Is gender a meaningless construct?

[Derekk]

There's a lot to unpack with it. For one thing, gender doesn't reduce to a simple declaration for those who experience it. There's a lot of debate about the source of gender identity: does it come from some innate pre-cognitive apparatus that we don't understand yet? Is it formed through a complex interrelationship between the person and their broader social context? Is it a mix? Something doesn't need to be attached to biological reality for it to have explanatory value. For instance, there's little evidence that the "Big 5" personality metrics or other psychological schemas have direct correspondence to functions of the brain, and yet they serve a purpose. If I told you that I'm high on "open to experience", that likely tells you something about me, even if it's artificially constructed.

The argument that gender boils down to declaration comes from a naive misunderstanding of what gender is usually taken to mean, and sometimes it's used as a rhetorical argument to claim that "soon we'll be able to say that we're horses or helicopters". You CAN say that you identify as a horse if you'd like, but nobody will understand it or take you seriously because there's no framework for understanding "horse identity" that captures the experience of other "horse identified people".

[JSmuve]

I suppose that depends on how one defines "gender". If one defines it as being the same as biological sex with male and female, then no it's not meaningless. If, on the other hand, one says that gender is a self-declaration based on nothing more than how one sees themselves, which is the unfortunate path society seems to want to walk down, then yes, it's a meaningless construct. If we're defining ourselves based on nothing more than self-perception and personality, then "gender" becomes this nebulous idea that has so many possibilities that they cannot all be defined and differentiated from each other by the casual observer, rendering the whole concept as being impractical.

[OlderAndWiser]

Is your question just a construct and therefore meaningless? This seems to have been covered at a recent seminar attended by the "let's change society" crowd. If you want to challenge something, just call it a meaningless construct and then you can ignore it.

Is gender meaningless? Hell, no! Not if you're heterosexual!

[hellionthesagereborn]

Well its not a declaration, its quantifiable and measurable (and has been measured and extensively studied). What the left is doing isn't reality, its cultural destruction. By removing the rules they think they can reinstate their own. That is why they alter definitions regularly.

Racism originally was believing in the innate superiority or inferiority of a group of people based upon race. So the left changed it into a power dynamic unrelated to race and which allows some to be racist (by original definition) and others not. This takes away the power of the word racist as its applicable only one way (i. e. its a academic version of the phrase "I'm rubber your glue what ever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you").

They changed the definition of marriage from a reproductive contract between a man and a woman (hence it requiring consumation and a legallyl binding contract to exchange goods and services indefinitly between the two participants) and they changed it into being about "love" making the instutition of marriage effectively meaningless (you can enter and exist at whim, its purpose has no longer been about reproduction and creating a stable enviroment for children thus allowing for the break down of the family unit (something they have been championing from the begining (they wish to replace the family structure with the government).

They now do it with gender to destroy gender roles in an attempt to try and turn us all into replaceable cogs in a machine, to destroy the family structure, to create a larger working class that also is not their to raise their young so that we become dependent on the government to do it for us (hence them pushing for public schooling and being against school choice. It allows them to raise and indoctrinate children into their ideology without the parents knowledge or consent.

This is what they do, they do it in every nation socialist try to subvert and break the system in order to "reset the bones" of society into one they find most appealing (it fails every time, but like an angel of death (the serial killer) they are drunk on the power of it so they keep trying to the detriment of every one else.

[Kaazsz]

No. They will tell you that everything is purely constructed by society. But that is scientifically incorrect.


They will tell you that different cultures express gender differently. And that is the justification for why gender is merely a social construct.


So to answer your question, you must go and actually do some research and learn about different societies, different cultures across time and across the world.


Masculinity and femininity exist in every single culture, and although there is some degree of spectrum, there is no culture where men raise the babies and women hunt for food.


So to debunk the idea that it’s purely a social construct, one only needs to do actual research on a variety of cultures to see that gender is not a construct as much as they lie and tell you it is. They expect you not to do the research yourself.


Not to mention the biological realities between men and women. Which are also scientifically concrete and undeniable. They aren’t that big. But they do exist.


The problem is it’s all politicized. The conservatives want to say that humans have a pre determined social order and structure as dictated by biology, and liberals want to say that biology has zero influence and we are makers of our own social order.


So to justify each sides “moral” belief, they twist facts to fit their moral belief, rather than fitting their moral belief to the facts.

[talloak]

Gender is complex. It can’t be defined absolutely. It has a biological component. It has a see component. And it has a personal component. Those who claim that gender is biology are ignoring the reality that each society defines gender differently. And if there are so many social differences, there are necessarily individual differences as well. Biology is not destiny.

