RE: Assuming a Gender Identity
January 22, 2019 at 9:20 am
(This post was last modified: January 22, 2019 at 9:23 am by I_am_not_mafia.)
Non-binary is a very loose term that basically means nothing by itself.
Cisgendered is used in contrast to transgendered. i.e. your biological sex matches your gender identity.
Question. Are you intersex?
Are you biologically a mix of genders? Maybe chromosomes don't match your genitals, or your genitals haven't fully developed etc.
If not then can you say that you are biologically male?
Assuming that this is the case, then the next question is, are you transgendered? This isn't an easy question and the answer might change over time as you become more aware of yourself. Or as you realise that you are in denial about being transgendered.
From what you say, it doesn't sound like you are.
But like with everything, there is a continuum. So maybe your gender identity is more towards the middle than the male or female extremes. And assuming that you are not intersex, you can exist as, function as and present yourself as a cisgendered man and it's not causing you undue suffering (correct me if I am wrong here).
Be aware that gender is not how it presented as in society. You can still identify as a man without having to like football, in the same way not liking shopping and make-up doesn't mean that you are not a woman. You can still be a woman without wearing a hijab and being subjected to female genital mutilation. Same way that you can love men and still be a man despite living in a culture that sees homosexuality as an aberration.
So you might not identify with the demands placed on your gender by your culture, but do you relate to other people of your same biological sex? Do you think and act in the same way?
Lots of men prefer the company of women. That doesn't mean to say that they have the same innate values, drives or mentality though. Only you can determine if you identify as male or female or as neither.
These are not easy questions when you are the one living your life. You can't expect a complete stranger to know.
Cisgendered is used in contrast to transgendered. i.e. your biological sex matches your gender identity.
Question. Are you intersex?
Are you biologically a mix of genders? Maybe chromosomes don't match your genitals, or your genitals haven't fully developed etc.
If not then can you say that you are biologically male?
Assuming that this is the case, then the next question is, are you transgendered? This isn't an easy question and the answer might change over time as you become more aware of yourself. Or as you realise that you are in denial about being transgendered.
From what you say, it doesn't sound like you are.
But like with everything, there is a continuum. So maybe your gender identity is more towards the middle than the male or female extremes. And assuming that you are not intersex, you can exist as, function as and present yourself as a cisgendered man and it's not causing you undue suffering (correct me if I am wrong here).
Be aware that gender is not how it presented as in society. You can still identify as a man without having to like football, in the same way not liking shopping and make-up doesn't mean that you are not a woman. You can still be a woman without wearing a hijab and being subjected to female genital mutilation. Same way that you can love men and still be a man despite living in a culture that sees homosexuality as an aberration.
So you might not identify with the demands placed on your gender by your culture, but do you relate to other people of your same biological sex? Do you think and act in the same way?
Lots of men prefer the company of women. That doesn't mean to say that they have the same innate values, drives or mentality though. Only you can determine if you identify as male or female or as neither.
These are not easy questions when you are the one living your life. You can't expect a complete stranger to know.
