Ben Shapiro vs Neil deGrasse Tyson: The WAR Over Transgender Issues

[Belacqua]

we were taught in cultural anthropology gender is the series of expectations, roles, and ritualistic traditions that are expected from an individual based upon societal norms - while we can choose to break the norms we cannot redefine them, at least not as individuals.

Yes, I think this is clear.

The characteristics that are habitually associated with a gender are culturally determined. So the idea that a woman will have long hair, wear makeup and a dress, speak in a "feminine" voice -- all of this is cultural. There is no intrinsic attachment to femaleness. 

So trans women who choose to take on these characteristics are of course choosing to conform more fully to the culturally-determined set of norms. We can talk about "being my true self" or "becoming who I really am" but there is no "true self" that is entirely free of cultural influence. We are social animals. 

And I think you're correct that individuals can choose whether they want to conform to these norms, but not to determine what the norms are. Since we know now that gender is in fact not determined by anatomy or by surface characteristics, that means it's possible for a woman who was assigned male at birth to look and act exactly like Clint Eastwood. She would still be a woman, even if she has a penis, a week's worth of stubble, and wears cowboy clothes. Yet it appears that most trans people still choose to take on the culturally-determined appearance of the gender they truly are -- trans men cut their hair short and have top surgery, trans women grow their hair long and wear makeup. 

(And people may not be aware of the degree to which our signifiers are culturally determined. You sometimes see someone claim, for example, that because they are free-spirited non-conformists they choose to wear Converse tennis shoes. Never mind that the image of Converse (owned by Nike) as something free spirits wear is a cultural norm. So that the people who want to signal that they ignore cultural norms do so by adopting a particular cultural norm.)

Of course I think that everyone should take on any appearance they want. But this doesn't mean they're operating free of the culture they're a part of.