Hi! I am biologically male, but i feel a woman internally (for which concerns the gender expression) After 26 years of inner conflict, i finally decided to express my authentic gender identity through female clothes. It's AMAZING, all the stress and negative feelings thoughts that i had disappeared almost completely

I am a cis woman and I've spent a lot of time over the past decade or so (especially as more and more of my friends and family embrace that they are trans or genderqueer in some way) wondering why I feel so comfortable (and even sometimes euphoric?) as a woman when I have a hard time defining what being a woman even means for me. There are so many thousands, perhaps even millions, of tiny influences on us throughout life, from biological to social to cultural, that it would probably take lifetimes for me to be able to get the full picture on how I came to my current sense of 'woman'. I find it fascinating when I hear people expressing either gender dysphoria or gender euphoria over something which does not give me similar feelings. Shaving my legs does not make me feel more comfortable in my gender identity. Having a 'happy trail' does not make me feel _less_ comfortable in my gender identity. And yet for some people, these things make a huge difference! There really is no simple 'one size fits all' box.

Hey Doc. If you look up neurobiology you'll see recent observations that actually are starting to show that gender identity starts with a neurochemical difference compared to your chromosomal appearance. Therefore it's not a social construction at all, it's a neochemicical construction which determines how much of the brain reflects your gender identity. There's lots of information and studies on this topic, and will be much more as they dive into neurobiology.

What a joy to hear you talk! I love that you validate those feelings and experiences in childhood and how they differ for trans people. Gender wasn't anchored by sex at all for me, and I tended to be sexed by my gender identity about half the time and I preferred that. I had trauma later in life, but realised my identity was present before the trauma, and that's when I knew I was good to transition. It's so true that the way that gender indentity is conceptualised is changing as we're having discussions about gender, so it's going to be different for different generations! I love how you talk about "the distress signal", it really is distressing when your percieved gender doesn't fit with your internal one. It's a lot like trying to describe pain to someone who has not experienced it.

Thanks for this great video, you're as usual one of my few polar stars that illuminate my path during transition. Reading the comment which mentioned neurobiology, I might think that there are different factors, not last a biological predisposition but yet to be confirmed by science, and it's most of all about gender dysphoria trigged by our experiences and our surroundings. I'm an ftm born in a family which didn't push me to be a nice little girl with woman's duties ahead once adult, in fact my gender dysphoria had been quite light through all my life until it literally exploded due to an event and I feel so much in piece with myself now after 3 years into transition. And if I had born in a different environment, where women are women and men are men, my dysphoria would have emerged much sooner. I'm pretty sure about it. Thank again so much Dr.Z!

This was excellent Dr. Z ) Even you tone of voice softens some of my own struggle. If I can add my own latest thinking after spending the last weeks totally out and overtly in transition in a very accepting environment, I think there are probably three connection points to gender identity. *Who* you are attracted to; *How* you are attracted to them; and, how you *feel* about your own body. There's a lot to unpack in that, but this is a comment space and not a blog, so I'll try to be brief. Since identity *always* has a social context, we have to include how we relate to others in understanding it hence the connections to attraction. And as anyone living in Queer spaces will tell you, "who" and "how" are genuinely different things which are very important. If your body, in its natal state, harmonizes with the "who" and "how" of attraction, then you get to live as a happy cis-human. But if your body conflicts with your modes of attraction, then you get to take the trans-journey through life. This also leaves room for so much of the nuance we experience. For myself, I am basically not all that interested in my body, so it's been easy enough for me to ignore the conflict through most of my life, while leaning into a NB identity for my own inner peace (as well as feminist politics). However, as I have been teaching embodiment practices for these last 7 years, the issues of my body, as a teacher and how that impacts my students has come more and more to the front, and now I feel the conflict quite strongly. So we have to move on with transition - while I hope my students dont get too confused by it all ;)

Very informative and thought provoking video. I see one's gender identity as a component of their personality and there so many aspects that form one's personality. I believe that the varied aspects help evolve each other over time. From my own experience, I have found how I perceive myself and how I feel seems to find am 'optimal' space as I have matured and learned. The challenge has been aligning my self image with a sense of being 'correct', that feeling of satisfaction, comfort and completeness. This concept of gender identity forming certainly seems to fit the struggles I have been having .

