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What is Gender Identity and how it differs from person to person?

When we refer to science, we see things in absolutes. It's either yes or no. It's objective and not subjective. Thus according to science, there are only male gamets or female gamets. Objectively, you are either a male or a female and in rare biological cases, a Hermaphrodite (two gamets in one body). But when it comes to identity. It's more of a subjective matter.

Let me give you are small example. Suppose you were born in, say Canada, but you feel more at home with Mexican culture. Many people will find it strange, nonsense and offensive. But that won't change that fact that you feel more at home with Mexican culture despite being born as a Canadian. You can even opt for a Mexican citizenship if you had the means but till then you can wear Mexican clothes and accessories or whatever is available.

What is Gender Identity and how it differs from person to person?

Similarly when a person is assigned to, say male, they might feel more alive being a female. They cannot change the fact that they are were born as male. But they also cannot change the fact they love being female instead and feel more like themselves. Some opt for surgery while others just choose to opt for feminine fashion and whatever is available. And it's okay. It's okay to choose something that others normally don't choose. It's okay to be different. It's okay to feel like yourself by not confining yourself.

(Please don't bring religion into this discussion. Also I am choosing to be Anonymous but I don't want to be attacked for presenting my opinion.)

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Most Helpful Guys

  • It's an illusion for some people and a delusion for others in its simplest form. It is when people confuse INDIVIDUAL personality trait variations for being indicative of gender based on stereotypes about the sexes. It's blatant falsehood and dangerous. People need to just start accepting that men can have feminine traits, women can have masculine traits, and people can be homosexual or bisexual and not abuse others or themselvrs for it: and NEVER mutilate their own bodies because of it. The concept of gender is complete codswallop and poisonous, and it sickens me how many people, espeically kids and teens are being brainwashed by it. Social contagion at its best (worst), ugh.

    • Yes! In most cases, it's due to social obligations that people think ok I am not feminine or masculine enough so I'll opt for surgery. They are unable to identify with their gender because of what they are being taught. Some children also use puberty blockers so that they don't acquire a male body. Although I think it's more complex than that.

    • Thank you.

    • failing to meet biological expectations, not social

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  • https://youtu.be/M0uCLgFMC-c

    • Here is what an actual biologist has to say about it

    • This is amazing! And really those interviews are so one sided!

    • this is such a dumb video, no there is no "nuance" on this question of what is a woman. it is a simple question and anyone who takes more than a second to begin answering is an idiot as always the lefty resorted to an appeal to authority fallacy: anthropologists and gender studies are not relevant fields to the topic infact gender studies is a pseudoscience. doctors likewise are not relevant on this topic as gender isn't scientific and medicine is a child of science. therefore medicine has no expertise to offer in this pseudoscience.

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  • Sex is biological, while gender can be chosen. Your example is accurate, as people can live the life that suits them best, though that Canadian will never truly become a Mexican, even living as a Mexican. I support anyone’s choice to live the life they choose, as long as their choice doesn’t negatively impact others. I do not support any type of deception in a relationship. Though a man can live as a woman, and even alter his physical appearance to be woman-like, he’ll never truly be a woman… he will always be trans. My issue is when people expect others to fully accept them as they choose to be, without first defining that which they are. When trans people selfishly feel they should be respected as a different sex, while feeling entitled to hide reality and be inconsiderate of a potential partner, that’s where I draw the line. They wouldn’t want a partner to be inconsiderate of them, so they’re not entitled to be inconsiderate of the partner. Just as I believe it is more respectful for gays to involve themselves with gays (rather than insist straight people should become gay, just because they’re drawn to that person), I believe trans people will be happier with those who accept them as trans. I see this same dysfunctional pattern with cisgender people, as it is common to assume anyone we’re drawn to should also be drawn to us, and that’s not reality. I believe it is also important for hermaphrodites to clearly state to a potential partner they are genetically hermaphrodite but have lived as a male or female since birth. Let a potential partner choose based on facts, not on deception.

    I have a quince tree I’ve grafted pear scions to. Even though I choose to only grow pears on that tree and not quinces, it will always be a quince tree I’ve grafted with pears. If I grafted the pear scions onto rootstock that was never a tree, then I’d probably see it as a pear tree, rather than define it by its rootstock. I would also not view a boy as a girl, just because he was birthed by a female.

