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Just a thought...
2 years ago
Personal Picks (to be updated):
Special notice:
Special notice:
There is something I would like to talk about. However given the current socio-political climate, it may not be a good idea, or even possible as it could easily degenerate into a bunch of (to be extremely charitable) uncivil ranting raving, allies stan'ing up for a 'marginalized group", and acts of internet terrorism. I'm just far enough below the general radar that I should get this off without much trouble.
So what is it that I wanted to talk about. First I think it was something the admin on FA had a long discussion about, whether to do it and then what to do about it should it go South...
Warning: There will be a fair amount of challenging language and is NOT to be recommended to those who are deemed too sensitive, too young, or do not want to even think about what follows.
In the Gender slot on the submission/upload page, there are "Trans (Male)", "Trans (Female)", Intersex, and the classic Hermaphrodite selections. Each of these has their own clear meanings. As some more [fanatical] supporters of "transgender" tend to be either unknowingly or willfully inconsistent in what they mean but Male or female making being Transgender needlessly hard to pin down.
IF the warning applies to you, you should have an idea if it does now. Going further is strictly ON YOU.
This on top of, based on common usage, the term "Gender" is misused in most applications of the Term Trans gender. "Gender" is what you THINK you are. You think you are male, you think you are female, you think you are an attack helicopter (Old meme, I know), or so on. This does not change WHAT you actually are.
This is "Sex". This as assessed, NOT assigned, at birth. You are what you are when you are born. You are male or female, and with exceedingly rare exception born Intersexed or a Hermaphrodite, for humans of this age. What you have between you legs is assessed, often by some form of medical professional, though this is usually coincidental given most child births take place in a Hospital. That Professional will then declare the child to be whatever sex they are.
What Transgender [fanatics] and their, not always well meaning, allies, mean tend to involve sex change operations. The term is self-explanatory. Probably why Trans Activists do not want to use it. Hence leading the old but much more accurate terminology "pre-op" and "post-op", "pre" or before the sex change OPeration, and "post" or after the sex change OPeration.
As a cautionary, this may be conflated to mean as much as a man trying to be a woman, even to misconstrue a transvestite, or cross (gender) dressing to be a kind of Transgender. The Man may simply like wearing women's clothing. It is not a form of Gender Dysmorphia. Just a "dude in a dress" or "just putting his pretty on".
Hermaphrodites, which are actually exceedingly rare in the Human species, and thus a form of mutation, are also assessed at at birth. They are born that way and do not need a surgery to become a "herm". It is a tragedy, that Hermaphroditism is so rare that doctors may take it upon themselves to "correct" the issue. Until the child is old enough that it is obvious what is going on down there, and the parents or, if old enough, the child consents, no such action should even be taken. Such "corrections" have ended in premature deaths and failures to properly mature in effected individuals.
Intersexed [Humans] usually can not be assessed properly at birth as whether they are are male or female is not easily or possible to diagnose until at least puberty. However, they are born that way. This leads to the "she-male" (so called "chick with a dick") and the "fem-male" (so-called "cuntboy") who may opt for a full sex-change if they which to all the way on or the other. Usually further testing, including hormone balances, even genetics, may be required as most Intersexed persons will appear very androgynous, lacking a clear gender identity.
Fem-bois are very effeminate males or males who readily and willfully pass themselves off as female and I have accepted that this term more accurately describes what has been classically describes as "She-male" in the past. This is not a position everyone takes. Of course what to call a old Fem-boi? That is not a riddle. It is a serious question.
The reasoning for the "Trans" notations is what confuses me more. Not that they exist at all. But that they are have such a vague and inconsistent usage and definition in the common parlance, yet for more than few, carry such a weight as to almost demand some discussion. I am of the type who likes rules, in fantasy as in real life. and "trans" seems to skirt past this. Just as "male", "female", "Intersexed", and "Hermaphrodite", are clearly defined, some reaching further than others, so too must "trans". Or else it will be continued arguing and inability to properly define ones character(s), or themself(selves).
*If the discussion section gets ugly, even if I somehow happen to agree with it, I'll just delete the journal entry.
So what is it that I wanted to talk about. First I think it was something the admin on FA had a long discussion about, whether to do it and then what to do about it should it go South...
Warning: There will be a fair amount of challenging language and is NOT to be recommended to those who are deemed too sensitive, too young, or do not want to even think about what follows.
In the Gender slot on the submission/upload page, there are "Trans (Male)", "Trans (Female)", Intersex, and the classic Hermaphrodite selections. Each of these has their own clear meanings. As some more [fanatical] supporters of "transgender" tend to be either unknowingly or willfully inconsistent in what they mean but Male or female making being Transgender needlessly hard to pin down.
IF the warning applies to you, you should have an idea if it does now. Going further is strictly ON YOU.
This on top of, based on common usage, the term "Gender" is misused in most applications of the Term Trans gender. "Gender" is what you THINK you are. You think you are male, you think you are female, you think you are an attack helicopter (Old meme, I know), or so on. This does not change WHAT you actually are.
This is "Sex". This as assessed, NOT assigned, at birth. You are what you are when you are born. You are male or female, and with exceedingly rare exception born Intersexed or a Hermaphrodite, for humans of this age. What you have between you legs is assessed, often by some form of medical professional, though this is usually coincidental given most child births take place in a Hospital. That Professional will then declare the child to be whatever sex they are.
What Transgender [fanatics] and their, not always well meaning, allies, mean tend to involve sex change operations. The term is self-explanatory. Probably why Trans Activists do not want to use it. Hence leading the old but much more accurate terminology "pre-op" and "post-op", "pre" or before the sex change OPeration, and "post" or after the sex change OPeration.