This is such an important discussion and I think you are on the right path.

Thank you so much for all the videos you have made, they help me so much to understand myself.

Thank you Dr. Z for your work and for this channel.

Absolutely amazing, great perspective and very thought provoking. Thank you

Hello Dr. Z PHD, the following is not a response to your video, I would just like to share some thoughts that came up after watching this video. (Sorry for my bad English, I'm still learning). I would change the expression subjective experience of gender identity to 'inherent feeling of each human being about who they are'. "Subjective" feels disapproving, like it's only real to that person. As a belief and perception built by each individual. But for many of us, without being able to put it into words and without having lived long enough to even know gender expressions and roles, the inherent core of our being tells us in a language that doesn't need words that the body we have, It is not according to our soul. I firmly believe that the moment we begin to exist in our mother's womb we are assigned a female or male soul, but sometimes (as in many other cases of unusual biological situations) something that shouldn't happen happens and in certain cases a developing body that already contains a female soul... ends up developing as a male or vice versa. For those who don't believe in the existence of the soul, then think of it as "male or female brain biology." In whatever way that dissonance exists; It's something that happens every once in a while. Otherwise there would be no people dealing with that situation; situation that nobody wants and nobody looks for. It just happens and it is there from the beginning of our life. Before being able to identify anything, (again) without even knowing language, or the behavior of other humans, there is an inherent feeling there with you, that exists without the need to make comparisons with the external. People with harmony between body and soul will hardly understand it, naturally... harmony makes them not feel a mismatch between their inner being and their body. But those of us who have lived in dissonance for as long as we are aware know that it is not a simple identification. The phrase "they identify as" doesn't do much for people to empathize with transgender people. Even the word "transgender" doesn't sound right either. Many people make fun of saying "if they identify as women or men then I identify as someone of another ethnicity, I identify myself as a tree, as a computer, etc. Everyone knows that no matter how many modifications are made, no one can belong to another ethnic group just because they modified their body, much less are they a tree or a computer just because that's how they identify themselves". "They identify as" sounds like each person's decision or opinion about themselves. People who don't live with that situation hear that and just can't take it seriously. It sounds silly. More if your body shows the opposite. It is not an adequate expression for the understanding of people who will never experience a mismatch between their soul/brain biology and body. "They identify as" sounds like "they think they are." So people automatically think "they're idiots who can't understand that a man or a woman can have their masculine or feminine side developed to a greater or lesser extent, but that doesn't mean they're the opposite gender, duh." But, if we say to them: I know I was born in a male body and physically the world sees me as a man, but I have always felt a mismatch between what my body projects and what the inherent nature of my being dictates... Maybe more people can take it for what it is... something out of our control. Something that happens to us automatically and is with us before we identify anything. I know that not everyone is aware of this from their first years of life, but what I am trying to say is that we must strive to find a more precise way of expressing ourselves and thereby help us generate more empathy in others. Although there were times when certain terms and explanations sounded even worse, I think we are still at a stage where the best way to help us create empathy in others has not been chosen. This is just my opinion but I think we should start by accepting that a woman is one who has a woman's soul and a woman's body. A man has the soul of a man and the body of a man. We ("transgender" people) are humans with a body of one sex and a soul or brain biology of the opposite sex. Queer people still have a feminine or masculine soul but maybe something in their biology makes them feel neither male nor female (it's just a quick example, don't attack me for it). If the world sees that we do not believe we are a woman or a man, we simply have a condition that makes us feel a tremendous incongruity between our brain biology and bodies and that is why many of us need to alleviate all that with the help of certain treatments and / or procedures, we are probably less discriminated against and more understood. When people hear someone who was born in a male body say I am like any woman, most will think a tremendous "No, you are not like any woman". And it's not that they're closed-minded. If for example a transgender woman has an accident and has to be taken to the hospital, the gender of her identification will not change her internal organs. She's really not like any woman. The doctor will treat her body based on her internal male anatomy, even though she looks like a woman. All of this is hard. Each of us would simply like to have been born in a body according to our soul (or brain biology for atheists). But when we are born with such a condition, we are not like any other woman or man. We are worth the same, we deserve the same respect, but we are within the group of people who have to deal with an unusual situation. (All because sometimes biology doesn't do what it should). One thing that has helped me with dysphoria all my life is that I exist in a healthy vehicle, despite not matching my soul. Other people don't feel incongruity but they go through very, very difficult situations with the health of their bodies.