    I understand trans people want to be fully accepted as their chosen sex, but that is unlikely to happen. Many trans people aren’t prepared for this before they transition, and they often become depressed when reality hits them in the face. Even people who consciously choose a trans partner will always know they are with a trans person. Yes, they can pretend to be with someone of a chosen sex, but it will always be like role playing. You can lose yourself in the fantasy of the role, but deep down you’ll always know you’re playing a role. To hide reality is being deceptive. I’m sure no trans person wants a partner who is deceptive, so how can they legitimize being deceptive? Be who you choose to be, but always be honest with anyone you choose to be intimate with. I’m not limiting this to trans people; I believe it is respectful to be totally honest with partners, no matter what gender you identify with.

  • Being Canadian and thinking you're Mexican is simply offensive to Mexicans. Just as how being Anglo & saying you're Native is offensive to Native Americans, etc. Just as how saying you're Irish or German or Scottish & your family has been in N America for 10 generations is offensive to born in Ireland Irish, born in Germany Germans, etc.

    In all those situations & more people are just making a mockery of legitimate culture, history, traditions, etc. People that do this are ignorant, offensive & at times racist.

    .

    Mexican culture after all is not just the rubbish presented by mainstream society. That is oftentimes not Mexican anyway but Angloified from American / Mexican borders.

    "Mexican tacos" as example are 9.5 out of 10 times American tacos, not Mexican. You will almost ONLY find traditional "Mexican" tacos among people from southern Mexico.

    .

    As for gender identity that is not the same.

    Someone who dresses as a woman when he was born as a man is not purposefully going out to offend legitimate culture, traditions and history. They are not seeking to insult and offend people who were born and raised as Mexican or Native or Irish.

    Pretending to be a culture or ethnic group you are not is just seeking to offend others.

    • As example Americans drink green beer on St Patty's Day. And claim they are Irish ROFL. You'd almost never find green beer in Ireland because it is OFFENSIVE. The concept of green beer is English NOT Irish & is an offensive mockery of the Irish Plague when some of the Irish were so desperate for food it is believed that they were eating grass.

    • EDIT: As for gender identity that is not the same. Someone who dresses as a woman when he was born as a man is not purposefully going out to offend women or men. He is hurting no one. Whereas someone pretending they are Mexican and don't know jackshit about Mexican culture, traditions, food, etc. is going out to mock Mexicans. Such a person would never be Mexican. Whereas a guy dressed as a woman can, depending on his features how effeminate he is even without surgery, poise believably as a woman.

    • ROFL. Depends on what you mean by Mexican. If they've lived in America or Canada their entire life & their parents lived in America or Canada they're not that Mexican. And less Mexican if their grandparents weren't born & raised in Mexico.

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  • Gender identity refers to a person's deeply held, internal sense of their own gender, which may or may not align with the gender they were assigned at birth based on their physical characteristics. It is a complex and personal aspect of a person's identity that can vary greatly from person to person.

    For some individuals, their gender identity is in line with the sex they were assigned at birth, and they identify as male or female. For others, their gender identity may differ from their assigned sex, and they may identify as transgender or non-binary, among other identities.

    Gender identity is shaped by a variety of factors, including biology, socialisation, cultural and societal norms, and personal experiences. It can evolve and change over time, and individuals may experience a process of exploration and discovery as they come to understand and express their gender identity.

    It's important to recognise that gender identity is a deeply personal and subjective aspect of a person's identity, and it can differ greatly from person to person. There is no one "right" way to express or experience gender, and everyone deserves to be respected and valued for who they are, regardless of their gender identity.

    • Absolutely!

    • there is no such thing as gender. totally unscientific concept

    • Yeah! Like my identity as a mammal. Although I have been observed to be a mammal because of my reproductive structure mainly, I feel that's not my identity, deep down I feel like I'm a reptile and can lay eggs. I'm shocked to this day too. I'm just glad I discovered this early in life and I just wish everyone can accept me for who I am and allow our young to be willing to explore and discover who they are, call themselves what they're not and spread the delusion. I hate it when people think it's a psychological condition for me to allow my feelings have more control than basic reasoning and logic. And also those who thought the earth was flat too were not wrong, they felt it is flat and wanted others to believe that too even when science countered it... These things are personal and subjective. There's no "right" way to express or experience even though science and other living creatures (not as smart as us) are showing us what's right. Please, let's kindly spread the delusion round the world, let's get our kids and future leaders brainwashed into thinking that emotions beat basic reasoning and logic. Let's teach them so that they get to the level in which they FEEL animals and humans can procreate because deep down, we all are animals. Peace ✌️ 😃

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  • I agree with everything you said. "It's okay to choose something that others normally don't choose. It's okay to be different. It's okay to feel like yourself by not confining yourself." So called identity is as subjective as a person's personal tastes and preferences.

