Gender?

I've been going though some gender isues over the past couple months. I've never felt so strongly about anything before especially my otherkin ness my kin seemes so trivial to it like it was little legue and this is the world series. I repressed it for a long time and now its bubbling over. but it begs the question...what does a gender identity have to do with a species identity? are they one in the same or are they different?

I think it depends whether one views gender as a mental or physical state in the first place as well as the importance an individual puts into it for them selves and how they view others.

We’ve had similar discussions in the past based on (or in relation to) the concept of gender and what usually messes up everyone is how they define the term in the first place.

Gender is a big question isn't it? A lot of my online friends, and my spouse, are transgendered. I might count too, except I don't think of myself as trans anything. I'm just both. There are a lot of parallels between those who think they are the wrong gender and those who think they are the wrong species, as compared to their physical bodies. The gender thing seems to come up a lot on my shaman lists as well. (two-spirits) It seems that one line of self questioning tends to open a person up to others.

Physically I'm a woman and I identify as one in this time and lifetime and over all. I have been a man in previous lifetimes though. But Chi is right. It depends on if you identify gender as a physical or mental thing.

avarin Wrote:I've been going though some gender isues over the past couple months. I've never felt so strongly about anything before especially my otherkin ness my kin seemes so trivial to it like it was little legue and this is the world series. I repressed it for a long time and now its bubbling over. but it begs the question...what does a gender identity have to do with a species identity? are they one in the same or are they different?

It depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

For me, as much as I like to say that my human form and true form just infect each other in terms of personality etc., I will say that my true form has a very strong (if not complete) influence on my sexuality.

If you're trying to explore your sexuality - I'd say focus on your sexuality first rather than assuming finding your kintype will somehow answer those questions. For me, they only answered "why" not "what."

One big thing I see often with sexuality is people try to classify themselves with common labels such as homosexual, gender queer, heterosexual, transgendered, BDSM fetish etc. My suggestion (since I feel I have an abnormal sexuality) is focus more on what you like, what turns you on and less on the labels. Basically discover "what" rather than "what's it called," "how" or "why"

Call me a stick in the mud sometimes. I am always for a distinction of what you are versus what you were. I believe that as an Angel, Terro is male. I was born male, so there's no complication there. Now if Terro was androgynous, I would still be male right now, I have male hormones, male genitalia, male body, male hard wired brain (however different that is from the female or transgendered... you guys debate, I'll keep it simple). If Terro is male and I was born female, that would make me female. No matter what the soul is, it is me who is doing the typing, and that is the soul through a filter that is the body, which means that since the body is male, the perspective, the pronoun, the being is male.

Thusly why you might see me clashing with people who demand to be referred to as "Xer" or some other odd pronoun. I am fine with those who don't wish to disclose gender, or those who don't think it's a big deal, but the ones who scream out over the internet "I'm not a guy I just have a penis," I just have to say in reply, "that makes you a guy, possibly a gender confused guy, but still a guy."

In many ways I also see it as one step short of angrily stating that you are not a Human, you're a Demon Lord of the fourth pit because you believe that's what your soul is. You are who you were born as. If you don't like it... average lifespan is what, 74 years?

With organic beings, gender comes in terms of reproduction, with spiritual beings it usually comes in the form or energy, and many will understand a male, a female or a gender neutral energy when they feel it. I just keep the spiritual identification separate from the physical identification.

Gender is psychology, sex is biology, which may or may not have anything to do with orientation. That's the general consensus among the TG set.

But, it's true that just because you were male gendered in a previous life doesn't mean you have to be one now. You could have been male gendered before, male sexed now, and still have a feminine psychology going for you. The past does not write the present in stone, otherwise why live in the present? And biology, past or present, doesn't guarantee a certain gender identity.

Heh, gender. funny. I was born male, but certain aspects of me were/are female, both in kin and in aspects of me personally. ive found that, in the end, im comfortable with the fact that mentally spiritually (as an amalgam of all of my parts) im a hermaphrodite. mentally, especially now that im older, i tend to be slightly more fem than male, but its an equal mix most of the time, and i can pul on either side as i need to. these days, i need to pull mostly on male, ie redneck hickville, and that gets to be a drain after awhile, as i find myself wanting to express and BE fem. but, regarding how it contends with kin? there are times those aspects of me decide, they are expressing themselves, weather i want it or not, which can make things...interesting.

I rather much classify myself as androgyne. While I'm not thinking surgery or hormones (as male fits me just as much as female does), I'm definitely in the trans camp, so to speak.

Way too little, a bit too late. But the psychologist in me needs to get this out, esp. since I've been doing research for a possible thesis on gender:

Gender does NOT equal physical sex. According to the social scientific community (who studies gender the most) gender is in your head, sex is between your legs. (Although, Terro, it is true that there are some very slight differences between brains of men and women and transgender people, and further differences if you add sexuality - homo, hetero, bi, queer - into the mix.)

Also, gender identity is completely different from sexuality. Gender is about who you are, sexuality is about who you love.

*Steps down from soap box*

That said, I think that how much your soul's gender differs from your current body's is all about how much gender is taught to us in our formative years, and how much is hardwired in our brains. Take those two variables away, and whatever's left comes before both socialization and physical hardwiring: the soul. Unfortuantely, no one really knows exactly what this equation is, or if the soul is even part of it.

Then you have to determine if your kin type even has gender; many may have physical sex, but no real difference in gender or gender expression, unless it comes to raising babies (if their kin type even does that). Despite this, most otherkin would probably readily identify themselves as either masculine or feminine.

I think all these have to be taken into consideration before you find out what your 'kin gender is - if indeed you have one. It's certainly something I'm still struggling with; I'm still trying to determine if my soul has a gender, and if not, is that because gender is such a taught behavior? It's actually a very uncomfortable thing for my to think about.