Gender: Does It Exist?

 

This may seem a silly question, bearing in mind I label myself (if I have to use a label) as Trans Gender, the reason I am posing this question is because I recently read a book by Debbie Hayton entitled "Transexual Apostate My journey back to reality". Ms Hayton is a "transexual teacher, journalist, trade unionist and commentator on trans and gender issues". Without going through the book in it's entirety, I am just going to mention a couple of points, she tells in some detail about her Gender Reassignment Surgery, the problems and eventual successful outcome, later in the book she asserts that gender, as it can not be defined does not exist. I am a firm believer that everyone has the right to their own opinion and to express that opinion, however that doesn't mean I have to agree with their point of view.

So, back to the question, Does Gender Exist? Let's start at the beginning, the Cambridge English Dictionary defines Gender as:

"A group of people in a society who share particular qualities or ways of behaving which that society associates with being male, female or another identity"

Well if there must be a definition this roughly how I think of gender. When we are born we are assigned a sex at birth, based purely on our physical appearance, which of course is fine, as far as I am aware there is yet to be a proven test that can identify the infants gender. Society expects our sex and gender to align, but as we well know that is not always the case. In my case and I can't speak for anyone else, I began wanting to be a girl at a very young age, long before I had any idea it might be 'wrong', long before I even understood the difference between boys and girls. It is my opinion that I was born this way, it is genetically part of me. I spent a lifetime trying to ignore these feeling and desires, I was in denial and the only way to find happiness was to accept who I really am. One way I have used in the past to describe why I consider this to be genetic is this: 'If you are born with blond hair but want black you can dye it, problem solved, until the roots grow out and you start to become blond again, so you dye it again and this will go on indefinitely because you are genetically blond, you cant change that. So with me I couldn't change who I really am because (I believe) it's  genetic. Others may challenge this, but it works for me. How can this happen, some would ask? Well if you think about the male spectrum, there are infinitely variables within from very macho male at one end to transexual at the other and everything in between. Every male within the spectrum will be assigned male at birth because that is what the midwife see's, the physical attributes that denote male. But what the midwife and every other person can not see is what ultimately will make you into the person you were destined to be. This to me is what gender is, it is what makes me the real authentic me.....

Now lets think about this for a minute, if gender is genetic then it is not a construct of the current society but it could be a way in which nature diversify's the human population, or it could simply be a defect in the hormones genes passed from the mother or farther, or we could face the truth and realise that it is simply a naturally occurring phenomenon that has been around for thousands of years in almost all cultures throughout the world.  In many indigenous populations what we may now consider to be transgender was prevalent in both male to female and female to male forms. 

The fact that this phenomenon exists and I am certainly not the only one by any means that believes that, it has to have a term to describe it, Gender is as good a term as any other. So if we accept exists, why do some people have a problem with it? I don't believe it is the word itself, more the connotations now attached to it by activists, this has in part at least been brought to the public's attention by the Gender Recognition Act. I don't think it is the Act itself is the main problem although it was probably not constructed in the best possible way, the 'problem' is it suddenly allowed people, or more correctly opened peoples minds to the possibility of another form of expression. This seems to be more prevalent in the younger generations who don't wish to conform with society's male / female construct. This is a problem many have, in that certain people in prominent positions, activists and others seek to change reality in favour of a society in which there are only male and female. This will never work of course because we are here, always have been and always will be. These people may seek to drive us underground and in some cases succeed it that quest, but they will never be able to change a naturally occurring phenomenon and as such we will always exist.

Going back to Ms Hayton's book, while she is discussing gender, she says she came to the conclusion as it is not physical, as for example male or female and that as everybody's form of gender is different, therefore infinitely variable and so can not exist. This makes no sense to me as it clearly does exist. I think what is more telling is that having decided gender does not exist she realised there was no reason to have full GRS. Now I am not an expert on these things, but an intelligent person, as Ms Hayton clearly is, in considering having a major operation would have thought this through. Changing your physical appearance will not change who you are but only how you look, gender comes from within, your gender is a constant irrespective of how you look or what clothes you wear. 

For me gender is a very real thing, it was one of the hardest things I had to get my head around on my long journey throughout my life, but accepting your true gender, whatever that may be is a wonderful thing......