn’t cross my mind that anything they were doing was boyish. I just thought he identified as a 40 year old lesbian with dumpy style. I still can’t quite see it, just a beautiful androgynous person with bad taste in clothing, and reasonably good taste in girlfriends.

  • Kerb@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    38
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    maybe they just where tired of being taxed by the british without any representation in the british parliament?

  • Ephera@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    35
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    9 months ago

    Yeah, I always found it interesting that society is in general headed for sex-(and IMHO also gender-)correlated roles ceasing to exist, and trans folks absolutely push that forward by unearthing the idea that gender or identity should have anything to do with what’s in your pants, yet they also are often some of the biggest perpetrators of gendered identities.
    Like, when a trans lady finds her identity and has come out, they often really enjoy the lady identity, so it’ll be skirts and pink and all that jazz.

    I guess, maybe it shouldn’t matter. Maybe those aren’t necessarily gendered identities, but at some point just an identity, which you can find neat. Like, we’re giving up the male vs. female categories, but more in the sense that we’re opening up the whole rainbow, and if your identity is hot pink, that might look like the traditionally female identity, but this time around, it rather just happens to be your identity.

    Will still be interesting to see, if maybe some hot pink trans ladies will one day decide that actually this new purplish-green identity is my jam, whenever we work out what that looks like.

    • Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      9 months ago

      Did you know that a lot of ex-jahovas witnesses will go over the top to celebrate holidays? Most of them will even have one holiday they will pick as a favorite, and just go ALL OUT on that holiday. Holidays are considered a sin in JW society, and celebrating one is a good way to get shunned.

      The same applies to trans people. If you’ve spent your whole life identifying with a certain thing, but been denied that thing because of some arbitrary reason, you’ll almost reflexively ‘overindulge’ when you’re able to finally just enjoy what you like.

      It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation. If society just never cared, and let boys enjoy ‘girly’ things and vice versa, the situation would almost certainly be completely different. For one, they may never develop any kind of dysmorphia to begin with, but even if they do, they haven’t been denied the things they want, so there’s not the overcorrecting we sometimes see now.

      • papertowels@lemmy.one
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        9 months ago

        A met someone the other day who’s son was rocking some pink sparkly light up shoes. Let’s go!!

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      9 months ago

      I love that gendered toy sections in stores are totally gone. There are just categories now. There’s still usually a Barbie aisle because there’s a million barbies and an action figure aisle because there’s ten times as many action figures, but they’re not separated into girl’s toys and boy’s toys like they were when I was a kid in the 80s. There was a boy in my elementary school who had a Cabbage Patch Kid and got made fun of for playing with a girls’ toy. I hope getting rid of those barriers in stores has helped that sort of thing. My daughter didn’t really seem to get the concept of ‘this was a toy boys played with’ and ‘this was a toy girls played with’ until she started enjoying going to antique malls.

    • Fal@yiffit.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      9 months ago

      yet they also are often some of the biggest perpetrators of gendered identities.

      You’re reading too much into it. Society says that tea parties are feminine. Whether that’s inherent to gender, or entirely a social imposition doesn’t really matter. Trans people are NOT saying that if you like tea parties then you’re a girl. But if you like tea parties, wished you could wear dresses, wanted sleepovers with the other girls instead of the boys, then that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re trans, but it might be something to consider.

      Think about it this way. Trans people were denied the opportunity to participate in these stereotypically feminine things without feeling weird. And I don’t mean weird because people tell you it’s wrong to like that stuff. That’s definitely part of it. But it also just feels like you’re an alien. You may be participating in tea parties, and wearing dresses, etc. But even if that was totally normal, it would still feel wrong to be doing that as a boy.

      I don’t know if any of that made sense. But I think you see trans people wanting to be able to experience stereotypical femininity and misinterpret that as a desire to impose those stereotypes on others

      • uis@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        Society says that tea parties are feminine.

        I’m trying to imagine how society would say to Discord the Spirit of Chaos that his tea parties with Fluttetshy are girly. And what he will do to such society

        • Fal@yiffit.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          9 months ago

          Discord the Spirit of Chaos … fluttershy

          Hey now you’re speaking my language.

