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In order for this topic to stay open, keep in mind the following: - Understand the difference between sex and gender- Please be respectful to those involved, particularly the transgendered - If you post without reason, or do not add to the discussion, you will be met with moderator action - If you don't know which pronoun is appropriate please feel free to read the topic and inform yourself before posting. We're all for debate but this is a sensitive subject for many people. |
In my opinion, she should not be allowed to compete. If you are born a male, you're male. Now, if I were to meet him face-to-face, I would respect him and refer to him as a "she", but in my eyes, he's still a man. And that is why, since the beauty pageant is female-only, I would not let him compete.
On a side note of a similar topic, something I thought of... If in the future, there was a way to turn humans into other animals like dogs, and there were still dog pageants/contests, I don't think letting that human-into-dog person should be allowed to compete.
P.S. This is my opinion, don't get mad if you disagree please... I'm not looking for an argument or discussion...
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On April 04 2012 16:50 Ewic wrote: P.S. This is my opinion, don't get mad if you disagree please... I'm not looking for an argument or discussion...
This is the internet after all 
On April 04 2012 16:50 Ewic wrote: Now, if I were to meet him face-to-face, I would respect him and refer to him as a "she", but in my eyes, he's still a man
That is your choice of course, but I would like you to expand on why you do not recognize the difference between sex and gender? Without doing that you sound like you have an idea on how things should be and are not adjusting to how things really are.
Personally I think that the scientifically established facts are what should matter and not peoples opinions on what or who someone is or isn't.
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On April 04 2012 16:50 Ewic wrote: In my opinion, she should not be allowed to compete. If you are born a male, you're male. Now, if I were to meet him face-to-face, I would respect him and refer to him as a "she", but in my eyes, he's still a man. And that is why, since the beauty pageant is female-only, I would not let him compete.
On a side note of a similar topic, something I thought of... If in the future, there was a way to turn humans into other animals like dogs, and there were still dog pageants/contests, I don't think letting that human-into-dog person should be allowed to compete.
P.S. This is my opinion, don't get mad if you disagree please... I'm not looking for an argument or discussion...
I'm not gonna rip your face off or something, but what do you base your opinion on? personally I don't think every opinion should be tolerated or accepted, the more an opinion is based on logical facts, the more I think it should matter - and the more an opinion is just an idea of somebody, or lead by emotions, the harder I find it to even value it. would make it kinda pointless to put efford in an opinion or theory if I can as well just make something up 'cause I feel like it.
also, if you don't wanna argue or discuss, why do you post in a discussion thread filled with arguments?
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On April 04 2012 16:02 Gamegene wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2012 14:38 dAPhREAk wrote:so, i just saw a news article on this, and the first thing i thought was that she kind of looks like trump's daughter. her ![[image loading]](http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/201233//300.jennatalackova.mh.040312.jpg) trump's daughter ![[image loading]](http://topnews.in/light/files/ivanka_trump_07.jpg) am i just out there with this comparison? they both have the same nose Same surgeon?
I love that you must be a "naturally born woman" to enter, but major plastic surgery is not a reason for disqualification.
Anyway I'm glad that she was able to compete, unfortunately I don't think she has any chance of winning now that people know that she is a transgender person. It would have been better if you won, or came second or something and then told everyone.
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On April 04 2012 08:54 Alay wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2012 08:27 Gnosis wrote:On April 04 2012 07:08 Alay wrote:On April 04 2012 06:56 Gnosis wrote:On April 04 2012 06:52 Alay wrote:Look at all the people in here trying to tell me I don't exist or should have lived on in agony, how cute and blissfully ignorant. Lets give this a run down, shall we? - Gender identity is part of your personality. It's a part of what makes your mind "you." One part of this is the minds determination of your gender, in the broadest terms a binary of "male" and "female" though there's more of a spectrum of gender identities (consider people who identify as women as anywhere from very butch to very feminine, and the same with people who identify as men.) This gender identity portion of your personality is largely (possibly entirely) built during natal growth. You cannot change your gender identity. All attempts to alter them have ended up very bad. In most cases, humans are born with a congruence between their gender identity and their biological sex.
- Dissonance between gender identity and biological sex causes a wave of depression in individuals, known as Gender Dysphoria. It's the kind of extreme deep pain that you wouldn't wish on the most evil person in the world. If you've never experienced it, you probably can't comprehend it--and that's okay, you're pretty damn lucky to not. Just recognize it exists.
- This Gender Dysphoria inhibits day to day life as the "birth assigned" gender, the condition is called Gender Identity Disorder.
- Transgender (transsexual, specifically) individuals are those who feel they have an incongruence between their innate gender identity, and their biological sex.