    Problems only arise when a boy or man actually thinks he IS female, and when a girl or woman thinks she actually IS a man. And thinking that you can change gender through drugs and surgery is dangerously delusional and self destructive. It's a mental, not a medical problem. But the medical establishment holds out false promises in order to reap huge profits.

    It's also a problem when people try to claim that every fetish is a different gender. As you said, "Objectively, you are either a male or a female and in rare biological cases, a Hermaphrodite."

    • Yes. And I blame gender norms for that. Had it been more flexible, people wouldn't feel the need to deny their biology. There is a term for it, Gender Dysphoria. And research is still going on. As of now it's a mental illness just like any other. But as per the social causes, it is highly inappropriate to call a man "ladies" and a woman "tomboy" because they don't fit in the stereotypical box of what each gender should be. And somehow magically a few years later they start looking what, according to society, they should look like. Or maybe that's all pretense because it's hard to survive in a place where people keep bullying you for exposing your true self.

    • Back then, homosexuality was considered mental illness till it was proved that it wasn't. Maybe further research will show that this too isn't an illness, maybe not. Till then we have evidence. According to this article, Gender
      Dysphoria is not a mental illness.

      https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/
      www.google.com/.../health-48448804.amp

    • I don't have a problem breaking social norms that don't make sense. But people who are too far outside the bounds of normal behavior are going to be more isolated. They'll be forced to seek out similar people to themselves. That not society's fault. I don't think that people have any obligation to embrace every lifestyle. As long as people have the right to express themselves, they have no right to demand acceptance. Re: bullying. Some of it is severe and even criminal. But it makes me sick when, for example, people act like failure to use preferred pronoun is bullying. People can be true to themselves. That applies to everybody. It means that activists have no right to coerce others. If they can't change minds through good example and reason, then they can fuck off.

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  • Yeah! Like my identity as a mammal. Although I have been observed to be a mammal because of my reproductive structure mainly, I feel that's not my identity, deep down I feel like I'm a reptile and can lay eggs. I'm shocked to this day too.

    I'm just glad I discovered this early in life and I just wish everyone can accept me for who I am and allow our young to be willing to explore and discover who they are, call themselves what they're not and spread the delusion. I hate it when people think it's a psychological condition for me to allow my feelings have more control than basic reasoning and logic.

    And also those who thought the earth was flat too were not wrong, they felt it is flat and wanted others to believe that too even when science countered it... These things are personal and subjective. There's no "right" way to express or experience even though science and other living creatures (not as smart as us) are showing us what's right.

    Please, let's kindly spread the delusion round the world, let's get our kids and future leaders brainwashed into thinking that emotions beat basic reasoning and logic. Let's teach them so that they get to the level in which they FEEL animals and humans can procreate because deep down, we all are animals.

    Peace ✌️ 😃

    • https://youtu.be/M0uCLgFMC-c

      Watch this, I am tired of explaining. I won't change your mind because I don't have the right.

    • The Lizard King, Jim Morrison, is also a mammal, although lizards are reptiles.

    • by the way there are surgeries for that too. A man literally became a dog by surgery.

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  • A Canadian who prefers Mexican culture will always be a Canadian-born person. He or she can never become a real Mexican.

    • And yet what's stopping them from embracing Mexican culture? Best of both worlds? You cannot change your origin, but can definitely evolve over time.

    • If a Canadan guy wants to love Mexican culture, he is free to do that. But he can't expect others to start calling him Jorge.

    • Obviously.

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  • I completely agree. You’ve touched multiple points that others don’t consider when the subject is sex vs gender and nationality vs citizenship.
    Sex is as simple as what reproductive organs you have and gender is where it’s defined more subjective with a social construct.


    Good my take!

  • I see myself as a girl, but I always had a tomboy side. When I was a young teen, I didn't recognize myself in the girls stereotypes so I thought ' am I a guy then?' No. I was a girl but I was just not fitting in the stereotypes that doesn't mean I wanted to be a actual guy my interests were just more ascociated with the male genre. So it made me thought I was a guy because of it. When I was a kid I would play with barbies, miniature cars, super heroes figures, polly pocket, name it. So what? Just don't base your gender on stereotypes. I think Trans really do exist, but just don't jump to conclusions too fast.

  • To me gender and sex is the same thing. ie what you got between your legs. Sexuality is however who you are attracted too, which is also biology and not really a choice but you can always go against it. Gender roles has nothing to do with either, you can align to them or go against them it's a personal choice. Some people are confused and try to mix these three together and start naming all combinations and grey scales.

