cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/6893359
Gender may in part be a social construct, but that doesn't make it not real. Social constructs are very real.
this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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Playing basketball is a social construct. No two people play basketball exactly the same, and many people don't even play by the exact socially accepted rules. Despite all these things, we can still use imprecise, incomplete words to usefully communicate groups of shared behaviors and preferences, and even offer nuance about those sets of behaviors and preferences, when the situation calls for it.
That's my very point. Basketball is a social construct, and it's also real. It's subjective, open to change, means different things to different people, but it's still very real.
Just what?
I was going to say "just ask billionaires", but then I'd have had to make it clear I was referring to the social construct of money. And I had a bus to catch, so I just removed it, except for a single word :)
Just
For anyone who wants this same point made in more detail, Philosophy Tube has a great video on it. https://youtu.be/koud7hgGyQ8?si=6yYv-uc9C9wh0_9E
The genders are made up and the points don't matter, but if one mf'er misgenders me, this house of cards collapses.
This line of thinking got me to realize I'm non-binary.
Specifically this great YouTube video by Shonalika.
It's like genres. Helps you find similar music you like, but great songs can't be contained by a category!
Gender seems to at least be as real as anything else to some extent, that's why gender dysphoria exists and people report not being able to change it. Large parts of it are socially constructed though. We're not really 100% sure about it at the moment.
I'm no expert so don't mistake this for truth (and I'm sure this is an abhorrent over simplification), but I've heard it better described as gender being a biological thing with gender roles being the social construct.
I don't know that the difference really matters in practice anyway, I honestly didn't care much for the way the person who claimed this thought everyone was causing harm by saying gender is a social construct.
True.
Source: I made it the fuck up