When discussing gender on the individual level, it is not a matter of declaration. It’s a matter of identity. And this is itself very complex. Gender, race, intelligence and attractiveness are all qualities that have biological, social and individual implications.

When people attempt to enforce rules about how individuals must behave based on any of these categories, it causes serious problems. This is the essence of discrimination. Of these, discrimination against people who violate gender norms is both legal and tolerated. For example, murders of transwomen are seldom even investigated, indicating that they deserved to be murdered.

[Tonga]

Well technically in the old times, it seemed more efficient for certain people to take certain roles. Some were even enforced. With that and normal human behavior, these constructs started to arise
the issue with the question is that as the others stated, these roles or behaviors fall into the category of intersubjective (this is actually also where politics and time falls too... to an extent). Some people still argue for a need to adhere to those roles. I think one should make sure the benefits of those roles and behaviors are maintained in this society.
also one could argue that it’s already happening with the gender fluid and “my gender is a sock.” Calling it “degeneration” or “disintegration” of the gender norms that were applied before.
My opinion about this question is the same as the anonymous guy below who stated that “they would still make differentiations.” People feel the need to categorize things. It’s how we survived. So I still see the title maintaining itself... or at least people referring to “feminine” or “masculine” as qualities in a person or pointers to archetypes.

[triff]

Sex should be meaningful Traditionaly Sex was between man and woman where the man could demand This was changed to protect women from rape or sexual abuse These were when Genders of opposite sex Now things are so different Which became Same sex part of a song in 1978 the relevant verse as Boys will be Girls and Girls will be boys Its a mixed up world for my Lola This maybe when Genders were looked at differently Growing to the society we live in Where same genders are accepted as a loving couples Is gender significant today Not so much but the person is

[hahahmm]

Researchers went deep into the jungle and found some young apes that have never socialized with people. They tossed a pile of human toys onto the ground and the male apes played with the cars. The female apes picked up the stuffed animals and tried to baby/nurse them. There's also studies that show women can't handle stress as well as men and (most) any idiot knows that men have denser muscle mass... we could go on and on.

So there are deep biological differences between male & female even if some women want to act like men & some men want to act like women.

[Soteris]

I would say both are fairly meaningless. Sex is complicated, far more than what can be simplified into man/woman or even a few more options, likewise with gender identity. As you said yourself, sex at least reflects something biological but instead of accepting the biological we add a largely unnecessary step.

In my opinion this just gets in the way. People generally dont need to know what someone else identify as or what their biological sex is precisely to know what they like and do not like. It also creates unnecessary divisions such as the male/female disparities in society. It would just be so much easier if we gave up the pretense that we were in control.

[Larson7]

No it determines what Sex You Are.. You have a what a worm hanging off down there or a weird looking fleshy hole ( it is to die for , I highly recommend recreational fun) Worrmy or fleshy hole of power determines your gender.

There's other facets of gender that make you a lover of fleshy holes or a worm gobbler. Although those are not necessarily indicative but there's all kinds of different things that will make you a boy or a girl.

But you can only change your gender in your imagination. Prove me wrong... Its science man, science.

[Anonymous]

I don’t find gender meaning less yk I saw a kid who’s 8 on a story on YouTube he is transgender BUT THE CATCH IS she dresses like a girl and acts like a girl but considers herself a boy. I don’t have a problem with that but yk if I accidentally call u by a she or a female yk sometimes it’s not on people. She /he said that gender doesn’t matter and it does because I mean it always has it’s the two main genders and when your born it’s a male or female. If people change it that’s okay but it should always matter I’m straight and prefer masculine men so If he comes out as she/ he or smth I wouldn’t know or a femboy

[Citizenkirk]

Because that declaration is of the continuation of the species. Some might consider that to be significant.
Beyond that, having experienced love, I am a true believer that we are only half of the human equation, and that the other half, your soul mate, completes us as individuals, by making the pair, complete.

[Everyoneisplastic]

Gender can't be meaningful if it is only attached to a declaration. If I declare I'm a dog, that means nothing except that I'm delusional and need help. Dressing and acting and feeling a certain way will never change your DNA. Males can't reproduce with males and don't share the same bone structure, DNA, or organs as females and vice versa.

[Lliam]

Gender is based on biology. I reject the notion that it is a social construct. Gay and bi is still male and female. Trans (gender dysphoria) is a rare mental disorder. I don't claim that it doesn't exist or that it can be treated. But I strongly object to teaching children to question their gender. Boys should embrace their masculinity and girls should embrace their femininity.

[Astarlessnightsky]

Everyone can find their own meaning of it.

Some will heavily argue gender=sex.

For others its a huge part of their identity, look how many got "non-binary" as part of their bio on twitter and other social media.

