Not sure if this is the right thread because the person isn't trans but turned out to be a huge TRA. So I thought my friend was against transgenderism because he told me he believes it should be eradicated from public life in the same way hearing about cancer should be. He doesn't believe trans women are biological females. However, he thinks "gender identity" is something thats been proven in the brain and that its ingrained. I kept persuading him as what gender identity is and he claims its something that's a mixture of social roles, and personal identity across cultures and history. For example below he claims,
"The "social" roles for a man would be more about leadership, physical strength, protection, and providing for your family. For a woman it would be domestic responsibilities, caregiving, nurturing, etc."
"But social roles change, because nowadays, women are in the workforce, are in leadership positions, serve in combat, etc., while men are also increasing their involvement in childcare and expressing themselves emotionally"
He also argued that gender identity is not solely defined by societal roles or stereotypes. I brought up certain things associated with men, such as, did you like playing with car toys growing up? Does your sex drive have a significant visual component? Are you more solutions-oriented than relationally-oriented? You're probably describing a man. Women can and have been one, two, or all three of these things, but it's statistically unlikely. Brain scans are similar. I believe one of the major differences between the sexes is that women tend to have stronger connections between their hemispheres, whereas men have stronger intra-hemisphere connections. But if you're a woman and your brain hits all the masculine hotspots, and you like machines, the likelihood is certainly higher that you're a butch lesbian. There's zero chance you're "actually" a man.
His response? He accused me of conflating gender identity with interests and personality traits. He states that I'm assuming that trans people are simply misinterpreting their preferences rather than experiencing a fundamental disconnect between their gender identity and assigned sex. The available research on trans brain structures contradicts the idea, as it shows gender identity has deeper roots than just hobbies or behavior."
This feels very bizarre. Can anyone please explain to me how what I said are personality traits whereas if a transgender person did any of those things I listed above it would be confirmation of their gender identity? For example, if a TIF believed she was a man because she liked machines and cars that would be her gender identity aligning with her inner self, but if a lesbian liked those things, its suddenly a personality trait? It feels like the only reason my friend did this complete 180 was because there's a guy we know who came back into our group chat and is extremely left wing and a pro TRA, because before he did admit to me that LGBTQ identification was mostly a social contagion and didn't seem to support trans people. (I know he'd never date a trans woman if he believed his own crap) Now, even when I bring up to him that most trans people make no difference between sex and gender and that they really think they're biological women/female, he accused me of using outliers to generalize an entire community. Like bro these aren't outliers, this is what the community actually believes in otherwise you would see more trans people call out those who harass lesbians for not being attracted to trans women and "girl cock".
