A simple fix for the Transgender issue.

Ken-1122

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How about if we just don’t address it? When referring to men vs women, when deciding which public restroom or shower facility to use, when unsure to call someone a ma'am or sir, instead of assuming gender, why not just assume sex? The difference? Sex refers to biology, (XX vs XY chromosomes, sex organs, etc) where as gender refers to perceived social roles based on sex.

When I speak to people, if I use the pronoun he or she, I’m referring to their sex not their gender. I’m making an assumption of their biology, not whatever confusion they might have going on inside of their heads. If a biological woman identifies as a man, she shouldn’t assume I am addressing her identification when I call her she, this woman should assume I am referring to her biology.

Does this make sense? Your thoughts?

Ken
 

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Sex chromosomes and sex organs don't always align. Which are you proposing to go with? How will you determine the sex of the person in question, whichever you choose?

This isn't really at the crux of the transgender issue though, is it?
 
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How about if we just don’t address it? When referring to men vs women, when deciding which public restroom or shower facility to use, when unsure to call someone a ma'am or sir, instead of assuming gender, why not just assume sex? The difference? Sex refers to biology, (XX vs XY chromosomes, sex organs, etc) where as gender refers to perceived social roles based on sex.

When I speak to people, if I use the pronoun he or she, I’m referring to their sex not their gender. I’m making an assumption of their biology, not whatever confusion they might have going on inside of their heads. If a biological woman identifies as a man, she shouldn’t assume I am addressing her identification when I call her she, this woman should assume I am referring to her biology.

Does this make sense? Your thoughts?

Ken

I don't think that gender and sex can meaningfully be separated. "Gender" is really something related to grammar and syntax. Verbs, nouns, and adjectives have gender. But the concept is really not very useful when applied to human beings.
 
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sfs

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This isn't really at the crux of the transgender issue though, is it?
No, but the questions I raised do seem to be issues with the OP's proposal, which I take to be the subject of this thread.
 
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Tree of Life

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No, but the questions I raised do seem to be issues with the OP's proposal, which I take to be the subject of this thread.

Strikes me as the tail wagging the dog. These very rare scenarios are not a good template for determining how we should think about the vast majority of people and cases.
 
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Ken-1122

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Sex chromosomes and sex organs don't always align. Which are you proposing to go with? How will you determine the sex of the person in question, whichever you choose?
In the extremely rare situation that chromosomes and sex organs do not align? An exception can be made for them.
 
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Ken-1122

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I don't think that gender and sex can meaningfully be separated. "Gender" is really something related to grammar and syntax. Verbs, nouns, and adjectives have gender. But the concept is really not very useful when applied to human beings.
So you agree with me?
 
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So you agree with me?

I don't think that will satisfy the people pushing this issue. I'm all for dropping the concept of gender altogether because I don't think it's useful. But the concept of gender is incredibly important for these people.
 
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hedrick

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I don't think this kind of distinction is going to be helpful. There is evidence that it really matters to transgender folks to be treated as their identified gender. The kind of explanation given in the OP is going to look like making excuses for not doing so.
 
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hedrick

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I don't think that will satisfy the people pushing this issue. I'm all for dropping the concept of gender altogether because I don't think it's useful. But the concept of gender is incredibly important for these people.
Is this like stopping marriage licenses because gays can get married?
 
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Ken-1122

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I don't think that gender and sex can meaningfully be separated. "Gender" is really something related to grammar and syntax. Verbs, nouns, and adjectives have gender. But the concept is really not very useful when applied to human beings.
So you agree with me?
 
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Ken-1122

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I don't think this kind of distinction is going to be helpful. There is evidence that it really matters to transgender folks to be treated as their identified gender.
When dealing with strangers, how is that different? A couple weeks ago someone died in the hospital; a biological woman who identifies as a man went to the hospital with stomach issues. She listed her sex as male so they did not do a pregnancy test on her (which would have shown her problem) and instead did tests that would be done on a man and the person died as a result.
Other than when biology is important, I don’t see how men and women should be treated differently, do you?
 
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Ken-1122

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I don't think that will satisfy the people pushing this issue. I'm all for dropping the concept of gender altogether because I don't think it's useful. But the concept of gender is incredibly important for these people.
I'm not really looking to satisfy people looking for something to complain about, I'm looking to fix the issue, and when you take the subjective perceptions out of the picture, it seems to fix the issue IMO
 
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I'm not really looking to satisfy people looking for something to complain about, I'm looking to fix the issue, and when you take the subjective perceptions out of the picture, it seems to fix the issue IMO

The issue is that people are not satisfied identifying with their biological sex.
 
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I am not saying they should identify with their sex, I'm saying when addressed by someone who doesn't know them, they should understand the stranger is referring to their sex regardless to how they personally feel about their sex.

They're not satisfied with that. They need you to recognize them as whatever they identify with. Nothing less will do.
 
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