  • How can someone who is biologically male love being female when they have never been female?

    • Refer to Gender Dysphoria for more insight

    • So your saying their delusional.. and simply think they desire it.

    • Look, since childhood you are being taught that being a male means this this this and being a female means this this this. But you cannot relate to that and are even bullied for that. Hence you start developing this intense desire to change your biology.
      www.nhs.uk/.../

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  • I would disagree on the science comment since gender is indeed a thing science studies. And through science we understand what gender identity is in the first place, psychology is just a part of science and very subjective yet we can still figure out tons within it.
    And we understand that feeling like the other gender makes sense for many reasons. However there is no rationality feeling a race, that would imply just been a different race changes your whole entire mind. When in reality it does not, objectively we can say women and men's are different there mindsets have often clear distinctions.
    But if you had a black boy and white boy there mindset ain't different just cause their skin color is.


    • When I referred to science, I actually referred to the people who are stuck with the whole chromosomes thing. Although I have heard that there are other chromosomes apart from XX and XY

  • I have a relevant confession.

    When I was younger I went through a brief period where I wondered whether I too was better off as a woman than a man. I thought about it a lot and did the research, and decided I'd better stay a man. i was about 20 years old at the time. I have never struggled with these thoughts again since then. I think everyone has a gender identity crisis at some point in their life.

  • So my question is, are you saying that science has no role in determining gender

    • It has a role in determining sex, yes.

  • Basically, gender identity is the gender you identify. Forexample, I am female from birth. But if I felt like a man, and not a woman, I would address myself as a man with male pronouns, as being make is how I see and identify myself.

    So naturally, the gender you feel yourself to be depends on the person.

  • It's not okay when they change in women's locker rooms. It's not okay when they win beauty pageants. It's not okay when they win College records. It's not okay when elementary teachers provide KITTY LITTER BOXES. It's not okay for Trannies to strip during their "mostly child friendly" gatherings. It's not okay for butt hurt Liberals to teach kids how to use butt plugs? It's never okay.

    • Well perhaps they can create a two more categories of washroom, and a beauty pageant for trans, college records (coed colleges? If they are talented enough why not?) Stripping is highly inappropriate for all irrespective of their genders. And there is also a specific age to recieve sex education (but they will find out in the internet wouldn't they?) But the butt plug (I don't what the hell is that) should be saved for a later stage.

  • Gender is determined by chromosomes.


    All this gender confusion business is nothing more than kinks and forcing everyone to entertain those kinks.


    If a guy for example wants to live as a woman, why does he need an audience of children, or anyone for that matter to read books to? To fulfill the kink. It wouldn’t be much of an interest to these people if they simply crossdressed…but no one acknowledged it or cared.


    Same with the idea transgenders should be allowed to use locker rooms and bathrooms of whichever sex they identify as. They need an audience to make the kink exciting. Otherwise what thrill would a guy get from living as a woman? External validation seems to be a requirement for these people. Forcing everyone to be ok with this also seems to be a requirement.


    Why can’t they just go live their lives without having to involve everyone and make this a political issue?

  • Male - female - simple.

  • what people seem to ignore these days is that a personal identity (including gender and sexual identiy) is not one sidedly dictated. for example i don't get to tell you to call me your highness. there's a negotiation process between individuals that determines someones identity. like i could identify as very intelligent but others find me quite dull. so it's not a one sided thing. it emerges from observations of multiple people. of course if you're thinking of yourself in a vaccum, it doesn't matter but while living in a society, it does matter to know the rules of identity negotiation. because if you don't abide by these rules these idiotic shit shows about "what is a woman" and stuff like that will emerge.

    • oh. and did you know that the guy who coined the term gender identity, was a pedophile mad psychologist who ruined 2 childrens lives cause he desparately wanted to proof that he's right?

  • What does "being female" mean? What does it mean to be a woman? How is a man supposed to feel like on a day-to-day basis?

    These are all very subjective questions and at its heart really just points to gender stereotypes, which ironically society said we were trying to move away from. To me, gender is either a synonym for sex - so you're either male or female - or it's a useless, nebulous term that means different things to different people and therefore has no universal meaning. And what good is a word without a clear meaning?