- Transsexual individuals feel their biological sex is opposite what their gender identity is, and thus feel the need to permanently live as the opposite sex, in order to feel congruence between their gender identity and their biological sex. After this 'transition' which can involve things such as hormone replacement (testosterone suppression and estrogen supplement in male-to-females, testosterone injections in female-to-males), hair removal (facial hair, for example), breast binding/removal, in some cases facial surgeries, and in some cases Sexual Reassignment Surgery (penile inversion or phalloplasty are common, though other techniques exist.)
That's just the fine detail stuff. The truth is, society really really hates people that go outside what they consider the norms. I can't begin to explain the number of laughs and vile stares I used to get at that horrible "in between" phase, the teachers and peers that would intentionally try to talk me down or belittle me, or the times my parents would tell me they love me no matter what in one sentence, then try to punch my face in the next (my father on a few occasion, literally.) It's a horribly difficult undertaking, and it's one that someone would only do if they have no other choice but transitioning or suicide--and believe me, far too high of a percent take the later route. This is hardly some whim decision people do for the laughs. Afterwards (oh, and by afterwards I mean after genital surgery. Before that in most states you're still considered your birth sex, get a nice old school letter marker on your license/ID that lets police arrest you for suspected prostitution, and if you apply for a job Social Security calls up your employer and outs you--hope you enjoy lower wages or being outright fired!) you get the fun of being treated as your birth sex in most states regarding marriage--thus, any who doesn't have gay marriage legalized bars a man and a woman from getting married, and often times bars you from even getting married to someone of the same gender, so you at that point cannot actually wed. You get the fun of dealing with people throughout your life (such as the many in this thread already) who scream at the top of their lungs that you are the sex you're born as, your identity doesn't actually exist (and thus you don't exist) while being so far from the world of dealing with GID that they cannot comprehend the basics. You get the amazing fun of disclosure to future partners--in some cases it is backlashed with violence. And of course you get experienced of public humiliation and 'outting' and 'other'ing such as the topic of the OP. Fun, isn't it? So please, piss off you ignorant twat, because I exist, and I've gone through more crap to be who I am and have a chance to grasp a TINY PART of the normalness that you get to have for free. /rantoff Regardless, onto the actual story: She shouldn't have lied (if she did, I've also heard from other places they kicked her they added the "women born women!" clause after) because that was stupid. They shouldn't have made such a stupid and senseless rule to begin with. I'm literally stunned that Trump turned this around. It makes me proud to see that there's at least some sensible people in this thread. TL you've made me proud. As you give off the impression that you know quite a bit about this, would you happen to know of any papers / resources that attend to the epistemic issues associated with transgenderism (e.g. how warranted is the belief that one was born the wrong sex, when one has never been anything other than the sex they were born)? Not quite sure what you mean? No one, sans those that have transitioned, have experienced what it's like to be both sexes--and even then it's accuracy against being biologically born and raised as the opposite sex aren't really possible to compare. Basically, my point is, how would those that are cisgendered (same birth sex as their gender identity, aka 'not-trans') know that they're actually <whatever gender they are> if they've never tried being <opposite gender>? Personal experience wise: I knew I wasn't my birth sex, and I suffered GID and Gender Dysphoria because I continued trying to live as my birth sex. I was somewhat sure my gender identity was the opposite sex, and after transitioning (and slowly alleviating gender dysphoria) I found out I was correct. Not all transgendered feel they're in a binary either, it should be noted. Some identify as genderqueer (neither male nor female accurately describes their gender.) Dunno what that's like though, so I can't provide much information on that. What I am asking is, is there a sound epistemological justification for someone of a particular sex to say, "I'm actually the other gender, I desire for my physical appearance to reflect that". Obviously there are people who make the claim, and strongly (I believe you're one such person), that they were born the wrong sex, but how do they know? Is the psychological disconnect a genuine instance of "the universe got it wrong", and if not, then what? Cisgendered people are not quite the point: they aren't challenging their birth sex (although I get what you're saying). The best answer I can give is that you kind of just "know". It'd probably be next to impossible to describe with words (and cisgendered people can experience this too, when posed the question "without using physical attributes as evidence, how are you sure you're male/female?") however evidence that it actually exists comes in the form of extreme depression revolving around feeling gender incongruent (gender dysphoria) to the extent that it has extreme interference with daily life (gender identity disorder.) It's only after an individual has expressed these for a long period of time under the supervision of a gender specialist that basic hormonal treatment will be prescribed--and only after two years in most cases of living full time as the 'target' gender will genital surgeries be permitted for those that seek it (which required in most cases two letters of recommendation from different gender specialists) so it's hardly something that can be done on a whim. Further, I think someone that wasn't very serious would realize very quickly that there's only pain in being trans, and thus pretending to be trans (and actually transitioning) would be a pretty stupid idea. Again, most people only transition because the alternative is suicide from the intensity of their depression. Finally, I don't so much think it's a case of the universe getting it wrong, so much as it's just a physiological phenomenon, brought on by a roll on the biological dice. Did I understand properly what you were trying to ask?
