I have been engaging more and more in the gender critical versus TRA debate, which I very much thank MN for allowing to continue on this site. SPOILER ALERT Iam very much gender critical.
On one of the threads recently started by a TRA, they were repeatedly asked to define a woman, and couldn't come up with anything that wasn't entirely circular and/or based on how someone identifies.
Many women on the thread said they had no gender identity. It is a question I have never asked of myself, largely I think because I don't find it helpful or useful to me in any way. I tend to really think about the aspects of my personality / identity that are useful or problematic or both.
If I have a gender identity I can't say I recognise it as such and certainly don't care enough to fight for it to take precedent over other aspects of myself or others. Being misgendered would certainly not cause me any pain or internal conflict.
This caused me to ask what facets of my identity/personality do I really value and that if invalidated would cause me some anguish.
The first aspect I thought of was that I form my world view via critical thinking based on the best evidence available. I don't subscribe to religion, or spiritualism or other belief based systems. I am a scientist by training. I actively seek debate with people with different experiences and views. I trust empirical evidence more than logic and theory. Data is vital to inform thinking, and what follows from that e.g. Legislation.
If I was forced to accept a view that ignored empirical evidence and was based on a belief system instead, then I would struggle with this immensely.
This is one of the reasons I struggle so much with the concept of transwomen being no different to biological women. There is no evidence to show that an adult human can change sex. Being expected to park my rational brain and believe that people can change sex is asking me to deny a part of my identity that is fundamental to me and who I am. It sets up a cognitive dissonance in me that I just can't reconcile.
Is this equivalent to people feeling their gender identity is not entirely validated by society? Is gender identity more important than other aspects of identity? (I am not even going to attempt to define gender identity as I can't find anything that isn't based on what I think of as old fashioned stereotypes).
What part of your identity do you most value