greenfairy
philosopher wood nymph
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Ok, bear with me because my thoughts on these matters are confused right now and I'm posting hoping to clear them up a little.
So gender essentialism is the idea that there is some sort of essence of what it is to be feminine and masculine, that there are innate and unchanging qualities and characteristics of these.
Essentialism - Geek Feminism Wiki
Genderqueer theory refers to the idea of gender being nonbinary:
Genderqueer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Transgender people feel they are a different gender than what they were assigned at birth.
While I wholeheartedly believe that gender is nonbinary and support the genderqueer and trans folks in all they do, trying to wrap my mind around all three of these concepts together kind of makes my head hurt.
What would the point of feminism be if gender were an illusion? Do genderqueer people believe this objectively or are they only speaking for themselves? If there were no such thing as gender at all, how could a person coherently say that their gender is wrong? Whatever they are is just what they are and not a gender at all. If gender and biological sex are different, then having reassignment surgery would be unnecessary because the genitals have nothing to do with the gender. If women can have penises, then maybe you don't need a vagina to be a woman.
In short, it seems like the whole concept of being transgender depends on some sort of gender essentialism to have any meaning at all, yet gender essentialism is the main tool of transphobia.
Wtf.
/Philosopher problems.
And I have to figure this out eventually if I am going to adequately write about ecofeminism.
So gender essentialism is the idea that there is some sort of essence of what it is to be feminine and masculine, that there are innate and unchanging qualities and characteristics of these.
Essentialism - Geek Feminism Wiki
Genderqueer theory refers to the idea of gender being nonbinary:
Genderqueer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Transgender people feel they are a different gender than what they were assigned at birth.
While I wholeheartedly believe that gender is nonbinary and support the genderqueer and trans folks in all they do, trying to wrap my mind around all three of these concepts together kind of makes my head hurt.
What would the point of feminism be if gender were an illusion? Do genderqueer people believe this objectively or are they only speaking for themselves? If there were no such thing as gender at all, how could a person coherently say that their gender is wrong? Whatever they are is just what they are and not a gender at all. If gender and biological sex are different, then having reassignment surgery would be unnecessary because the genitals have nothing to do with the gender. If women can have penises, then maybe you don't need a vagina to be a woman.
In short, it seems like the whole concept of being transgender depends on some sort of gender essentialism to have any meaning at all, yet gender essentialism is the main tool of transphobia.
Wtf.
/Philosopher problems.
And I have to figure this out eventually if I am going to adequately write about ecofeminism.