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Lately people have been telling me gender identity is a thing you feel - that you can 'feel like a woman', for example. But I legit don't understand what that means. Does feeling like a woman mean you want to wear women's clothes? Or have a vagina? Or get sexually pursued?

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transgender demon hacker

@FireEyes66

Apr 8, 2020

Replying to

@Aella_Girl

I have a suspicion that you have less sense of “internal gender identity” than most people, and it seems like you assume others have the same experience. Most people would claim to have an intuitive feeling of gender.

transgender demon hacker

Replying to

and

As far as what it feels like, I think it’s the same as a lot of more abstract felt senses in that it can be hard to describe in a way that makes sense to someone with a different experience.

transgender demon hacker

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and

The gender discussion seems like it could be like the inner monologue/aphantasia discussion: everyone just assumes everyone else had a reasonably similar experience, when in reality some people’s experiences can be almost entirely different.

transgender demon hacker

Replying to

and

I think it comes down to this: many people without an inner sense of gender identity can’t imagine what that would be like, and assume others experience has the same parts in a different configuration.

transgender demon hacker

Replying to

and

Here’s my half thought out analogy: when you’re cold, how do you know? Because your fingertips get numb, or because your ears are burning, or your teeth chattering? Or do you just FEEL cold, in a way that’s hard to describe other than as a knowing (that’s backed by evidence).

transgender demon hacker

Replying to

and

Also to comment on something you said about gender being ‘a collective hallucination by people who haven’t introspected enough” - I’ve done untold thousands of hours of formal and informal introspection, and that’s how I came to the conclusions supporting this take.

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Replying to

@FireEyes66

I slightly update my probability that I'm wrong after hearing you say you've done thousands of hours of introspection and still think gender identity is real.

1:25 AM · Apr 14, 2020

transgender demon hacker

@FireEyes66

Apr 14, 2020

Replying to

@Aella_Girl

I think it’s something that merits further conversation, but conversation in this is very challenging. I think people who have done lots of meditation etc are in some ways more suited maybe?

Ori

even a worm will turn

Replying to

and

Aella, you're autistic, right? Did you know many autistics are agender? As in, don't understand/identify with the concept of having a gender identity. However, other people sense it, like proprioception or interoception. That's what's going on here, difference in sensory data.