Also comparing how the definition of any gender evolves or how it is different from country to country can give a lot of information about that society.

[NaultD]

I personally like existential philosophy. So basically everything is inherently meaningless but in that we can create meaning for ourselves. The problem is we have to take responsibility in that creation of meaning. Like most responsibility people push it away on to other factors.

[israelisevil]

i know actual transgenders went through surgery (female to male not faggots) its very demeaning say someone just claims they something else the same as someone trying transition from one to other. 2 GENDERS YOU CAN SWITCH BUT there's ONLY 2. and if it was a social construct people wouldn't switch men and women have different expectations in society.

[Aakash_Hangargi]

I think people were too much hairy earlier so it was know whose male and whose female but the difference to know would bd the breasts and no pee pee so to not fuck with the own kind the ladies getting pregnent and distinguish who get impregnated that classification was made

[SomeGuyCalledTom]

Your gender IS your biological sex, they only changed the meaning because social constructionism got trendy in late 90s until present day. People seem to confuse gender with self-image. I might have a self-image of being an apache helicopter, but try putting that on my birth certificate.

[CuriousCat123]

Huh. I never thought of that. I think it more so has to do with the physical and mental structure. Men and women have different parts. Men and women also go through puberty at different ages in their life. And women or girls tend to become more mature and less childish earlier in life. Therefore gender is based off of physical and mental structure.

[McSlav]

Gender and Sex are synonyms, Gender is the same as Sex, however if you are talking about the expression of sexuality (ie Masculine and feminine) it should be more modren, something decided unrelated of gender, for example, the most popula are non-binary they chose to express their sexuality neutraly (masculine and feminine but not one or the other), and the group consists of both genders.

[crmoore]

I don't believe so. There may be bi people who don't mind either of the two predominant sexes, but they may only be attracted to feminine men and feminine women. This doesn't properly align with our current wya of regarding things, but if instead of heterosexual you had like a femasexual or something like that, then gender-like social constructs may be significant.

[jasco]

So if I declared that I am a women and go into the women bathroom and they were all naked it wouldn't be considered wrong at all cause I am women now. Same thing goes for the other gender as well. In short gender keeps creeps from doing creepy things. It keeps key markets flowing, why would men want to buy diapers or uh period stoppers. We dont need them but the women do. There are other examples but basically it keeps everything nice and tidy

[JackofSpades]

For all intents and purposes they're the same thing.
Now we can argue semantics all we want, but in my experience people use these terms interchangeably.

The only exception being the psych student snowflakes trying to push a pseudoscientific jargon that makes astrology look like newtonian physics.

[Anonymous]

It used to be 'gender' was a fluffy way of saying 'sex' as the latter was frightening to some people.
Nowadays kids seem to use the word as a freedom of expression so whereas before it was annoying but defined, now you might well define it as meaningless.

[Zelda_5]

Gender needs to die. It needs to not matter anymore and we need to stop gendering things. Sex is different though. We need a way to present our sex without gendering, as some people are only attracted to certain sexes, or want to make a baby naturally or something. But right now gender is not a meaningless construct so you need to respect someone's gender identity, pronouns, etc.

[RawIronhide]

Some men are feminine, some femail are manly. Their choosing what suites their personality. The issue is "male" and "female" are turns originally used to classify a persons genetic marker. People use it out of context now.

[dragoblack]

Originally it was for reproductive classification and gender wasn't a thing, but it eventually became the common classification for gender, until the understanding of genetics and hormonal balance came into play. The human genome is a super complicated thing and can't truly be simplified, especially with chimeraism being common

[Billie_]

gender is a way of easily categorising people, it is very normal, and has been used for the entirety of human existence. I don't see how it's meaningless. it doesn't have a strict meaning of course, but its just a way to describe someones appearance.

for example, if there was a criminal the police wouldn't say "a non binary person with brown hair was seen stealing from..." because nobody could identify them.

[Anonymous]

Gender (there are only two - male and female) is nature. Sex and gender are the same and we have only two - male and female. It is biological and natural and nobody can change this only because they want to. That’s craziness

[jshm2]

Nope.

A few dipshit psychologists wanted to keep tenure, and sell books to dimwits. They proposed "gender" was a construct in society and mind, with little basis in genetics.

It's bullshit of course, but if you make the argument and fiddle enough data then you can push through anything in the courts.

[Anonymous]

The term 'gender' used to be meaningful because it meant the same things as 'sex' and could be used more freely than the word 'sex', which makes some people uncomfortable. But today gender is essentially meaningless because it has been hijacked and conflated with all sorts of subjective nonsense that has rendered the term meaningless.

[Texaskid1]

Of course it is.

