Gender Experiences

 

The issue of gender has become a hot political subject, particularly in the United States. Particularly among conservatives there is a lot of hysteria around the issue and that is unfortunate. Unreasonable fears seldom benefit anyone.

I remember a television series many years ago. It was called The Naked City. It told the story of people in New York City. They always said at the beginning of each show: There are 8 million stories in the Naked City. This is one of them.  Well sex and gender  is sort of like that.

These comments are inspired by a talk given recently by own former family doctor Darren Reimer at event in Steinbach hosted by a wonderful organization called Neighbours for Community. I tried to take notes as best I could but failed miserably so I had to do my own independent research. This post is based on both of those. So the mistakes in these comments are my own and I take responsibility for them. Don’t blame Dr. Reimer for anything I say; blame me.

 

Gender identity is not the same thing as gender expression. Gender expression refers to how a person outwardly expresses his or her or their gender. This can be evinced by clothes, hairstyles, or attitudes. Gender identity is what a person feels inside. Gender identity can be different than gender expression. For example, a person may be repressing a gender identity by choosing to wear clothes that hide the gender identity. On the other hand, gender expression can be employed by a person who is not sure of his or her or their gender identity but wants to explore it. A person may just want to choose a gender identify rather than having one imposed by others.

A person’s gender is determined early in life, but probably not at birth.  Gender is not as simple as many people choose to believe. The natural world, which includes humans, is astonishingly diverse. Not only that, it is fluid and dynamic.  Nothing in nature necessarily remains the same. As I always like to say, the only thing constant in nature is change.

 

There are more than 2 gender identities.  People are gender diverse. This is an umbrella term that includes, queer, non-binary and gender fluid. Physicians say that about 0.5% to 4.5% of adults are in this category and 2.5% to 8% among children and adolescents.  And people have been gender diverse for centuries and probably millennia. As my family doctor said, “This was not invented by the woke crowd.”

Indigenous people have another category that they refer to as “two spirited.” Most first nations recognized 3-5 gender roles when they first contacted Europeans. The categories are subject to change.

Many people prefer worlds of black and white and  have difficulty with a world of colour.  Such people also prefer worlds where all questions can be answered with simple answers: yes or no for example. Sadly for them, often life is not that simple.

 

Some people think God never makes mistakes. Surprisingly, some people even believe this though they have seen Ted Cruz.  As a result on this view, since God never makes mistakes it would be wrong to try to change the gender God assigned us at birth. However, what if the gender God assigned us at birth is not as clear cut as we ordinarily expect?  What if the gender or sex of a person is not absolutely clear? Does that mean God made a mistake? Why?

 

People who insist on a black and white world have trouble accepting that there can be ambiguity about gender, but such ambiguities are common and have been with us forever! Again the woke crowd did not invent this phenomenon. This used to be referred to as Hermaphroditus, but today is usually referred to as intersex. Many people think everyone has clear male or female markers, but that is not the case. There is sometimes a significant overlap between the two which makes it difficult for physicians to assign sex at birth. This actually happens frequently. This also happens with other animals. Farmers know that sometimes animals are born with both male or female genitals or genitals that are not clearly male or female. People with intersex characteristics have several variations of their sexual characteristics. About 1% of people are ambiguous in their sex.

 

People can also be ambiguous about their gender. Remember, gender is selected by the individual and not  assigned by physicians. A person might not be sure what their gender identity is. Such people may want to explore the possibilities before they choose an identity. And then, in some cases, the gender identity they have chosen may change later. What is wrong with that?

At  times shame, fear, and guilt led people to request physicians “correct” these “defects” by surgery. Frequently, such surgeries ended in disasters. Playing God often does not work out well. Nowadays, physicians recognize that there is no such thing as Gender identity disorder. It is not a disorder! It is merely an ambiguity.

Gender dysphoria is a term that describes a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. This sense of unease or dissatisfaction may be so intense it can lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life. Some people prefer a sexual identity other than the one ordinarily assigned to them.

Many people, not just those identified by the woke crowd, experience stigma, abuse, prejudice, discrimination, and death as a result of stress imposed upon them by the majority for their perceived inadequacies of gender identity. This is horrifically cruel. We can do better!

Such actions by majorities can lead to profound physical or psychological harms. Transphobia is the infliction of harm on gender minorities by majorities. As the name suggests, such harms are inflicted out of fear and misunderstanding of what is perceived as different from us. Transphobia has led to violence against sexual or gender minorities around the world. Transphobia is international and real. 4,000 people were known to have died as a result between 2005 and 2021 but it is acknowledged the real numbers are much higher on account of under reporting.  1 out of 4 of these were murdered in their own homes. It is time to stem the tide.

We must do better.

 

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