Thank you for the answers, and yes I'm well aware of what I'm asking.
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On April 04 2012 08:57 a176 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2012 03:11 nam nam wrote:On April 04 2012 03:05 a176 wrote:On April 04 2012 03:02 Deadeight wrote: Unless it's a contest where any cosmetic surgery is banned, which I could understand, I think it's the wrong decision. cosmetic surgery isn't banned in these competitions? It isn't banned. so wtf is the point of it all if you can just manufacture yourself to be 'as beautiful as possible', perhaps especially in the case of transgendered individuals?
That's one of the reasons why pageants are kinda a load of crap.
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On April 05 2012 01:28 Deadeight wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2012 08:57 a176 wrote:On April 04 2012 03:11 nam nam wrote:On April 04 2012 03:05 a176 wrote:On April 04 2012 03:02 Deadeight wrote: Unless it's a contest where any cosmetic surgery is banned, which I could understand, I think it's the wrong decision. cosmetic surgery isn't banned in these competitions? It isn't banned. so wtf is the point of it all if you can just manufacture yourself to be 'as beautiful as possible', perhaps especially in the case of transgendered individuals? That's one of the reasons why pageants are kinda a load of crap. I don't know. Why can't a pageant be a positive thing? I think the problem is mostly that they're generally traditional events about what sort of girl most represents traditional feminine qualities, organized by people like Donald Trump. But what if they were way more inclusive, accepting all sorts of types of fashion, genders, gave the participants more freedom to be genuine etc.
I mean, I think it could be nice. Although not something I would watch ever.
I think people can be kinda thoughtless about this sometimes, acting as if looks and beauty should be repressed because of how it makes no rational sense and it only leads to discrimination etc. I know that's more of a strawman and nobody would seriously defend that, but I think it's implied sometimes.
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On April 05 2012 01:28 Deadeight wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2012 08:57 a176 wrote:On April 04 2012 03:11 nam nam wrote:On April 04 2012 03:05 a176 wrote:On April 04 2012 03:02 Deadeight wrote: Unless it's a contest where any cosmetic surgery is banned, which I could understand, I think it's the wrong decision. cosmetic surgery isn't banned in these competitions? It isn't banned. so wtf is the point of it all if you can just manufacture yourself to be 'as beautiful as possible', perhaps especially in the case of transgendered individuals? That's one of the reasons why pageants are kinda a load of crap.
That's one reason why I don't like the idea of beauty pageants in general. Along with that goes my opinion that, since there's always been this uproar in society about how we're turning girls into sex objects by how we depict them in the media, shouldn't girls be the ones to stop... you know, dressing scantily and then having a bunch of guys vote on which one makes them drool the most? :p And if they go to lengths to continue making themselves look as barbie-like as possible, isn't that just making it worse?
As far as the transgendered stuff goes, I just had a lesson in my Anthropology class yesterday that went over the differences in biological sex and gender and all the issues that go along with people who don't have those in alignment, and I'd never really thought about that/taken it into consideration before. I blame society for that, but now that I've had my eyes opened a bit to it (not to all of it, obviously - I'm sure I'm still clueless) I feel for people who deal with those issues. It's gotta be so hard. I've never been that sympathetic with transgendered people in the past, but... I think I should change that, it's not their fault.
But on topic, it's probably fair that this person was not allowed to compete. For the record though, she looks good 
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On April 04 2012 16:50 Ewic wrote: In my opinion, she should not be allowed to compete. If you are born a male, you're male. Now, if I were to meet him face-to-face, I would respect him and refer to him as a "she", but in my eyes, he's still a man. And that is why, since the beauty pageant is female-only, I would not let him compete.
On a side note of a similar topic, something I thought of... If in the future, there was a way to turn humans into other animals like dogs, and there were still dog pageants/contests, I don't think letting that human-into-dog person should be allowed to compete.
P.S. This is my opinion, don't get mad if you disagree please... I'm not looking for an argument or discussion...
Great way to expand your knowledge! Throw your opinion out then say you don't want it challenged. I'm sure everyone can learn a lot with this method.
