Day 103: Gender

Hi again everyone!

Today, I'm gonna be doing another little rant, this time about the concept of gender. As usual, if you have any complaints about what I say, I ask that you read the rest of the post before complaining- there's a chance I'll explain it later.

There are three common claims about gender nowadays that I'll be addressing:

1. Gender and sex are two different things
2. There are lots of genders, and gender isn't binary
3. Gender is a social construct.

One thing immediately stands out to me- these claims contradict one another. The first two describe some qualities of the concept, then the third says "it doesn't actually exist, by the way". Logically, if claims contradict each other, at least one of them must be wrong.

It turns out, it's the third one. Gender is not a social construct. I realise this is a very controversial claim, so I'll elaborate.

The first two points actually explain why I feel justified in saying this. They're defining gender as being a psychological thing, more than a physical thing. The third point, on the other hand, is talking about something entirely different- namely, gender roles. A gender role is essentially what a society expects from a person based on their gender (or more accurately, their sex- these roles originate from a time before there was a clear distinction between the two). These roles are entirely a social construct.

There's a common claim that ancient human behaviour influenced us- oftentimes, males would go out hunting and females would stay in a group raising children. Honestly, I don't doubt that this is the case, but I'm not qualified to say with any certainty. That said, this claim actually reinforces the point- even in ancient society, these roles existed, and have had a massive influence on modern society, and perhaps even psychology.

Now, it probably seems like I'm arguing semantics, and I am. I do have a reason for it, though. To say that the expected behaviour of a person based on their gender is entirely due to society would be reasonable. To say that the actual concept of feeling male, female or otherwise doesn't exist, and is entirely due to society, is unreasonable. It also goes against the definition of gender dysphoria (feeling like your gender doesn't match your biological sex).

There is an issue with the second claim too. The idea that there are lots of genders is a bit misleading- like saying "there are a lot of colours between red and blue". A bigger issue, though, is that people will again go against the definition of "gender", and instead refer to sexuality. Trans isn't a gender- nor is gay, bi, or any other things of that sort. Gender refers exclusively to how a person sees themself. Sexual orientation is independent of this. (As for trans- I defined gender dysphoria earlier, it's essentially (if not literally) the same).

It is worth saying- I don't have any problem with people based on their gender, sex, orientation, or anything else of that nature. The only issue I have is with people forcing their beliefs on others through the use of self-contradictory claims.

Anyways, that's gonna be it for today- hopefully you enjoyed this post! If you disagree with anything I've said, feel free to leave a reply bringing up the issue- though if you want me to take it seriously, please try to be civil.