    A woman can't "feel like a man" (and vice versa) no more than a white person can "feel like a black person" without invoking stereotypes. Can you imagine if a white person decided that he felt more comfortable with the "hood life" and painted his face black and started "acting black". There'd be cries of racism and stereotyping. So instead of embracing gender identity, gender-fluid pronouns, and all this other useless stuff, perhaps we should just stick with the simple, biologically-based concepts that have worked for decades, but realize that trying to prescribe gender-based stereotypes as a model to guide people's behaviours probably is damaging to some people based on the range of personalities that exist.

    • I personally believe that gender norms are strict and hence the need to change. Since childhood society teaches us being woman is this this this. Being a man is this this this. Hence the confusion. Otherwise you can still be a man with feminine attributes or a woman just with masculine attributes. In fact there are masculine women out there being called as a Tomboy.

    • You do know that being a tomboy doesn't mean you are trans?

    • @Cubus definitely! But some people do go to the lengths of surgery because they aren't feminine enough.

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  • I want to start by correcting a few factual mistakes in the "take".

    Hermaphrodites in humans, do NOT have two gamets in one body, there are no known cases ever in recorded history of that being the case. There is also ONE gamet in humans with intersex conditions (note we do not use the term hermaphrodite anymore in the medical community).

    The exact prevalence of intersex conditions is not well documented and estimates vary, but it is estimated that they occur in 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 4,000 people. These estimates are based on limited data and may not accurately reflect the actual frequency of intersex conditions.

    Another factual mistake is the use of the word assigned. Sex is never assigned, it is observed. The word "assigned" implies the act of attributing or designating a particular role, task, responsibility, or identity to someone or something. However, no doctor assigns sex to a newborn, they observe the appearance of their external genitalia, and then designate the observed primary sexual characteristics, as the sex of the baby.

    This sex may or may not align with the gender identity that the individual develops later in life. Gender identity is complex and multi-faceted, and can be influenced by a variety of factors including biology, psychology, and cultural and societal norms. The concept of gender can be problematic because it implies both sex and gender identity, where one is binary and the other is a spectrum as a continuum between male and female.

    It's important to point out, that wile biology has a continuum between male and female expressions as well, however, there are only two sexes, namely male and female, and everybody without exceptions is in the continuum between the maculing and feminine. With no thered option at all.

    • There are many syndromes that are associated with abnormalities in chromosomes. Some of the most well-known syndromes include: Down syndrome (Trisomy 21): A genetic disorder caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. Turner syndrome: A genetic disorder that affects females and is caused by the absence of all or part of one X chromosome. Klinefelter syndrome: A genetic disorder that affects males and is caused by the presence of an extra X chromosome. Trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome): A genetic disorder caused by an extra copy of chromosome 13. Trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome): A genetic disorder caused by an extra copy of chromosome 18. Triple X syndrome: A genetic disorder that affects females and is caused by the presence of an extra X chromosome. XYY syndrome: A genetic disorder that affects males and is caused by the presence of an extra Y chromosome. 47, XXY (Klinefelter syndrome variant): A genetic disorder that affects males and is caused by the presence of an extra X chromosome. 45, X (Turner syndrome variant): A genetic disorder that affects females and is caused by the absence of one X chromosome. Mosaicism: A condition in which an individual has a mixture of two or more cell populations with different genetic makeup, including differences in the number or structure of chromosomes. Jacobsen syndrome: A genetic disorder caused by the deletion of a small piece of chromosome 11. Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome: A genetic disorder caused by the deletion of a large piece of chromosome 4. Prader-Willi syndrome: A genetic disorder caused by the loss or absence of certain genes on chromosome 15. Angelman syndrome: A genetic disorder caused by the loss or absence of certain genes on chromosome 15. Fragile X syndrome: A genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome. Marfan syndrome: A genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the FBN1 gene on chromosome 15.

    • These are just a few additional examples of the many syndromes that are associated with abnormalities in chromosomes. It's important to note that advances in genetic testing and research are constantly expanding our understanding of these conditions and the ways in which they can be caused by changes in chromosomes. Intersex conditions however are caused by a variety of factors in addition to genetic variations. It is caused by hormonal imbalances or environmental factors during fetal development. Some of the most common causes of intersex conditions that are related to hormonal imbalances include: Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH): A group of inherited disorders that affect the adrenal glands and can result in an overproduction of male hormones. Disorders of sexual differentiation: A group of conditions that can result in the development of atypical genitalia, reproductive organs, or hormone levels due to an imbalance of hormones during fetal development. Exposure to environmental toxins: Exposure to certain environmental toxins, such as certain chemicals or drugs, during fetal development can impact the normal development of reproductive organs and lead to intersex conditions.

    • Wow! This is insightful!

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