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Donald Trump Expects To Let Transgender Women From Anywhere Compete For Miss Universe http://www.buzzfeed.com/amyodell/donald-trump-expects-to-let-transgender-women-from
This week, Miss Universe revoked Jenna Talackova's disqualification from Canada's pageant for being transgender. Talackova is not only hot, but also evidently has the sort of charisma and inner drive for which pageant contestants are supposed to be most celebrated: with Gloria Allred's help, she's fighting for a rule that would allow transgender contestants in any country to compete in the pageant, not just those who are naturally born women, as the rule states. This morning Donald Trump, who owns the organization, called Katie Couric to talk about Talackova on "Good Morning America." He gloated about the worldwide attention the story has brought to his pageant, took a dig at Gloria Allred, and said that while pageant officials were leaning toward opening the competition up to people who weren't naturally born women "we haven’t made that decision yet." And he added another (arguably condescending) remark about how Talackova should focus on winning the pageant rather than her campaign to get the rule changed. Well at this point, plenty of people not including him are surely more of a fan of her fancy pageant talking than her fancy pageant walking.
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On April 04 2012 15:54 ampson wrote: The uglier side of people on TL is showing. Every 3rd or 4th post is "Oh, these pageants are stupid anyways," or "They allow people who have had cosmetic surgery in? Disgusting." Some people think starcraft is stupid and a bad thing that shouldn't exist. We don't like it when they shit on what we enjoy, so how about we show some goddamn common decency and respect what these girls enjoy.
^ Agreed
On April 04 2012 15:54 ampson wrote: In addition, for a group of people who labels themselves as "open minded" or "progressive" y'all sure are intolerant of other people's views. A guy earlier got banned just for saying "he." Is it that difficult to think that one might think that someone who was born male is a male, and should be identified as "he?"
Because the views are often knee jerk reactions, and are not drawn out to their logical ends. If someone looks like a gender commonly looks (in this case, lets say male), feels they are a male, lives their daily life as a male, and socially interacts as a male, why on earth would you insist on calling them female? Because of their genitals? Do you examine the genitals of everyone you meet TO MAKE SURE they're actually what they say they are? What if they've had surgery? Do you ask everyone you talk to for a birth certificate to prove they were born the gender they live as? What about those that have an intersexed condition, deformed genitals, or some other condition? Do you call them "it"? At what point do you go from blindly calling someone something based exclusively on their birth genitals and nothing but that, to actually accepting that the person you're discussing is actually a person, and not a specific pair of genitals at birth?
It's not difficult to think that some people still swear by this ideology--because they're a dime a dozen. These people never really think through their "opinionated beliefs" to the practical ends, nor do they often realize that they're accomplishing nothing more than being an asshole.
On April 04 2012 15:54 ampson wrote: It's not blatantly offensive, and it is not intended to be.
To you it's not--or, maybe it is? Would you be offended if everywhere you went, people called you by the wrong gender pronoun? What if everyone INSISTED you were that gender? What if anytime you tried to say "but I'm clearly not!" they gave you a whole bunch of shit to try and push you down and make you the way they "believe" you are? Wouldn't that suck?
Maybe you say it wouldn't phase you. Try doing it for 5 years, then let me know if it still doesn't bug you at all.
On April 04 2012 15:54 ampson wrote: I think that it is kind of silly to demand that society addresses you a certain way if you are would clearly not normally be addressed that way. Saying that you are the other sex when you do not appear to be or are not actually is just not true, and you can't blame people for seeing what's there. It's like if someone was 5'4" (163cm for the rest of the world) and they demanded that you call them 6' tall (183cm) all of the time. No matter what they believe, it is simply a lot to ask of others to overlook what is there to accommodate your beliefs. It's not wrong that you have these beliefs, but you must understand that you can't take offense to those who don't quite understand what is going on. You have to think of everyone here, not only the transgendered.
Why wouldn't you normally be addressed that way? If the girl from this pageant went to the grocery store, the cashier would most call her ma'am when asking if it'll be credit or cash. If this woman was walking down the street, and dropped something, you most certainly would pick it up and say "Miss, I think you dropped this." She looks so unmistakably female that it's insanity to believe that she doesn't pass flawlessly. News flash, there's extremely masculine "female born" women out there, and they still get the common respect of correct pronouns.
No, I do blame people that look as this woman and say "But she's a man! She was born a man, and even though she doesn't look like one, I MUST call her 'he' because that is what she was BORN and that's ALL that counts!" They're being irrational with their beliefs and doing it simply to hurt.
It's not even accommodating beliefs, it's simple practicality. People think transsexual and they think some hideous inbetween person, or the old "man in a dress" stereotype--while yes, some trans people are visible when they're at a rough stage in between, the majority of them blend in just fine, and no one is the wiser. For example: The woman in this pageant--if she didn't say she was trans, no one would have a clue.