Your work and presence is gold. I am beyond thankful.

I am approaching 80 years old. My mother followed my father to each camp to which he was assigned as he was preparing for WWII. I was conceived in Alabama, my father shipped out from Alameda, CA. My mother and father had the longest period of time together in San Louis Obispo, CA where they were married before he shipped out. My mother had no supportive environment the entire time during the war. She made her way back to a very small town in Northern Wisconsin where I was born in a small county hospital. My birth was very traumatic for my mother. I was born upside down and backwards. She would not tell me more. She had to go back home to survive during the war. She was the second oldest and was the matriarch of her younger siblings because her mother was mentally challenged of extreme grief after the death of her husband. She was distant and angry towards her children. I had no idea of what boys and girls were. I had two older female cousins and three younger female cousins. I always saw myself as just one of the girls. My older cousins told me that I never stopped crying. My mom claims she solved the problem by hanging up pinup models for me to substitute for her physical attention for me. My grandmother could make some really delicious meals. I loved her. My great grandmother was blind but I often clung to her and she told me stories of her life. I would hold a book that I thought she was reading from but she was actually telling me the most warm and connected stories of her life. I was clearly "IMPRINTED" on my mom, grand mom and my great grand mom. For the rest of my life I always asked myself what would mom do, want, or believe was important. When my dad came home, I was even more terrified. I was about 3 years old. He had suffered through face to face combat throughout the the Pacific War and the islands he landed on until his last station was in the occupation forces in Japan from where he was discharged. My first impression as told by him was that I cried uncontrollably as a threat to my existence. I never saw any connection with him. I felt hate and revulsion of him and of his actions in the family. I was about 3 years old, I remember my mom and dad, (notice the change from father to dad) had a great fight. I had been playing house by myself after my younger cousins had going home. I was playing underneath a blanket and talking and imagining my future. My dad came unglued and attacked my mother. He came stomping from the front room to the kitchen loudly yelling that some hateful sentences. I only remember my dad saying he would not allow any "queers" in his house. That meant, I had to get out of the house. I not only thought he was a danger and cruel, but now I was to be thrown out into the cold. The resolution my mom yelled at him is that she would no longer have anything to do with me. My father would be totally in charge of me. This was an intensiveness of my hate and hiding, and disgust of everything that represented my father, the man who dominated my childhood. I don't want to hear waste space on how much I was shamed, ridiculed, forced to stand up to pee while he watched to make sure I didn't sit down. My mom told me she had me potty trained at 6 months because she would sit me on the pot and sit alongside of me and read to me until I had a bowl movement. I learned a lot about how I was to be as a girl from her but I was always called my boy name. I learned to hate men, males, manly activities and manly expectations. I have many experiences I could describe in a book or two. The bottom line is I am a trans woman because all I ever wanted to be was to be accepted in the circles of other women and girls. I always hung out as inconspicuously as possible with my mom, her sisters, and my older cousin. I joined the army at 17 years old and signed up for the Draft when I was already in the Army. Sex is a biological thing. Gender is a social thing. I was imprinted on my the women in my family. All the women and girls friends and early social contacts I had as a small child were taken away from me by my father. He intentionally or subconsciously put me into at least 4 life threatening situations to help me have an accident. I do not like to be around men. But they are unavoidable. I've had all the surgeries and legal actions to transition legally, socially and biologically. It's not a perfect situation but I feel like I no longer have to hide anymore. But, with the political hate, prejudice and outright denial of health care. to trans women, I will likely always live in fear. My history demands this for my self preservation. In my case, I started my early life as one of the girls in the family. There were no acceptable male role models for me. When my father returned home, I became a nobody who had to always worry about my existence no matter how terrified I was. I was imprinted on women adults early in life. I did not ever have a tolerable role model that I could accept because I was in my mind a girl and later a women who was forced to wear the clothes and demeanor of a man so I could handle the lowest ring on the Maslow ladder, survival. I transitioned late in life because both of my parents had passed away, I did not have to obviously worry about being homeless or being incarcerated, and the options available today for transitioning are more readily available than they were when I was a child. I walked past the city library on my way home from grade school and high school. I would always stop in the library to try to find out information about myself. The librarian told me on two separate occasions that all the information about "sexual deviates" such as Christian Jorgensen ,who was an early surgical transitioning woman, were off limits to me. So I read all the magazines and newspapers I could find in the library to learn about others like Dr. Jorgensen. I couldn't give up my search for freedom and potentialities for myself. The world including Putin and the Republican Party now wants to scapegoat me and others like me to prey on the fears of men of emasculation or lack of masculine dominance. I can still hide myself as I've practiced that my whole life. I survived but I am scarred and often find living such an isolated life harmful to my soul. I am unlovable. I still try to give love to others but I still have to hide. Of course I also have to fear women who, if they see through my presentation, might cry rape or hate, or just shaming. Hey, I'm 80 and I survived a hell of a lot to get where I am today. I'm not rich or famous or a great scientist. But I survived, just barely. I survived.