As a cautionary, this may be conflated to mean as much as a man trying to be a woman, even to misconstrue a transvestite, or cross (gender) dressing to be a kind of Transgender. The Man may simply like wearing women's clothing. It is not a form of Gender Dysmorphia. Just a "dude in a dress" or "just putting his pretty on".
Hermaphrodites, which are actually exceedingly rare in the Human species, and thus a form of mutation, are also assessed at at birth. They are born that way and do not need a surgery to become a "herm". It is a tragedy, that Hermaphroditism is so rare that doctors may take it upon themselves to "correct" the issue. Until the child is old enough that it is obvious what is going on down there, and the parents or, if old enough, the child consents, no such action should even be taken. Such "corrections" have ended in premature deaths and failures to properly mature in effected individuals.
Intersexed [Humans] usually can not be assessed properly at birth as whether they are are male or female is not easily or possible to diagnose until at least puberty. However, they are born that way. This leads to the "she-male" (so called "chick with a dick") and the "fem-male" (so-called "cuntboy") who may opt for a full sex-change if they which to all the way on or the other. Usually further testing, including hormone balances, even genetics, may be required as most Intersexed persons will appear very androgynous, lacking a clear gender identity.
Fem-bois are very effeminate males or males who readily and willfully pass themselves off as female and I have accepted that this term more accurately describes what has been classically describes as "She-male" in the past. This is not a position everyone takes. Of course what to call a old Fem-boi? That is not a riddle. It is a serious question.
The reasoning for the "Trans" notations is what confuses me more. Not that they exist at all. But that they are have such a vague and inconsistent usage and definition in the common parlance, yet for more than few, carry such a weight as to almost demand some discussion. I am of the type who likes rules, in fantasy as in real life. and "trans" seems to skirt past this. Just as "male", "female", "Intersexed", and "Hermaphrodite", are clearly defined, some reaching further than others, so too must "trans". Or else it will be continued arguing and inability to properly define ones character(s), or themself(selves).
*If the discussion section gets ugly, even if I somehow happen to agree with it, I'll just delete the journal entry.
Commission Information Here: Commission Information
Commission Information Updated: November 19, 2010
Status:
Still open for business.
Email Address: DC-ASHES -at- juno -dot- com
Commissions in progress:
1.
star *On retainer*TemhotaTech on DA
2. [privacy requested]
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Holding. Order delivery withheld for various reasons.
Commission Information Updated: November 19, 2010
Status:
Still open for business.
Email Address: DC-ASHES -at- juno -dot- com
Commissions in progress:
1.
star *On retainer*TemhotaTech on DA2. [privacy requested]
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Holding. Order delivery withheld for various reasons.
Herms, Intersexed and Trans all fall under "Both".
The fourth term, Neither, is for a group even rarer than true herms: Eunuchs.
I would tend to disagree that the definition of gender, what you think your gender is. First, that's definitely not how most people have used it over the years. Second, there's a bit of a logic loop in there, because if you follow that definition literally it becomes, "My gender is what I think my gender is what I think my gender is what I think my gender is," and so on and so forth. Historically, I would posit that for the past hundred years or so Gender has basically been a polite synonym for Biological Sex. Mind you, language does change over time, but this is at least part of the source for frequent cultural clashes over language.
Personally, I tend to think that people are mostly just conflating biological gender for cultural gender roles. The later is of course an objective measurable trait, while the former is a subjective concept that changes over time. With this in mind, I tend to think there are three, maybe two and a half gender, and a few addendums. Those genders would of course be, male, female, intersex, and the addendums would be people that wish to addressed and treated like a gender other than their biological one. In other words, trans individuals.
Again, I do not say this to be mean or confrontational. I do want everyone to be happy, and at least for the most part it's none of my business how other people identify. However, I do tend to take an objective view of the world for the most part. So while I certainly don't want to hurt anybodies feelings or see anyone hurt or harassed, when asked I do have to be honest.
As for the art-search function. That's a toughie, and I'm not sure there's any good solution at this point. This website is roughly two decades old at this point, even if we change the search function to be more specific, it's not going to be very useful for searching through old content unless every artist goes back and updates all their image search settings. There's also an argument to be made that making a search function too specific can actually make it more difficult to find specific art pieces. That being said, I can understand why people would want a more specific search function, and I'm not going to criticize them for that. If you just want Y, it's probably a little annoying that the only options are A, B, and C.
So yeah, there's no real easy answer there. That might sound like a cop-out, but it's probably the truth.
And just once more for good measure. I do not intend to be hurtful or confrontational towards anyone with my comments. Nor do I advocate for any form of harassment, bullying, ostracization, and so on and so forth. At the same time though, I do feel like people need to talk about this, as it feels like more and more people are talking past each other instead of understanding each other's personal viewpoints. In the long term that's probably not going to help people understand each-other one bit, so being able to talk openly and calmly is probably a bit important.
Also, in a biological context, "hermaphrodite" means an organism that produces both kinds of gamete/sex cell and can function as both male or female in reproductive terms (e.g., most flowering plants and slugs). There aren't any documented cases of a human producing both eggs and sperm, so even if someone has both sets of sexual organs calling them a hermaphrodite isn't really accurate. I think the term intersex came about at least in part to differentiate between "this person's body doesn't fit the male-female cultural binary" and "this person has the same reproductive system as an earthworm".
One big lesson I've learned is that black and white definitions are rare, even in the sciences. We used to think organisms were sorted into kingdom, phylum, class, etc, but as we learned more those categories started to mean less. Even if they're meant to be be describing something in nature, definitions are made by people, and we very rarely have all the information to have a 100% accurate definition.
Will that entire mess resolve itself within the next 200 years - probably. Will it get very ugly for the next 50 years? Unless we find a solution in the next 20 years, yes