So yeah, people still try to be assholes and insist that they use the wrong pronouns, but then you have the intelligent, rational, and/or compassionate people that get informed that it's extremely offensive, and they respect the identity of other people. There's a great post right in the start of the thread that explains in detail the difference between gender and sex, and why one should respect another person--if people choose to overlook that and still try to insist their closed minded knee jerk beliefs, then fuck them, they haven't walked half a foot in my shoes.
On April 04 2012 15:54 ampson wrote: It's also quite silly to enter a contest which clearly states that it is only for naturally born females (sex not gender) when you yourself are not one and then have people complain about why you were disqualified. It is fine, however, to discuss the merits of the rule in the first place and possibly get it overturned (as has been done). But when this first happened, people were saying that the pageant had no right to do this when it clearly did. Private companies can choose whoever they want to compete in their events or receive their charities or whatever. Ugh. Just a few thoughts on the situation.
To that, I can agree though. While I think it's a dick move specifically trying to alienate trans people, it's their pageant, their rules, and she lied. Lying under a contract is a really really stupid move, and she deserved to get kicked from it. They apparently let her back in, but I sincerely hope that they removed the rule first, and didn't just make an exception for her.
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So from what I've read this is my understanding~
sex = the male or female specific organs you were born with gender= how you identify yourself regardless of sexual organs?
Transgender people are "born this way" where they may have a male or female body, but in their minds they truly are the opposite sex so they have surgeries so they can look more like the sex they identify with?
My question is: How can you determine if a person truly was "born this way" as opposed to someone who just decided they wanted to be transgender? Are there some people who weren't really "born this way" and just decided over time to switch to the opposite sex and have the surgery? Would a person who wasn't "born this way" but had the operations to look more like a female be allowed to compete, or is there a burden of proof to show that you really were "born this way."
Also, if a person is capable of not being "born this way" but can still chose to have sex change operations and fall under the umbrella of "acceptability", should society welcome people like this guy who wants to be known as "Cat"?
If a person who is not "born this way" but chooses to take on the appearance and identity of the opposite sex is not the same and should not be allowed to compete, then there should be some kind of way to scientifically determine those who were "born this way" as opposed to those were not "born this way." However, if it doesn't matter, then technically "Cat" should be allowed to compete in "cat" competitions, right?
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On April 04 2012 16:50 Ewic wrote: In my opinion, she should not be allowed to compete. If you are born a male, you're male. Now, if I were to meet him face-to-face, I would respect him and refer to him as a "she", but in my eyes, he's still a man. And that is why, since the beauty pageant is female-only, I would not let him compete.
On a side note of a similar topic, something I thought of... If in the future, there was a way to turn humans into other animals like dogs, and there were still dog pageants/contests, I don't think letting that human-into-dog person should be allowed to compete.
P.S. This is my opinion, don't get mad if you disagree please... I'm not looking for an argument or discussion...
It's not an opinion, however. You're wrong (I'm pretty sure at least) factually.
Pronouns such as him/her are specific to gender, NOT sex. You can google it, I did for quite a while and no matter how you look at it, pronouns always refer to gender, not sex. And gender is different than sex.
To everyone that's saying "respect my opinion" I just flat out disagree. There's no reason to respect a wrong opinion. Just like if you have an opinion that the world is flat.... that's just me.
If I'm wrong about pronouns not being gender specific, than forgive me, but I'm pretty sure that's how it is.
On April 05 2012 03:47 Joedaddy wrote: My question is: How can you determine if a person truly was "born this way" as opposed to someone who just decided they wanted to be transgender? Are there some people who weren't really "born this way" and just decided over time to switch to the opposite sex and have the surgery? Would a person who wasn't "born this way" but had the operations to look more like a female be allowed to compete, or is there a burden of proof to show that you really were "born this way."
I bet you couldn't find a single person if you tried that "decided" to want to be transgender. Just as I would bet you wouldn't be able to find a single person that "decided" to be homosexual. I think out of every homosexual person I know (and I know this is only "related" in the sense that it has to do with lifestyles not of the norm and not generally accepted in society, as homosexuals are usually fine with their actual sex and gender), every single one has said they would not have chosen to be gay. That doesn't mean they aren't proud or what not, but to actually want or decide to be something that is so despised by society is an absolutely preposterous notion.