Thank you, Dr Z, that was an excellent explanation and so helpful.

I largely agree with your perceptions and description of how it all works. I would like to add I think their is some predisposition, some primarily non-binary physiological aspect of the brain prior to birth that precludes how we perceive ourselves and develop our gender identity as we develop in our environment. I know my examples are not 'gender related' per se but I can think of two. I have 2 sons and it was apparent they were 2 different personalities even in the womb. The first rambunctious the second relatively quiet, to the point my wife was convinced our second child was a girl. Well, even before they became school aged it was apparent one was definitely a 'morning person' who loved to get up early with a lot of energy. The other was definitely NOT a morning person and it felt like you were trying to move a heavy stone to get this kid ready for the day. To me, this difference in behavior was evident in the womb, no question about it. The other example is children who are adopted and later meet a birth parent, natural sibling, or other natural family member and notice some very unique mannerisms they share between them, even though they've never previously spent time together. To me, there is probably a predisposition before birth to one's later understanding of their gender identity, similar to the personality traits I've described and I think independent of the binary view of sex and gender. If we are lucky, we find a way to navigate this world in a way we can blossom to our full potential. I think the binary view of sex and gender has been a very damaging social aspect for all people in developing our full potential. To me, in a perfect world, people would be free to express and behave in any fashion they feel they need to. It's all human behavior and none of us should be limited by gender. And our expression and behavior can change over time as we better understand ourselves and finally, as this happens, we should celebrate each of us coming to a clearer understanding of ourselves. I can dream. Thank you for all you do! Hugs! Christie :)

Very interesting. I was wondering if you could talk about and contrast how historically different people and cultural group's delt with this issue. I know some native groups in America thought of us as "Two Spirit".

This is so gooood and helpful. Thank you!!!!!

