So, I was just watching the news and a woman who had been very badly treated by a women only gym was telling her story. Another person pointed out that women would struggle for their rights if anyone could identify themselves as a woman, entitlement to health care was mentioned as an example. The news item was essentially about how a woman should be defined. I am curious to know what my fellow wikiHow users think is the definition of a woman. IMO, any human being who says they feel like a woman, is a woman. It’s not about genitalia, ability to give birth or anything else. HUMAN BEINGS have a right to health care and if, for example, human beings are having a particular issue with breast cancer or ovarian cancer then research needs to be done and they need help, it’s NOT about being a woman, it’s about having those organs. If you have those organs, you have them, no denying it, but it does not make you a woman if you have them and it does NOT mean you are not a woman if you don’t. What you do all think defines a woman?
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I have seen in the news too about sex change surgeries because those individual didnt ‘feel’ like the gender they were born as. So, clearly, ‘feelings’ play a major role in what you want to be and who you think you are. First I thought, the woman should be allowed to be in the gym with other women as long as the others in there are ‘comfortable’. But why would others be less comfortable? Those same uncomfortable things can be done by any other lady out there. So, let the woman in whether or not you are comfortable. If something wrong happens with the new entrant, let there be appropriate enquiry and investigation, like in any other place. Talking about comfortable and uncomfortable, some men were and are uncomfortable regarding work scenario, equal pay, objectifying women and more such stand relating to women. However women have raised there voice against such discrimination despite men (also some orthodox women) feeling uncomfortable about it. If feeling uncomfortable was to be taken into consideration, women would not have had access to gym at first place. Let’s allow people to be.
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I have seen in the news too about sex change surgeries because those individual didnt ‘feel’ like the gender they were born as. So, clearly, ‘feelings’ play a major role in what you want to be and who you think you are. First I thought, the woman should be allowed to be in the gym with other women as long as the others in there are ‘comfortable’. But why would others be less comfortable? Those same uncomfortable things can be done by any other lady out there. So, let the woman in whether or not you are comfortable. If something wrong happens with the new entrant, let there be appropriate enquiry and investigation, like in any other place. Talking about comfortable and uncomfortable, some men were and are uncomfortable regarding work scenario, equal pay, objectifying women and more such stand relating to women. However women have raised there voice against such discrimination despite men (also some orthodox women) feeling uncomfortable about it. If feeling uncomfortable was to be taken into consideration, women would not have had access to gym at first place. Let’s allow people to be.
You are so right my friend - let people be. Anyone can apply any label they like to themselves, no one has the right to label anyone else. You are okay with me calling you my friend though right!?!!!
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Why what happened to our friendship? Of course we have been friend’s since we discussed our disagreement about a spooky article. Yes, I remember our first conversation vividly and am thankful it happened and we became friends. Why did you ask???
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I was teasing! I have labeled you my friend, and we agree people shouldn’t label each other but I know that is one label you don’t mind having. I am very glad we are friends too.
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Oh
now I get it. Yup, I love that label my friend.
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When people define sex by genitalia, I just wonder if they know of intersex people. But besides that, I find It slightly contradicting when some define gender by things you do. Like giving birth (what if you’re sterile? or got injured?) or dressing a certain way, when those same people say that you can’t change sex/gender.
My main problem is when people start attacking others or mocking others for whatever belief. People jump to conclusions or don’t listen to others’ POVs. If it is not hurting you, anyone else, or the person, then usually it’s safe to say: let people be who they are!
Being a woman is difficult to define and argue about because the popular definition has changed so much. A word is only the meaning that people assign it. But if someone feels they are a woman, then I’m not going to argue with who they are.
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^ +1
Honestly, I don’t think there’s any real definition to being a woman besides knowing you are one. It’s the same thing with men and with nonbinary genders - it’s not the genitals or the stereotypical manners of behaving, it’s who you are. I think attempting to box in genders by this or that would ultimately be misleading and too constricting of what gender actually is.
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Caeiia
11
^+1 right back at you!
I know from personal experience (and I’m sure many other people do too) that restrictions on behavior based on gender are a bit detrimental. There’s not as much freedom to do something that might turn out a happier person. It’s nice to feel comfortable about your identity, so women who say they’re women should be allowed to have that feeling.
