I suspect the controversy is in part a huge misunderstanding. It is a complex subject with genetics, appearance, behaviour, stereotypes, and social roles playing a part and confusing people. If people cannot distinguish these factors they will not have the language to describe the nuance.
Obviously intersex people exist, who were born with ambiguous genitalia. This is not about them. (Oh no! I'm being exclusionary!)
Why people care so strongly about what other people call themselves I don't understand. People change their names all the time. Furthermore this echoes a similar argument about the "definition of marriage" (1 man, 1 woman) and what to call the "other" husband or wife.
In some locales there are tighter social norms of what is masculine and feminine. In rural areas, singing, dancing, gardening, needlework, and cooking might be considered feminine despite the evidence of many men in music, on stage, in the garden, making clothes, and in the kitchen. In urban areas, the social norm might not be as strong. Despite the stereotypes, social roles, and behaviour categorization, males and females overlap in behaviour. Many men prefer activities that fit the feminine stereotype or social norm and many women prefer "masculine" activities. There are tendencies, of course, which gave rise to the stereotypes and social roles, but harm is done when there is social pressure to conform to them.
People who base their concept of manhood/womanhood on stereotypes or social gender roles or other behavioural traits will be unable to express, in a nuanced way, that they identify more with the opposite gender's stereotypes. In such a case, "Feeling like a woman" might mean that person identifies more with "feminine" behaviours and activities and thinking, according to the social roles they internalized. In actual fact they are quite normal and fall in the overlapping area of the spectrum of behaviour, but the social pressure to identify with their sex's stereotype did them harm.
Much like the women who fought against women's rights in the 1920s, people who have internalized these gender stereotypes and based their identity on them will be threatened when culture changes and the stereotypes no longer hold.
I suspect the controversy is in part a huge misunderstanding. It is a complex subject with genetics, appearance, behaviour, stereotypes, and social roles playing a part and confusing people. If people cannot distinguish these factors they will not have the language to describe the nuance.
Obviously intersex people exist, who were born with ambiguous genitalia. This is not about them. (Oh no! I'm being exclusionary!)
Why people care so strongly about what other people call themselves I don't understand. People change their names all the time. Furthermore this echoes a similar argument about the "definition of marriage" (1 man, 1 woman) and what to call the "other" husband or wife.
In some locales there are tighter social norms of what is masculine and feminine. In rural areas, singing, dancing, gardening, needlework, and cooking might be considered feminine despite the evidence of many men in music, on stage, in the garden, making clothes, and in the kitchen. In urban areas, the social norm might not be as strong. Despite the stereotypes, social roles, and behaviour categorization, males and females overlap in behaviour. Many men prefer activities that fit the feminine stereotype or social norm and many women prefer "masculine" activities. There are tendencies, of course, which gave rise to the stereotypes and social roles, but harm is done when there is social pressure to conform to them.
People who base their concept of manhood/womanhood on stereotypes or social gender roles or other behavioural traits will be unable to express, in a nuanced way, that they identify more with the opposite gender's stereotypes. In such a case, "Feeling like a woman" might mean that person identifies more with "feminine" behaviours and activities and thinking, according to the social roles they internalized. In actual fact they are quite normal and fall in the overlapping area of the spectrum of behaviour, but the social pressure to identify with their sex's stereotype did them harm.
Much like the women who fought against women's rights in the 1920s, people who have internalized these gender stereotypes and based their identity on them will be threatened when culture changes and the stereotypes no longer hold.
I suspect the controversy is in part a huge misunderstanding. It is a complex subject with genetics, appearance, behaviour, stereotypes, and social roles playing a part and confusing people. If people cannot distinguish these factors they will not have the language to describe the nuance.
Obviously intersex people exist, who were born with ambiguous genitalia. This is not about them. (Oh no! I'm being exclusionary!)
Why people care so strongly about what other people call themselves I don't understand. People change their names all the time. Furthermore this echoes a similar argument about the "definition of marriage" (1 man, 1 woman) and what to call the "other" husband or wife.
In some locales there are tighter social norms of what is masculine and feminine. In rural areas, singing, dancing, gardening, needlework, and cooking might be considered feminine despite the evidence of many men in music, on stage, in the garden, making clothes, and in the kitchen. In urban areas, the social norm might not be as strong. Despite the stereotypes, social roles, and behaviour categorization, males and females overlap in behaviour. Many men prefer activities that fit the feminine stereotype or social norm and many women prefer "masculine" activities. There are tendencies, of course, which gave rise to the stereotypes and social roles, but harm is done when there is social pressure to conform to them.
People who base their concept of manhood/womanhood on stereotypes or social gender roles or other behavioural traits will be unable to express, in a nuanced way, that they identify more with the opposite gender's stereotypes. In such a case, "Feeling like a woman" might mean that person identifies more with "feminine" behaviours and activities and thinking, according to the social roles they internalized. In actual fact they are quite normal and fall in the overlapping area of the spectrum of behaviour, but the social pressure to identify with their sex's stereotype did them harm.
Much like the women who fought against women's rights in the 1920s, people who have internalized these gender stereotypes and based their identity on them will be threatened when culture changes and the stereotypes no longer hold.