I am probably quite agender, as I have no intrinsic sense of my gender. I simply accepted my AGAB (assigned gender at birth) without questioning it. At some point, I realized that I don’t feel any connection to this gender, no feeling like other people have. I also don’t see it as something that influences my personality and I don’t apply to gender norms. I just don’t care about gender. (This btw. also makes it harder for me to understand people whose sense of gender is so strong that they even reject their AGAB, although I accept their feeling, of course.) So how do you “feel” gender?

  • ShellMonkey@piefed.socdojo.com
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    4 months ago

    Myself as a cis male don’t particularly feel a major ‘need’ to associate with the stereotypical guy things, and enjoy plenty of things historically associated with women. That said though I feel my more native strengths are things attached to men.

    Why makes for a gender though seems much more tied to society and the expectations of each, and are really a fluid thing that changes as we go along in the world.

  • HakunaHafada@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 months ago

    In my opinion, it’s a bit of a misnomer, where “feel gender” really means “experiencing joy through gender expression in ways that are not typical of your AGAB”. For instance, a person AFAB may “feel gender” by shaving their head, or a person AMAB may “feel gender” by wearing skirts and feminine cosmetics (blush, mascara, etc.)

    • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 months ago

      My relationship with gender didn’t so much manifest that way.

      Before I came out and accepted myself, I openly told myself I “should have been a girl”, but I also believed I wasn’t, and that was that. I didn’t really feel anything at the idea of femininity. That was my experience of feeling gender

  • Brave Little Hitachi Wand@feddit.uk
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    4 months ago

    I’m cisgender, and I’ve actually done the necessary introspection to investigate myself and think about how I prefer to express myself in terms of gender, regardless of any artificial limitations. I have gradually integrated that into my sense of self. I’m quite comfortable in my own skin, and what could be more sublime? Though sometimes I think I might prefer to have a second penis.

  • RamRabbit@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    no feeling like other people have

    Most people don’t really have much of a feeling there either. You just are. If you are cool with who you are, then there is nothing to worry about.

    Don’t overthink it.

    • kindakind@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      4 months ago

      nothing to worry about.

      Well I don’t really worry about anything, I’m fine with how it is :3

      Most people don’t really have much of a feeling there either. Don’t overthink it.

      But a question which does arise reading this answer is: If most people don’t have a feeling for gender, why does gender even exist in the first place? I view gender as a set of personality traits that are summarized under one term (a gender). If you match the personality traits connected to a certain gender, you have this gender. This makes it easier for people to have a basic overview of your personality without you having to explain much. But if most people actually don’t really correspond to gender norms and don’t have a feeling for their gender, doesn’t gender cease to exist? Isn’t it just your name and your pronouns at this point?

      E: I know that gender and sex were (partially are) considered to be the same. It’s more a theoretical question emerging from the current view on gender, I know that patriarchy and stuff prevent immediate practical effect.

      • RamRabbit@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        If most people don’t have a feeling for gender, why does gender even exist in the first place?

        Gender and Sex were synonyms up until very recently, and many people still consider them synonyms. Gender was the ‘nice’ way to refer to one’s sex.

  • transMexicanCRTcowfart@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I don’t feel some gender either, but my agab has always felt off, like ill-fitting clothes. Also due to the cultural/societal expectations and limitations instilled during upbringing, which made me further reject the idea of ‘being’ my agab.

    I’ve come to think that if I had been assigned the opposite gender, maybe I would have felt it equally ill-fitting.

    A few years ago I came across the concept of agender and it resonated. It took off pressure of the need for there to be something, where there is nothing, and it’s ok.

  • TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    I believe societal expectations of masculinity and femininity have become distorted over time. Conforming to these rigid categories will just lead to sadness.

    If you’re a woman who enjoys tinkering with electronics, go for it. If you’re a man who feels comfortable expressing your emotions, do so. Why not explore both while you’re at it?

    In matters like these, it’s perfectly fine to disregard cultural norms and follow your own path. There’s no reason to conform to societal expectations that contradict your true self. You don’t need to identify with any specific gender; simply be a human and engage in human activities.

    I think gender has become another “tribe” that people naturally gravitate towards and identify with. It seems quite human to desire such social groupings. Thousands of years ago, your family and literal tribe fulfilled this role. Today, we seek similar social connections through other means.

  • vrek@programming.dev
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    4 months ago

    I honestly feel very similar. The closest I can kinda understand is like a guy at birth wanting to wear a skirt, in which case I say go rock that skirt. Or maybe a girl at birth wanting to feel accepted in certain male dominated activities in which case it’s a problem with those activities and not the girl.

    I’m a guy at birth, I guess I identify as a guy but it’s meh. If I was misgendered at most I would make a overly dramatic joke but it wouldn’t effect my physiologicaly.

  • Swordgeek@lemmy.ca
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    4 months ago

    I’m an old cis/het dude, and while I’ve occasionally fantasized about being a woman, it was entirely out of fascination with something else - not identity. I don’t necessarily ‘feel’ male, but being female is incomprehensible to me.

