identifying

 

 a very radical new concept

the notion of identifying has become very important in discourse concerning gender. it is good to consider the nature of it directly.

the belief that a person's gender is determined by self-identification is very new and very radical. throughout history, throughout the world, gender has been regarded as a matter of  biological sex evident from birth (i am not saying no exceptions anywhere ever; i would note that accepting men living as women is not the same as believing them to actually be women). your gender was identified by the midwife, in the first few seconds of your life, based on what was regarded as basic medical facts. gender being an important aspect of life, this belief becomes ingrained within the world-views of each member of the population. it is not a belief that can be suddenly swept away, out of acceptable society. changing something so fundamental will instinctively feel wrong to most people. forcing a big change, disrespecting people who still feel some attachment to the beliefs with which they were brought up, even regarding these as offensive, is liable to alienate the public from the radicals, which is helpful for the political right.

believing that people can change gender is not the same as believing that gender is a matter of identification. many people respect that the process of change which transitioners have gone through, especially of bodily change, does qualify them as having their new gender, while these people do not believe that you can change gender just through reidentifying.

in order not to impose upon and alienate people who do not have trans feelings and who are not cultural/political radicals, i think it is important to differentiate self-interpretation and cultural affiliation from formal societal legal status. for instance many people would respect the right to regard yourself as non-binary, and the right to join a non-binary club, but they would think 'non-binary' being the gender recorded on your passport as strange. these many people do respect and do not hate gender variant people - if they are condemned as transphobes they get pushed towards the camp of the real nasty transphobes.

 cis-identifying

i do not think many people actively 'cis-identify'. i think it is most trans commentators who identify others as 'cis', not the 'cis' people themselves. it's not a very nice sound, is it, 'cis'? was it, i wonder, designed as pejorative?

i think that what 'cis-identifiers' believe is that their body and upbringing determines their gender. it is not a matter of choosing an identity. a macho man would say 'i am proud of my masculinity. i am more masculine than some other men'. he would not say 'i identify as male', he regards male gender status as a given.

what distinguishes 'cis-identifying' gender variant people (eg crossdressers) from trans-identifying might be a rejection of the belief that gender is determined by self-identification, rather than an active affirmation of their masculinity.

the sub-culture of identity politics

my post above does suggest that there is a place for gender self-identification. and i think there is: it can clarify your understanding of yourself, it can enable you to meet kindred spirits ('crossdreamer' was very helpful for me, back in the day), but the danger of factionalism is real. as with the old socialist left hostility between factions can harm the bigger cause, and can get to seem rather ridiculous. as well as the hostility between groups, the frequency with which new identifications form denies them a chance to settle and grow. you coin a term which you think defines your group well, it starts to catch on, then someone else produces a reason for finding your definition unsatisfactory, and it's back to division and uncertainty again.

related to this is vocabulary policing. people getting a kick from condemning others' use of vocabulary as offensive. no term has a chance to settle and gain currency - you can be sure that someone will contrive a reason for finding it offensive before too long.

 these negative tendencies can be countered to some extent by a broad umbrella term that is not just a vague description but an affirmation of commonality, unity and mutual support. such a term was 'transgender', as in 'transgender alliance'.

three kinds of being something

1 that which you present yourself to the world as being

2 that which you regard yourself as being

3 that which you are whether you like it or not, whether you acknowledge it or not