Female but with 25% male traits

[Shedbuilder]

What does this mean? Someone I know, someone who is intelligent and well-read and has raised daughters and granddaughters, has just blocked me after making the statement that she is a Cis woman but with 25% male traits: none of us, she says, is wholly male or female, we are all on a spectrum.

Is this Mermaids speaking? She works for the NHS and I am totally gutted that she would fall for it. Last person in the world I'd expect to be brainwashed, but she likes to think of herself as far left and progressive.

How does she quantify it, and what are the measurable male traits, is there a tool somewhere or just her way of describing herself? Seems very precise and yet not meaning much at all.

Can guarantee those "male traits" are tedious sexist stereotypes like, "good at DIY" or "more logical than emotional".

I don't understand why so many - supposedly intelligent people - still buy into these regressive ideas.

I'm sorry OP, it's a shitty situation for you.

She has 1/2 a ball and a small dick?

Ask her to tell you what those traits are, OP.

And why they are exclusively male.

Interesting male traits, assertive, strong and independent perhaps, not the traits of a woman

@midgedude

She has 1/2 a ball and a small dick?

@midgedude

She has 1/2 a ball and a small dick?

You beat me to it

It might be the beard. I'm putting in a good effort on that front.

Is she confusing personality traits with biology

It basically means she can parallel park her car, no problem.

What are male traits?

I think this is what bothers me so much about all this nonsense. When it boils down to it, trans activists seem to want to purposefully reinforce these sexist stereotypes that most of us are battling against.

I wear blue, like the odd spot of DIY and can understand the off-side rule. Does that make me 25% male?

DH likes cooking, playing with our DDs and can knit. Does that make him 25% female?

I despair that it doesn't seem to be possible to be the sex that you actually are and behave/live your life any way that you want. You have to conform to a narrow rigid set of stereotypes seemingly from the 1950s.

I can parallel park AND I can read maps.

Does that make me 50% male traits?

I will ask for directions though, so that's not very male.

I managed to text something about sexual stereotyping and being astonished that she had fallen victim to sexist thinking before she actually managed to block me. This is someone who prides themselves on their logic and clear-thinking and has often accused me of being muddle-headed!

I have visions of that GI Joe chart, from the brown action mad figure to the pink Barbie at the other end of the spectrum. Do they put something in the drinks at this training, or wave a Men in Black stick at them and kill off all their critical thinking brain cells?

All these apparently sophisticated, educated people — and they're all so committed to being kind and understanding you can persuade them to do anything.

Can guarantee those "male traits" are tedious sexist stereotypes like, "good at DIY" or "more logical than emotional".

Exactly what I thinking.

It's like the male brain and female brain. AKAIK, if a brain is in a male body it is a male brain and vice versa, but apparently there is some kind of "objective" measurement that some brains in male bodies don't meet to qualify as being male.

Interesting. I’m excellent at parallel parking. Dh likes Barbra Streisand. Perhaps we cancel each other out.

I would imagine she's referring to psychology or behaviour, because it makes no sense for her to be referring to her physical body in this way.

People used to do those pop-psych "male brain/female brain" quizzes and be told what percentage "male" or "female" brain they had, perhaps that's what she means. A load of inaccurate nonsense of course.

There must be some differences between male and female brains scientifically. It makes sense to me that there is. There will always be women who have stronger ‘male traits’ and men who have a personality that leans more towards perceived feminine strengths and I suspect that does play a part in personality and sexuality. HOWEVER that has no bearing on sex, that’s chromosomes abd that’s biological fact, what it has a bearing on is gender and that leads onto constructs and stereotypes.

She is conflating the two which is what we’re pushing back against.

Is there a survey somewhere? I'm intrigued by this! I doubt any of us are 100% binary, by that measure.

Do you reckon she's taken one of those stupid online quizzes that tell you if you have a "male brain" or a "female brain"? I always get 50/50 on those, because how dare I be a woman who likes computers and isn't a nurturing type. 😒

How annoying!

I'm shit at parallel parking but do know the offside rule. I must be non binary (like everyone else!)

I'm female. Comfortably 100%. Heterosexual. Biological mother. I wear what would be considered feminine clothing.

I hated dolls as a child and my favourite toy as a child was a tank controlled through a wire (before proper remote controls). I used to climb trees a lot. I insisted on taking GCSE woodwork, when no girl before had at my school (1980s - 3 girls did the year after my argument).

I also love sci fi and fantasy, and always have - Trekkie trivia is a thing I can just do, episode name (but not stardate), actor names, obscure actor names, planet names etc. Used to hang out in comic book stores, preferred Marvel to DC (back in the 1990s). Still prefer Marvel to DC now.

I'm still 100% (not cis) female. I don't have a male brain, I have a female brain that loves sci-fi and nerd stuff. It's why I'm gender critical because I don't thing any of these stereotypes define gender, and I'm critical of people being forces to identify by a tick box list of perceptions.

The differences between male and female brains appear to be

Size . Females are physically smaller. A large female will however have a larger brain than a small man
Post puberty some hormonal things that disappear again after menopause , although most effects are most likely societal
Greater likely hood of visible effects of trauma in women
There appear to be some differences around extremes although it is possible that boys are simply allowed /tolerated to show extremes of behaviour

basically it's impossible to tell male snd. Female brains apart
Basically cognitively men and women are the same

Although men keep trying to prove otherwise as they want to prove they women are thick snd only suited to cooking and having babies

I mean have you any idea how fucking insulting it is to suggest that women's brains must be different from men's with absolutely no evidence when for centuries these supposed differences have been used to justify pay gaps, lack of women in senior roles , lack of vote for women ?

The thing about observed brain differences between men and women is that there is significant overlap, brains are mosaics of different traits. Knowing the sex of a person doesn't help you predict with any confidence any observable differences in a brain scan for that specific individual. It makes no sense to call a brain feature "male" when large numbers of men and women share that feature. It's like calling 5ft 9 a "male" height, or size 7 shoes a "female" shoe size.