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I bet you couldn't find a single person if you tried that "decided" to want to be transgender. Just as I would bet you wouldn't be able to find a single person that "decided" to be homosexual. I think out of every homosexual person I know (and I know this is only "related" in the sense that it has to do with lifestyles not of the norm and not generally accepted in society, as homosexuals are usually fine with their actual sex and gender), every single one has said they would not have chosen to be gay. That doesn't mean they aren't proud or what not, but to actually want or decide to be something that is so despised by society is an absolutely preposterous notion.
I'm not suggesting that someone wanting to be transgendered is a common occurrence. Transgender people are already quite rare relative to the world population, right? However, I certainly don't feel that it is out of the realm of possibility, and I don't think its fair to wave a hand of dismissal at the questions it raises.
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I think she's just an attention seeker, trying to make a fuss to get some extra publicity.
The very definition of a beauty pageant is a judgement of individuals based on essentially arbitrary criteria. What is the societal significance of one's ability to strut in a swimsuit? How does one's ability to answer judges' questions relate to beauty in any way? Which skills count as talent and which don't?
If you don't want to be judged on the arbitrary rule of whether or not you were born with a penis, then why are you fighting for the right to be judged on a whole host of other arbitrary rules?
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On April 05 2012 03:47 Joedaddy wrote:So from what I've read this is my understanding~ sex = the male or female specific organs you were born with gender= how you identify yourself regardless of sexual organs? Transgender people are "born this way" where they may have a male or female body, but in their minds they truly are the opposite sex so they have surgeries so they can look more like the sex they identify with? My question is: How can you determine if a person truly was "born this way" as opposed to someone who just decided they wanted to be transgender? Are there some people who weren't really "born this way" and just decided over time to switch to the opposite sex and have the surgery? Would a person who wasn't "born this way" but had the operations to look more like a female be allowed to compete, or is there a burden of proof to show that you really were "born this way." Also, if a person is capable of not being "born this way" but can still chose to have sex change operations and fall under the umbrella of "acceptability", should society welcome people like this guy who wants to be known as "Cat"? If a person who is not "born this way" but chooses to take on the appearance and identity of the opposite sex is not the same and should not be allowed to compete, then there should be some kind of way to scientifically determine those who were "born this way" as opposed to those were not "born this way." However, if it doesn't matter, then technically "Cat" should be allowed to compete in "cat" competitions, right?
I expanded on this here, is response to another poster:
On April 04 2012 08:54 Alay wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2012 08:27 Gnosis wrote:On April 04 2012 07:08 Alay wrote:On April 04 2012 06:56 Gnosis wrote:On April 04 2012 06:52 Alay wrote:Look at all the people in here trying to tell me I don't exist or should have lived on in agony, how cute and blissfully ignorant. Lets give this a run down, shall we? - Gender identity is part of your personality. It's a part of what makes your mind "you." One part of this is the minds determination of your gender, in the broadest terms a binary of "male" and "female" though there's more of a spectrum of gender identities (consider people who identify as women as anywhere from very butch to very feminine, and the same with people who identify as men.) This gender identity portion of your personality is largely (possibly entirely) built during natal growth. You cannot change your gender identity. All attempts to alter them have ended up very bad. In most cases, humans are born with a congruence between their gender identity and their biological sex.
- Dissonance between gender identity and biological sex causes a wave of depression in individuals, known as Gender Dysphoria. It's the kind of extreme deep pain that you wouldn't wish on the most evil person in the world. If you've never experienced it, you probably can't comprehend it--and that's okay, you're pretty damn lucky to not. Just recognize it exists.
- This Gender Dysphoria inhibits day to day life as the "birth assigned" gender, the condition is called Gender Identity Disorder.
- Transgender (transsexual, specifically) individuals are those who feel they have an incongruence between their innate gender identity, and their biological sex.
- Transsexual individuals feel their biological sex is opposite what their gender identity is, and thus feel the need to permanently live as the opposite sex, in order to feel congruence between their gender identity and their biological sex. After this 'transition' which can involve things such as hormone replacement (testosterone suppression and estrogen supplement in male-to-females, testosterone injections in female-to-males), hair removal (facial hair, for example), breast binding/removal, in some cases facial surgeries, and in some cases Sexual Reassignment Surgery (penile inversion or phalloplasty are common, though other techniques exist.)
