During my research I came across a title question that has quite possibly been the most thought provoking question I've come across throughout my time in the class:
"If gender is largely a social construct, why would someone identify as transgender?"
This question made me think of the definition of gender. Gender is a person's psychological sex. Not biological. It is how a person thinks of themselves.
The term transgender is defined as "a person whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender." The definition itself practically says that gender is socially constructed. The term gender speaks for itself. If gender is a psychological identification, it shouldn’t matter what one's biological sex is; therefore it technically shouldn't be a transition from one gender to another or being gender fluid. Because society constructs gender, it is hard to escape from the typical thought that one's biological sex equals one's gender.
If our society did not have social constructs of gender, I don't believe "transgender" would even be a term.
"If gender is largely a social construct, why would someone identify as transgender?"
This question made me think of the definition of gender. Gender is a person's psychological sex. Not biological. It is how a person thinks of themselves.
The term transgender is defined as "a person whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender." The definition itself practically says that gender is socially constructed. The term gender speaks for itself. If gender is a psychological identification, it shouldn’t matter what one's biological sex is; therefore it technically shouldn't be a transition from one gender to another or being gender fluid. Because society constructs gender, it is hard to escape from the typical thought that one's biological sex equals one's gender.
If our society did not have social constructs of gender, I don't believe "transgender" would even be a term.
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