I disagree and I don’t know how to change your mind cause it’s clearly very set in stone what you believe so agree to disagree I guess
Well I've worked this subject for a bit.
If you agree to let me developp for a bit, let me explain why I believe this to be the only coherent definition :
There are three components on which we can theoretically define "man" and "woman" :
- the body
- the behaviour and appearance
- the personnal feeling
- And then a mix of all of them
Defining on behaviour and appearance meanings defining man and woman on whether someone acts in a feminine or masculine way. But that implies applying these labels of man and woman to people who maybe don't want to be labelled like that. Maybe a masculine woman sees herself as a woman, maybe a feminine man sees himself as a man. Also, it implies using how one culture defines feminine and masculine for the whole world, quite racist isn't it ?
--> So defining it on behaviour is restrictive and racist, very bad.
Defining on personnal feelin is dummyed, because if it isn't based on behaviour and appearance and just a personnal feeling, well then it means that the only variable on which to define man and woman are an invisible feeling only you know, and therefore the social utility of the terms "man" and "woman" disappear, they become useless terms.
--> So defining it on personnal feelings just destroys the concept for no reason, dummyed
A mix of personnal feeling and behaviour and appearance will create incoherences, because personnal feeling and appearance and behaviour will clash, that's how we end up with trans man femboys, basically woman who call themselves man but still present in a feminine fashion because they want to be femboys. That is dummyed. Personnal feelings are personnal, behaviour and appearances are social, and the two clash. That is the modern norm though, and the way real women define gender.
--> Defining it on a mix of personnal feeling and behaviour is a cope out that doesn't work, it only forces on everyone else what you believe yourself and isolates you.
Finally, the body. In this definition, a man is a man because of his body, a woman is a woman because of her body. Sure, this definition isn't perfect because of some illnesses, intersex people. But those are ill, not the norm. Man and woman define the norm. We can deal with intersex people differently, by treating them or attributing them a gender based on other factors.
This definition allows us to classify people based on their physical realities, therefore it's useful. Because the physical reality of bodies lead to societal differences that should be taken into account, such as ability to bear a child, physical strenght, and so on.
--> Defining man and woman on the body makes these terms a useful tool.
What do you think ?