That's just the fine detail stuff. The truth is, society really really hates people that go outside what they consider the norms. I can't begin to explain the number of laughs and vile stares I used to get at that horrible "in between" phase, the teachers and peers that would intentionally try to talk me down or belittle me, or the times my parents would tell me they love me no matter what in one sentence, then try to punch my face in the next (my father on a few occasion, literally.) It's a horribly difficult undertaking, and it's one that someone would only do if they have no other choice but transitioning or suicide--and believe me, far too high of a percent take the later route. This is hardly some whim decision people do for the laughs. Afterwards (oh, and by afterwards I mean after genital surgery. Before that in most states you're still considered your birth sex, get a nice old school letter marker on your license/ID that lets police arrest you for suspected prostitution, and if you apply for a job Social Security calls up your employer and outs you--hope you enjoy lower wages or being outright fired!) you get the fun of being treated as your birth sex in most states regarding marriage--thus, any who doesn't have gay marriage legalized bars a man and a woman from getting married, and often times bars you from even getting married to someone of the same gender, so you at that point cannot actually wed. You get the fun of dealing with people throughout your life (such as the many in this thread already) who scream at the top of their lungs that you are the sex you're born as, your identity doesn't actually exist (and thus you don't exist) while being so far from the world of dealing with GID that they cannot comprehend the basics. You get the amazing fun of disclosure to future partners--in some cases it is backlashed with violence. And of course you get experienced of public humiliation and 'outting' and 'other'ing such as the topic of the OP. Fun, isn't it? So please, piss off you ignorant twat, because I exist, and I've gone through more crap to be who I am and have a chance to grasp a TINY PART of the normalness that you get to have for free. /rantoff Regardless, onto the actual story: She shouldn't have lied (if she did, I've also heard from other places they kicked her they added the "women born women!" clause after) because that was stupid. They shouldn't have made such a stupid and senseless rule to begin with. I'm literally stunned that Trump turned this around. It makes me proud to see that there's at least some sensible people in this thread. TL you've made me proud. As you give off the impression that you know quite a bit about this, would you happen to know of any papers / resources that attend to the epistemic issues associated with transgenderism (e.g. how warranted is the belief that one was born the wrong sex, when one has never been anything other than the sex they were born)? Not quite sure what you mean? No one, sans those that have transitioned, have experienced what it's like to be both sexes--and even then it's accuracy against being biologically born and raised as the opposite sex aren't really possible to compare. Basically, my point is, how would those that are cisgendered (same birth sex as their gender identity, aka 'not-trans') know that they're actually <whatever gender they are> if they've never tried being <opposite gender>? Personal experience wise: I knew I wasn't my birth sex, and I suffered GID and Gender Dysphoria because I continued trying to live as my birth sex. I was somewhat sure my gender identity was the opposite sex, and after transitioning (and slowly alleviating gender dysphoria) I found out I was correct. Not all transgendered feel they're in a binary either, it should be noted. Some identify as genderqueer (neither male nor female accurately describes their gender.) Dunno what that's like though, so I can't provide much information on that. What I am asking is, is there a sound epistemological justification for someone of a particular sex to say, "I'm actually the other gender, I desire for my physical appearance to reflect that". Obviously there are people who make the claim, and strongly (I believe you're one such person), that they were born the wrong sex, but how do they know? Is the psychological disconnect a genuine instance of "the universe got it wrong", and if not, then what? Cisgendered people are not quite the point: they aren't challenging their birth sex (although I get what you're saying). The best answer I can give is that you kind of just "know". It'd probably be next to impossible to describe with words (and cisgendered people can experience this too, when posed the question "without using physical attributes as evidence, how are you sure you're male/female?") however evidence that it actually exists comes in the form of extreme depression revolving around feeling gender incongruent (gender dysphoria) to the extent that it has extreme interference with daily life (gender identity disorder.) It's only after an individual has expressed these for a long period of time under the supervision of a gender specialist that basic hormonal treatment will be prescribed--and only after two years in most cases of living full time as the 'target' gender will genital surgeries be permitted for those that seek it (which required in most cases two letters of recommendation from different gender specialists) so it's hardly something that can be done on a whim. Further, I think someone that wasn't very serious would realize very quickly that there's only pain in being trans, and thus pretending to be trans (and actually transitioning) would be a pretty stupid idea. Again, most people only transition because the alternative is suicide from the intensity of their depression. Finally, I don't so much think it's a case of the universe getting it wrong, so much as it's just a physiological phenomenon, brought on by a roll on the biological dice. Did I understand properly what you were trying to ask?
tl;dr: It sucks huge horse nuts to be trans, if someone was faking it, they wouldn't fake it for long. If they actually DID go the whole nine yards while they weren't actually trans, they'd end up with Gender Identity Disorder (in the body of the reassigned sex, but still having the same gender that was congruent with their original sex)... so in a sense, they'd "become trans" at that point.
Generally, people that go through the standardized process as per WPATH are more or less guaranteed to not be faking. The few "regretters" that I know of used wealth to circumvent those standards on a whim (ie: directly after a divorce, etc.) The irony is that they usually end up being the loudest, wanting to say that because they made a bad decision, that all trans people are faking.