    Compare that with a dear family friend. When they were about 13, they announced that they were nonbinary; and two years later, decided they were transmasculine.

    What was their trigger?

    While presenting as nonbinary, they naturally got mistaken for either male or female. They realized that being mistaken for male was totally cool, but being mistaken for female hurt terribly. They identified with being male, and being female (their AGAB) felt abhorrent and wrong.

    So if you don’t have some part of your brain screaming “NO NO NO!!!” at you, you’re likely an average, 21st century cis person whose ability to access infinite porn has dulled your sexuality a bit.

    So don’t worry too much.

  • Hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 months ago

    You can only feel what it feels like to be you, and since you’ve only ever been yourself you have no point of comparison.

    I don’t think gender feels like anything. I am trans, I have been both a man and a woman and in my experience they don’t feel different. In this moment I feel like myself, just as I did a decade ago.

    The things that have changed is that I no longer suffer from a crippling depression with an unclear cause. I have a range of emotions, and can feel emotions correctly. I consider my body to be part of myself.

    All the above are now clearly signs of gender dysphoria, but at the time were hard to identify. The depression always has a more plausible explanation. The other two, I barely noticed I had because I experienced that my entire life.

    It took me a very long time to discover that I am trans. It took a lot of self reflection to figure it out. Feelings were useless. I did think I would be happier as a woman, but that always seemed more of a logical deduction than a feeling.

  • chosensilence@pawb.social
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    4 months ago

    I simply accepted my AGAB

    you are cisgender.

    I realized that I don’t feel any connection to this gender

    this experience lies on a spectrum. for example, genderqueer folks have had their expression scrutinized and oppressed, so gender identity is more of an issue they think about than the average person. basically, you don’t have to exist with a sense of fulfilment or pride to be comfortable as the gender you’ve been assigned. you not having any incongruence implies your comfort level being seen by society as the gender you present.

    I just don’t care about gender.

    i want to ask if you are certain of this, because simply not possessing any feelings positive or negative about your gender doesn’t mean you’d be fine if you woke up as the opposite or something in-between. i’m generalizing here, but genuinely think of how you’d feel if you transformed into the opposite gender while retaining who you are right now. all of your beliefs, passions, interests, social expectations, public perception, and many, many other things are impacted by gender. not in a direct way for some but a guy interested in childhood education or a woman choosing not to have kids would both face questions and assumptions because of their gender. you would also be forced to see your body and yourself differently because others would treat you as the new gender you are now presenting as. still don’t care?

    • howrar@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      all of your beliefs, passions, interests, social expectations, public perception, and many, many other things are impacted by gender

      That’s all through societal expectations though, isn’t it? You can take any of these things and find that they’re associated with different genders in different places around the world and different time periods. I don’t think it would make sense to say that a trans person is only trans in a specific place and time.

      • chosensilence@pawb.social
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        4 months ago

        yes, but so is gender. gender is largely socially enforced. these behaviors and habits will be judged based on how you are perceived.

    • kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 months ago

      I simply accepted my AGAB

      you are cisgender.

      Huh? Plenty of trans people accept their AGAB for some amount of time before realizing that it isn’t correct.

      i want to ask if you are certain of this, because simply not possessing any feelings positive or negative about your gender doesn’t mean you’d be fine if you woke up as the opposite or something in-between… you would also be forced to see your body and yourself differently because others would treat you as the new gender you are now presenting as. still don’t care?

      In my case, still no. I mean, it would be inconvenient to explain to everyone I know why I suddenly look completely different, but beyond that, I don’t think I’d care. Obviously, I can’t know for certain unless it happens, and any experiment that attempted to find out would be absurdly unethical, but I’m as certain as I reasonably can be.

      • kindakind@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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        4 months ago

        About the second part: Yup. I wouldn’t really care either.

        I also don’t care about which pronouns people use referring to me. And while I’m completely fine with my body, having a different one sound doesn’t sound unpleasant. It actually sounds like an interesting experience when it comes to changing perspectives.

      • chosensilence@pawb.social
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        4 months ago

        Plenty of trans people accept their AGAB for some amount of time before realizing that it isn’t correct.

        my bad lol i don’t mean it that way, i meant overall if you are accepting of your AGAB you are living as a cisgender person. you can “accept” it in your mind but remain uncomfortable enough to further pursue lines of questioning, yes, but if you haven’t had any incongruence then i would feel it appropriate to say you are cis.

        I’m as certain as I reasonably can be.

        i get it, but i have been certain of many things only to have lived the opposite result. my point is that you might not realize how relevant your assumed gender is to your overall personal image until people are constantly commenting on it and noticing it.

  • billbasher@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Never felt anything other than male. Fully support trans people though even though I don’t really understand. I’ve never met trans people

  • TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    From what I’ve gathered, neither of us are unusual in not ‘feeling’ gender. I’m trans (shocker!) and felt dysphoria with my physical body, and biochemical dysphoria in the form of depression, until I transitioned, but I wouldn’t say that’s really anything to do with gender. In a world without gender, I would still transition because it makes me feel more comfortable, and that would have absolutely nothing to do with gender roles, stereotypes, or labels.