Boy turns into girl, then rapes friend…going to male prison

If you pass a law against lying, everyone will tell the truth right?

 

Anybody can lie about anything.

My point is the purpose of words is to communicate something. You can always lie, but if the words cease to mean anything, they serve literally no purpose.

 

How does a baby choose a shirt? Aren't children socialized a certain way by the world first? If a baby points at something, who's supplying the meaning of that? They dont even have the use of language to develop their consciousness, that too has to be socialized so they can communicate even basic things like being hungry.

 

If woman was very closely defined, wouldn't it be easier to lie about it? If someone presented themselves as a woman, you'd be more inclined to believe it.

 

Preference. touching it. Picking it.

Even if they have no natural preferences outside socialization? Who cares. That's completely besides the point. They still eventually have to make a choice and the question remains as to how exactly the calculus works.

I think you're thinking too hard about this hypothetical. If you can't tell at all if a baby loves or hates something, especially if it's crying or if it's laughing... for God's sake don't have children.

"Well, the baby is screaming and crying when I take its toy away, but is it really mad? Who decided that screaming and crying is associated with negative emotions?"

Babies cry if something's bothering them. Did someone teach them to cry too? Or are some methods of communication so primal and so instinctive that you're basically born with it?

 

It would be easier to "lie" about because it actually tells you something.

If I told you right now I'm feeling "fukaba" today. Am I lying or am I just speaking nonsense?

 

I think most would probably come up with similar lists for those traditional/stereotypical traits. I question a lot of that conventional thinking though.

For example, I listened to a couple podcasts awhile back about the social and educational issues facing boys and young men today. There is reportedly evidence that girls are more resilient than boys when it comes to working through problems in their home and family life. Assuming that is true, there's a nature versus nurture question, of course. If boys are less resilient, that could be because - for example - society discourages boys from evaluating and expressing their feelings?

In any event, the podcasts caused me to consider these stereotypes generally. Yeah, males are physically stronger. We have that going for us, and that was huge leverage and power through most of history. But are males inherently stronger in any other way? Are we emotionally tougher? Are we actually more courageous and more independent? I'm not convinced at all. Not only based upon the purported data about girls being more resilient and passing boys academically. We also see men melting down about their dating options or raging about no fault divorce because their wife is leaving them. We see some men radicalized into extremist groups and lone wolves who are socially isolated and lash out violently.

TLDR; I'm not convinced most of these stereotypes are even true.

 

We're really digressing.

The point is there are masculine and feminine traits rooted in some combination of biology and sociology. Some are more obvious than others, but they exist. You agree that they exist. And to be able to define anything and understand anything, first you need to define the fundamentals. Otherwise, again, nothing means anything. To me, if you want to reduce masculinity to one word, it's aggression. If you want to reduce femininity to one word, it's nurturing or supporting.

 

I wasn't trying to sidetrack us. This all relates to how I'm thinking about the transgender discussions. I think they also relate to your post about feminists being right.

Yes, there are biological differences between men and women, such as physical strength and the ability get pregnant. The difference in size and physical strength is why I think the concern about fairness in sports is a rational one. However, to the extent society puts social pressure on individuals to conform with traditional gender stereotypes, I generally think that's a bad thing. I get the sense that social conservatives disagree with me there, even if some of their points seem closer to feminist in the context of transgender issues.

I have said I wish transgender people did not feel the need to transition and could just be who they are. The fact that they feel the need to transition seems to validate the sort of rigid gender classifications and stereotypes that I'm saying we should move away from. But I'm not going to blame them because we still live in a world where gender expectations, identity, and expression matter even though not as much as they once did.

 

I dont know, but if I asked what you meant, you could also lie about that pretty easily too

 

The source of all meaning is difference, nothing has a particular essential quality. What makes a dog a dog is not its "dogness," its that its different from a cat and a bear. People seem hung up that "woman" will lose meaning, but if "man" is a concept useful to people, the differences will give meaning to the other, they cant lose meaning as long as there is difference. Woman will be defined against man, and there will be people that dont really want to conform to either of those categories for whatever reason. The reality is that men and women are basically the same biologically speaking, its that we give much distinction to the minor (but important reproductive) differences, some of which manifest negatively in a division of labor/patriarchal domination, some which make life more interesting (I dont think most people want to date someone who looks and acts like themselves).

 

It sounds like the professor encouraged you and your classmates to carefully consider and debate critical issues. That's teaching . And whether or not the professor actually conducted a study, gathering evidence about learning is also an important aspect of teaching.

 

Because I view it as primarily a medical issue, and at this point politicians, on either side, are not acting in good faith. Issues surrounding mental illness, or related issues are very difficult. I’d rather have families working with their families deciding than politicians.

It’s not outside of the purview of govt medical regulatory bodies, but this issue is so loaded right now even they are probably corrupted.

 

The issue is as you describe it, for these people it’s simply a choice and expression. That’s fine people can choose whatever they want, but I’m not sure it’s a civil rights issue when it is just choices about how you dress and how you act.

 

I definitely is to some extent, "on the basis of sex" has covered women who for example, want to wear pants to work. Firing someone for not conforming to certain gendered expectations is sexual discrimination according to courts, even recent ones with conservative majorities.

 

And what is a single word we use to describe people based on their reproductive differences?

We used to have a word for it before we got to "child-bearing individuals."

 

We still have a word for that if you want to use it. Its not obsolete. Child-bearing individuals is a goofy term (but I think it would be more goofy to coin another word), but why do you have a problem with inclusive language done by someone else? Some women cant get pregnant, and some people can get pregnant that don't want to be called women. It covers all the bases if your intent is to do that, even if its a bit awkward. What's wrong with that?

 

Let me be clear: Why do you think the medical community is handling it wrong? What harm comes out of it?

 

Because it's stupid, it defies reality, it defies logic, and it forces everyone to pretend feelings translates to truth. And truth is something worth preserving. It's something society must value to flourish.

 

The term is truthful and logical though, there is nothing inaccurate about it. Its probably overly-logical in fact with its construction. But that's what happens when people demand precise language, which is kind of what you are demanding too, just in a different way.