You can read the newest edition of the WPATH Standards of Care here: http://www.wpath.org/documents2/socv6.pdf
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On April 05 2012 04:01 Joedaddy wrote:Show nested quote +I bet you couldn't find a single person if you tried that "decided" to want to be transgender. Just as I would bet you wouldn't be able to find a single person that "decided" to be homosexual. I think out of every homosexual person I know (and I know this is only "related" in the sense that it has to do with lifestyles not of the norm and not generally accepted in society, as homosexuals are usually fine with their actual sex and gender), every single one has said they would not have chosen to be gay. That doesn't mean they aren't proud or what not, but to actually want or decide to be something that is so despised by society is an absolutely preposterous notion. I'm not suggesting that someone wanting to be transgendered is a common occurrence. Transgender people are already quite rare relative to the world population, right? However, I certainly don't feel that it is out of the realm of possibility, and I don't think its fair to wave a hand of dismissal at the questions it raises.
It may not be out of the realm of possibility, but when you're talking maybe 1/1,000 of the existing transgenders, you're gonna reach a pretty small number.
Like I said, almost no homosexuals (at least anecdotally, although I know a ton as I live in California where it's more open/accepted) choose to be that way. And estimates suggest that roughly 10% of all males are homosexual and 5% of all females are. Numbers are far more staggering than you'd realize otherwise. It's just repressed so heavily in most areas, namely Christian areas.
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Gender is a human construct, so it's not really possible to biologically "feel" like a gender in my opinion. It is possible to biologically feel an attraction to one sex or the other, but since gender is defined sociologically, then "gender identity" as we describe it is necessarily a sociological phenomenon, not a physical one.
If I take the example in the OP and imagine transplanting my brain into a woman's body, I would consider myself a lesbian woman. I can't change my sexual orientation, but I can change the behaviors commonly associated with the opposite sex. For example, wearing a dress, wearing make up, etc. I'm not saying it would come naturally, but it is learned behavior, not biological behavior. Gender roles and identity are determined by society and so they cannot be innate.
What does it even mean to "feel" like a man or a woman, except to say "I feel like behaving in the ways that society has established for men/women because I identity with them." Self-identification is ALWAYS sociological in nature, not biological. If you raised a child with asexual robots, then the child would have no gender identity and no concept of gender at all.
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I didn't know reconstructive surgery was this good, to be honest this scares me that a natural born man can actually look and live the life of a female. Obviously i won't be asking every girl i date if they where a male before but its like a little voice in the back of my head that just kind of scares me. Maybe i am just a bigot, but i do think they should let them compete i mean this woman has been living the life of a female for what more than 10 years?
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Canada13379 Posts
On April 05 2012 04:09 liberal wrote: Gender is a human construct, so it's not really possible to biologically "feel" like a gender in my opinion. It is possible to biologically feel an attraction to one sex or the other, but since gender is defined sociologically, then "gender identity" as we describe it is necessarily a sociological phenomenon, not a physical one.
If I take the example in the OP and imagine transplanting my brain into a woman's body, I would consider myself a lesbian woman. I can't change my sexual orientation, but I can change the behaviors commonly associated with the opposite sex. For example, wearing a dress, wearing make up, etc. I'm not saying it would come naturally, but it is learned behavior, not biological behavior. Gender roles and identity are determined by society and so they cannot be innate.
What does it even mean to "feel" like a man or a woman, except to say "I feel like behaving in the ways that society has established for men/women because I identity with them." Self-identification is ALWAYS sociological in nature, not biological. If you raised a child with asexual robots, then the child would have no gender identity and no concept of gender at all.
I completely 100% agree. You associate with a set of behaviours commonly used by a particular biological sex but I understand this because of my understanding of gender. Its a difficult construct to explain to lay people so expressing it such as "feeling" like a gender can be an easier way of getting the same concept across for someone who isn't well versed in gender studies.
On April 05 2012 04:13 DreamChaser wrote: I didn't know reconstructive surgery was this good, to be honest this scares me that a natural born man can actually look and live the life of a female. Obviously i won't be asking every girl i date if they where a male before but its like a little voice in the back of my head that just kind of scares me. Maybe i am just a bigot, but i do think they should let them compete i mean this woman has been living the life of a female for what more than 10 years?
This scariness you feel is just you learning about the world and having your cognitive schema being confronted. In the end just date who you want, get to know them and if you care for them nothing else matters. If my gf somehow magically was trans I wouldn't care. I really wouldn't because I know what she's like and I care for her. Its really that simple. Do what makes you happy.
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