Also, gender stereotypes and expectations have turned out weird products like man cave scented candles and (this is a proposed idea from some company manager or something) Doritos for females. I can’t make this up and don’t think these are fake.
(I’m just passionate on this topic! And like talking about it even though many people around me don’t)
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Taking this a step further, I believe that everything is on a continuum, not just gender. That is, every attribute of every entity – living or not – falls somewhere on a spectrum. In Western cultures, it is our tendency to classify someone or something by the labels for the endpoints of those continua. This is probably an outgrowth of Western civilization seeking to classify everything.
It is my feeling that the classification process provides labels (which are often misplaced), but the process does not contribute to understanding the nature of things. In fact, naming everything often stands in the way of understanding. I believe Richard Feynman, “The Great Explainer”, said something similar.
Conventional “wisdom” says that: by labeling, we can more easily describe and understand entities. But, the fallacy of such classification is apparent in all sorts of fuzzy areas, for example, between species or genders. Using the endpoints as labels, ultimately, stands in the way of true understanding. At the very least, labeling distorts the true view of an individual (who is undeniably nuanced and subject to change).
So, I say that human needs, emotional or physical, should be ministered to in such a way that the individual becomes more whole in the process and that is what really matters.
But maybe that is the idealist in me talking.
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There are too many emotions of which the exact word is not known to me in Hindi. So while talking here, I have to use its English equivalent to say what I need to. This is pretty common here. The exact Hindi term may seem too (I don’t know the word here) professional or preachy or archaic. The way things have been named has helped many like me. I don’t know the Hindi for Transgender, Binary etc either. Just saying the pros of it. At least people here talk of these issues and listen to each other. That’s a good sign of change as a possibility.
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Wow. Thank you everyone for your points of view and perspective on this topic. I have enjoyed reading what everyone has written, all of you made interesting comments. I think there’s hope for the future of humanity with folk like you lot around.
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Caeiia
15
Thanks for that nice comment. Made me smile. And I guess thank you for bringing it up.
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No matter what you do to your body, no matter how you think, no matter how many changes you make, you are still the gender you are born with. Nothing can change that.
I am proud to be what I was made to be. You can be too. There is a purpose in the way you were made. It wasn’t completely random. Be proud of who you are.
@TheYoungWriter
, people aren’t “born with” a gender. Gender is part of someone’s innate sense of self. I think you’re mixing gender up with sex - there’s a distinct difference. As I like to describe it, sex is what’s in your pants, and gender is how you feel about what’s in your pants.
You get to define your own gender, as well as your own favorites and personality - nobody else can define that for you. But please don’t try to define other people’s genders or personalities for them. You’re not them, and you don’t get to say who they are. It’s hurtful, it breeds intolerance, and it’s not true.
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I think the statements made by both TheYoungWriter and Galatic Radiance both just enforce my thoughts on this - that it is REALLY hard to define gender. I don’t think a new born baby has a gender, as GR says, gender is what you feel, and a baby doesn’t feel anything about what’s insides it’s nappy (unless it’s wailing for a nappy change!) Talking about the way people are made doesn’t clarify anything either as human beings are born with body parts that don’t conform to binary genders, so, it’s not how we’re made. As for random, well, human bodies ARE entirely random, that’s why we don’t all look the same and all have unique DNA. I don’t think anyone has the right to label anyone else and we all have the right to present ourselves, and identify, the way we feel comfortable. We can all be proud to be what we feel we are - whatever that is.
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Well said, @HumanBeing
and @Galactic-Radiance
.
How can you feel
like a boy if you are made to be a girl, or vice versa? The psychology of the mind can’t override the facts of a person’s biological markers.
I’m very sorry if I’ve offended anyone. I’m not going to try to force anyone to believe as I do.
I simply believe that God has made everyone with specifics, including gender, in mind. To try to change those basics would be to try to take control of God’s ultimate plan. To, in essence, control our destinies and that of others. I have discovered and rediscovered many times that trying to override what God has in mind simply does not work. We may briefly shove ourselves and others off of the careful path that God has set for us, but we simply become lost and entangled, sometimes till the end of our lives, and I cannot get over how sad that is.
I have never been able to understand someone not ‘knowing’ their own gender, but I will try to be understanding and accepting of other’s personal beliefs. I know not everyone, and maybe very few, believe as I do. I will hold fast to my opinion, but I will do my very best to be open to others and not make offensive comments.
Thank you.
