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The Hidden Contradiction in Gender Equality and Gender Swapping
There’s a strange contradiction lurking in gender identity politics. The far left is simultaneously saying two things:
There’s absolutely no difference between the genders in terms of interests and preferences, and therefore no reason why different genders should have different representation in various careers, etc.
But then they also argue that:
Some people born one gender are compelled to become the other because being the original is so massively different that it hurts their identity to pretend to be the other.
I’m not an expert on this topic, but it seems to me that only one of these can be true.
If there’s no difference between the genders, then why would living life as one when you feel like the other even matter? And if it does matter that much, then how could those differences not manifest in your preferences and interests?
Or, more plainly, if gender differences matter enough to cause severe emotional pain at being one vs. the other, then they’re also likely to show themselves in career choices. This could easily explain some of the reason there are more of certain genders in certain fields.
To be clear, this has nothing negative to say about gender swapping or anything else related to self-expression. People should be who they are, and if that’s being masculine in a woman’s body, or feminine in a man’s body, or wanting to change bodies, then embrace it. I support that 100%. It seems obvious to me as a progressive.
My only point here is that you can’t both argue that there aren’t fundamental differences between the genders AND argue that it’s deeply upsetting to be one when you’re actually the other. There’s a disconnect there that I think needs to be addressed if we’re going to explore the issue honestly.
My current personal intuitions, based on a lot of reading, are the following:
There are fundamental differences in the genders.
These do lead to significant differences in what men and women enjoy doing.
That does lead to differences in numbers in various fields.
All three of these are 100% ok.
There is also actual discrimination against the minority gender when a particular field is dominated by the other.
That is not ok.
I think the key is understanding that both innate and discriminatory causes are real, and to be able to tell the difference. I obviously don’t know where the line is between these two causes (and I’m not sure anyone else does either) but it seems to me that this is the important question.
Notes
There are also more than two causes for gender representation in various fields; it’s not just innate preferences and discrimination. Although, those are arguably the two largest.