I believe there are 389,615, 435 genders.

I for one am a transgender giraffe. My correct pronoun is he long-cock/non-she/they.

[ShadezMcgee]

No it's not. People are too transfixed on making it a bigger deal than it really is and it is ridiculous. You are either a dude complete with a dick and two balls or a chick with breats and a pussy.

[ClaireToTheThrone]

💁🏻‍♀️ Penis = Man Vagina = Woman 🤦🏻‍♀️ It’s never been more simple 😇

[HungLikeAHorsefly]

We give it meaning, just like we do with all of aspects of our personality. What does it matter if you identify as a Conservative, or a Christian, or a dog lover, etc?

[Anonymous]

Of course, species is meaningless too, I'm actually a monkey, a 6 year old monkey who desires to mate with with humans around the age of 14, I also don't identify as a slave to human law, which means I have complete freedom to do whatever I want, including fucking your mom

[AnnNoid]

meaningless construct? why u must speak in riddles?
gender is jus a word to describe what kind of genitals u was given at birth,
if u disagree... why does gender and genitals sound kinda similar? its cos theyre both directly linked

[Anonymous]

everyone uses the word "gender" incorrectly. it refers to pronouns in writing, him/her, he/she etc.

whether someone is a male/female, boy/girl, man/woman, or how they declare themselves in these ridiculous times, is all "sex," not gender

it's the retards on TV news who get everyone to use it incorrectly

[Anonymous]

I think people over complicate gender way to much, you’re either man or a woman. Simple as, I don’t see why it should it be made into something so confusing

[Anonymous]

There are TWO and they are not “declared”, they are defined by your sex. The mental issue (gender dysphoria) which society has normalized does not make this a thing.
We are simply letting the mentally ill call themselves helicopters and letting them pretend it’s true.

Biology doesn’t care about your feelings
Males have a penis and are created to have sex with Women who have vaginas.

[cunnilinguist]

I am consciousness, having and experience in an earth-suit. Whatever sexual organ it may have in this particular lifetime is meaningless. Find what gives meaning to your life and live it.

[Anonymous]

What's kinda funny about the folks who suggest we should get rid of gender altogether is that if we did that (and I don't think it would be a problem at all by the way) we would STILL categorize people--we'd just go back to talking about biological sex which is incontrovertible and IS binary for 99+% of the population.

Bring it on!

[CasaNorba]

If I declare I'm a moose does that make me a moose?https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qv81zIIeHw0

[rachiga]

No and yes.
Gender roles are but I believe that in some cases Identifying as either male or female can give some people confidence and happienes.

[cth96190]

Gender is not a construct. It is a biological reality.
You should stop drinking the Cultural Marxist Kool-Aid.

[Givemore]

Declaration, you mean some one just tells you their gender or anything they like not based on science.

[mecookiemonster62]

If you're a single celled amoeba, whose only sexual activity is cellular mitosis then yeah, you could call it meaningless. However, if you're a human being that actively uses sexual organs to reproduce because that's how we evolved, then the question is meaningless.

[VanillaSalt]

Common sense has just gone out the window... let’s gender reassignment our 6 year old... fuck your gender bullshit. That’s not your choice to make and as a parent you should be teaching your kids to fit in not be different.

[MissDawn7961]

when mom gives birth they say - congratulations , you had a boy or a girl - ! thanks

[taveuni]

Yes and no. There is not much of a sexual dimorphism in humans but we still have some big biological differences.

[Gosselinfan]

You’re either a boy or a girl nothing Else, the rest is made up and you can’t change your dna

[captain_voidwalker]

Gender is determined by weather you have a XY chromosome pairing or an XX chromosome pairing. So no gender isn't a consept it's a consequence of genetics

[The_unknown_memer]

Gender in the social sense , yes
Because gender roles are mostly a social construct

Now gender by biology is not a social construct, it's biological

[ManOnFire]

I think these new age concepts of gender being a construct are what's meaningless.

[TallAnon]

Not quite, it's rather usefull for procreation, since a man has a dick and a woman has a vagina and you need both for a kid.

[faithie_Artist]

Why is it nature knows the difference and importance between a boy and a girl but humans don’t... like we are literally the only ones who do this delusional shit.

[Anonymous]

"How could gender be relevant if it is only attached to a declaration?"
It's not.

When it's not solely dependent on a declaration, then it's actually useful.

[CikaZivan]

What declaration?
If you are born with a penis, you are a man. End of story.

[CaptainSmartass]

Nope. Gender is a biological and psychological difference. So called "transgender" is a meaningless construct.

Simples...

[Whtevernever]

It's certainly not meaningless. If you believe it to be a societal construct, it is certainly a cornerstone one.