O_O A man gives birth?

[Valandil]

This was a big discussion in my anthropology class and huge to the people taking the anthro senior class (which was sex and sexuality) last semester. Most of the points brought up were the fact that this person wanted to be considered a man and underwent procedures to do so. But at what point do we call this person a man when they were born a woman and still have all/most of the female reproductive organs? Personally, it's not for me to judge people on what gender they are, even if they are clearly male or female. I know that sounds weird, but from my anthro point of view, how can I deny them the right to that?

Some of you would say 'They're obviously a woman - they have a vagina!' But there are many different categories that anthropologists have for sexuality and this is one of them. And oddly enough something like this happens all over the world on a daily basis without so much as a blink of an eye. Although, I don't know if any of them can or do have children while in their 'opposite gender role,' if you will.

So yeah, there's that long, overstated anthropologist point of view. >_>

Gender identity and biological functionality are two separate ideas. Gender identity, and any identity for that matter, is merely a socio-ego construct. Whereas biological functionality is just that; biological. Two X chromosomes? Female. One X and one Y chromosome? Male.

 

[Dido]

Back when I took sociology we talked about gender identity, and the tendency of people brought up these days to only categorize things in a black and white, male vs female thinking.

I wish I could dig up the article I read, but it talked about how certain Native American tribes recognized people who identified with the opposite gender as genders in their own right.

Anyway, I don't look up the skirts/in the pants of most of the people I meet. So if someone dressed like a dude/acts like a dude and wants me to think he's a dude, I'll use a masculine pronoun. When my drag queen acquaintances are dressed up as their lady personas I refer to them as women.

 

[Realia]

Back when I took sociology we talked about gender identity, and the tendency of people brought up these days to only categorize things in a black and white, male vs female thinking.

I wish I could dig up the article I read, but it talked about how certain Native American tribes recognized people who identified with the opposite gender as genders in their own right.

Anyway, I don't look up the skirts/in the pants of most of the people I meet. So if someone dressed like a dude/acts like a dude and wants me to think he's a dude, I'll use a masculine pronoun. When my drag queen acquaintances are dressed up as their lady personas I refer to them as women.

Yeah, I've read that too. I don't remember it that well but it was very interesting.