Oddbean

Good question. gender is a social construct. so it means they identify as a man, or a woman in society. this is independent of body parts. tits don't make a woman (though i do have nice ones) any more than a dick makes a man. boys do this, girls do that etc. boys look like this, girls look like that. it has always been the case in english that people will gender someone...by guessing their pronouns based on appearance, thank you sir/maam etc. telling someone your pronouns or posting them in a bio is expressing a personal descriptor...similar to telling them your name. people wear nametags at work so people know how to address them. it is a descriptor of a person's identity. plain and simple. transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people have been here since the beginning of time. the separation of groups comes from ignorance, religion, or just old fashioned transphobia and homophobia. biology is far more expansive than black and white, this or that...the sex is a boy or girl. take intersex people (people born with ambiguous genetalia) for example. those on this spectrum are about as common as people with red hair. "Intersex is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural variations that affect genitals, gonads, hormones, chromosomes or reproductive organs. Sometimes these characteristics are visible at birth, sometimes they appear at puberty, and sometimes they are not physically apparent at all." Historically, doctors have assigned intersex babies a gender at birth and performed mutilation surgeries based on appearance and size. "The Phall-O-Meter is a satirical representation of the way that clinicians have historically determined whether visibly intersex children should be assigned female (and subjected to feminising surgeries) or assigned male (and subjected to masculinising surgeries). It was created by the Intersex Society of North America, based on research by Susan Kessler (1998): In general, medical standards do not allow clitorises larger than .9 centimeters (about 3/8 of an inch). … [An image showing ranges of medically acceptable infant clitoral and penile lengths reveals] that intermediate area of phallic length than neither females nor males are permitted to have." https://image.nostr.build/ee0cb855f4b9915e5a4dfee3a211ef1a0f147f233366e640bbd3a33bf3cb8bab.jpg pronouns are not to make people do anything. it is a basic courtesy to avoid guessing, and embarrassment. there is no trans agenda. that's a psyop. i encourage you to not believe the "hype" and do your own research into biology, gender and social dynamics. and for bonus points, political persuasion and manipulation tactics along with social engineering. the idea is, there can be no 'us' to rally around unless there's a 'them' to demonize.