          But, I mean, it’s not untrue, right? Whether it’s right, or inherent, or what, tea parties are girly. That doesn’t mean that men can’t participate at all, or that if they do it means they’re girls.

          I would also argue that discord is more interested in spending time with fluttershy rather than the tea party itself. So I’m not sure how much we should take about gender roles from that.

          • uis@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            I would also argue that Discord is more interested in spending time with Fluttershy rather than the tea party itself.

            It’s glaringly obvious he is into Fluttershy, there is nothing to argue about.

            Whether it’s right, or inherent, or what, tea parties are girly.

            I don’t think so. I remember in kindergarden playing pretending tea party few times.

            And where I live 40 years ago(based on what older generation says) all politics was discussed on kitchens, so invite into tea party could also be invite to chat about politics.

            • Fal@yiffit.net
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              9 months ago

              I don’t think so. I remember in kindergarden playing pretending tea party few times.

              Not sure how this is an argument for whether tea parties are girly or not. I never said only girls do it. But in general tea parties are a girly thing. And like I posted in another comment, whether that’s 100% because of societal imposed gender norms doesn’t really matter that much since we live in that society

    • nifty@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      9 months ago

      I think if someone defines certain items or activities as celebrating their gender, whatever those items or activities are, I think it’s fine! I don’t think Trans folk are doing any harm by gendering things, it’s an expression of them and their gender identity.

      We don’t need to tells boys not to have tea parties because it’s girly, but if a boy or girl decides that their tea party is boyish or girly, then good for them.

    • uis@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      9 months ago

      I always found it interesting that society is in general headed for sex-(and IMHO also gender-)correlated roles ceasing to exist,

      In certain society most sex-correlated roles were sent to GULAG

  • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    9 months ago

    I know I’m an extreme outlier here, but I’ve always kind of thought that assigned gender roles were dumb, that liking pink, tea parties, skirts, etc was never indicative of being trans or anything else. So I don’t even think those are early signs of being trans. Because none of that shit matters. Everybody is just a person and the shape of their genitals doesn’t impact their social or cultural behavior in any way other than how their parents force them to act.

  • Funkmaster-Hex@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    9 months ago

    Straight cis dude here. Nana brought out the special cookies and some bitchin dress up clothes (including a top hat). Tea parties rock no matter what your orientation.

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 months ago

    And I wore dresses because I wanted to look fabulous. Who doesn’t want to look fabulous?

  • GroundedGator@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    9 months ago

    Why can’t a straight cis male wear a breezy skirt? Why can’t a cis female wear cargo shorts and have hairy legs?

    It’s not just gender roles, we have boxes to put people in for every way they might choose to identify. It’s getting time to break away from all of that.

    People need to stop worrying about what others do with their genitals or even what those genitals are. Doesn’t matter for anything until you want to get into a relationship.

    • fsxylo@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      9 months ago

      The dichotomy of cultural gender roles vs biological identity is one of the reasons that this shit is so complicated that we shouldn’t even try to regulate it unless clear harm is being done to people.

      Tldr: shut up and legalize it, ya vulture suit asses.

    • uis@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      9 months ago

      Why can’t a cis female wear cargo shorts

      I personally know one who does

    • Ilflish@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      9 months ago

      The tweets give off the same energy as people who do something mundane like drink a coffee and by not getting a flamboyant one question their sexuality. But that one is always played off as a joke.

      We can’t look for signs or we will start applying them to people. If my son enjoys female-associated hobbies, that shouldn’t be an indicator of a anything other than I should nurture it.

  • Lath@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 months ago

    Tea parties are awesome.
    I remember one time, there were these sweet cookies made out of fat and flour and I ate a lot of them. Two hours later I vomited like crazy because of the fat.
    Another time, instead of tea and those cookies, it was milk and jam. Same thing really, different flavours. Also the vomit was more pleasant to look at.
    There wasn’t an another time after that. I still wonder why sometimes…