Have been chatting with a good friend of mine via Skype. She's happily married and is totally straight, and doesn't pay much attention to gender politics on her social media sites because she finds the whole narrative rather pointless and tiresome.
However, she did ask me a couple frank questions regarding transgenderism. One of which was "Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be a man, and to have a pen, and to behave and think the way most men do?"
It was quite a perceptive question I suppose, and I gave it plenty of thought. But decided that no, I have never really wanted to be a bloke, and never would in the future either.
But then she pushed me further my saying "Have you ever felt attracted to men/boys? Have you ever wanted to know what it must feel like to hold a pen or have one inside you?" etc.
Again, quite interesting questions, but my answers were rather mundane "I just don't feel physically attracted to men. I don't hate them. I just don't want the physical aspect!"
"But why is that?" she probed.
I guess what she was getting at was that certain human trait that determines whether we prefer one sex over the other. Is it a natural human instinct that makes women prefer men and vice versa; or is it society that tells us?
Personally I think it was just human preference/instinct when I decided I preferred girls over boys when I came out at 15. But these days I don't know if it is human instinct, but more how society, and social media in particular, determines how you behave and what your preferences should be.
Am struggling to explain myself clearly, and have already waffled on for far too long! Sorry.
However, she did ask me a couple frank questions regarding transgenderism. One of which was "Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be a man, and to have a pen, and to behave and think the way most men do?"
It was quite a perceptive question I suppose, and I gave it plenty of thought. But decided that no, I have never really wanted to be a bloke, and never would in the future either.
But then she pushed me further my saying "Have you ever felt attracted to men/boys? Have you ever wanted to know what it must feel like to hold a pen or have one inside you?" etc.
Again, quite interesting questions, but my answers were rather mundane "I just don't feel physically attracted to men. I don't hate them. I just don't want the physical aspect!"
"But why is that?" she probed.
I guess what she was getting at was that certain human trait that determines whether we prefer one sex over the other. Is it a natural human instinct that makes women prefer men and vice versa; or is it society that tells us?
Personally I think it was just human preference/instinct when I decided I preferred girls over boys when I came out at 15. But these days I don't know if it is human instinct, but more how society, and social media in particular, determines how you behave and what your preferences should be.
Am struggling to explain myself clearly, and have already waffled on for far too long! Sorry.