Like anything these things start slowly for myself and then become refined as I aged. For me this all started when I was a very very young child. On a summer day I was sitting on a pile of wood in the front of our home. I remember grabbing my belly just below the rib cage and pushing my hands in to see if I could feel what was in there. The one thought that came to mind was I was a boy and girl. The reasoning I had as a child was that I felt like I had a child growing in me. I have no idea of why I came up with that silly idea but I did. At age ten I had surgery for an undescended testis and other surgery the next year. Not one person s[oke to me about was done exactly to me but spending a week in the hospital and a huge scar didn't sit well for me. I did have sort of a puberty starting in my late teens. I even dated but was very much asexual at the time. I did marry and as you would expect sex was very hard. My mind just didn't feel male but I did love my wife dearly and she helped me work things out. It was three years after we were together that I started feeling pregnant. For me it was a wonderful feeling. I told my wife about these feelings and we made a great joke for many years about it. Six years after we were married we had a child something my doctor didn't think would happen. I worked crazy hours and we were mostly happy. Yes I did gender dysphoria but I never knew of transsexuals or anything like that. I just cried to myself and went on. At age of about forty four or so the feeling of being pregnant was so powerful, I even starting to use makeup at home. it felt good doing so. Then one day I felt my undescended testis growing and growing. I went to the doctor and he said it was nothing and it would go away. I did not, it just grew bigger. I did ask my doctor to do a Alphafeto protein test and he refused to take one and said it would just go away. At last I demanded this testis be removed and I was told that I was overreacting. Nine months after I went into the doctor a surgeon removed this malignant 10cm testis germ cell teratoma though my abdomen while I was wide wake. Yes I was not put to sleep for this surgery. The next weed a doctor from Duluth Minnesota told me I had only two months to live because they had found another mass in my upper abdomen with x-rays that measured 17.5cm long. He said he would do his best to get me the care I needed. Seven months of chemo hell and six hours of abdominal surgery at the Mayo Clinic and that tumor was removed. accept this was it wasn't malignant. this was a mature well developed germ cell teratoma. it had limbs, skin, eyes, hair, you get the idea. I was intersex and all those years ago as this young child on a hot summer day felt my belly and somehow knew that I Wass both a male and female. In the telling of this story I skipped so many events but the truth is im at last going to try starting hormones with my wife blessings. After so many years I came out to her and she buys me things she thinks ill need, she helped me act like a male when we were so young and now she will help me be her wife.

"Gender performance"! Yes! I've always known it was a factor. Today I'm only 5'5". As a kid I was always the 2nd or 3rd smallest in my class, even when I changed schools. My sister was 2 years younger than me and I wore her clothes from when I was 5 until we both left home. My brothers were 2 and 4 years older than me. The one closest to my age was often the tallest in his class. So there was a big gap between us and I was always excluded from "the boys" who did things with Dad, because I was too little. And of course, I couldn't compete with them or any other boys in sports or anything masculine. So for my whole life, everyone has often been treating me much like a girl, and never like a man. Dad was also punitive and scary, and I remember when I was 5. I consciously decided I don't want to be like him. But I never consciously tried to be like Mom either. Subconsciously, I can't be sure, but on a conscious level, I believe I just assumed the traits I liked no matter who the role models were. In adulthood I realized that most people consider nearly all of those traits to be feminine. I don't remember how young I was when I decided I wanted to be a girl, but I've always known that doesn't make me one. So now I figure I'm feminine in most ways, and I like to present as female, so what ever I am is close enough to a woman that I might as well just go ahead and be one, be me and be happy.

Something I can use to help in explaining myself when at class in CSU Pueblo. Mew mew did make an HRT self injection tutorial for medical and scientific writing class.

I am very interested in the "details" of gender genetics. I understand that there is in "accepted" reality more than two markers. I think it is three accepted and many potential gender influencing genes. I hope the conversation changes from XX or XY to a spectrum with influencers ... and as you point out, that is just one aspect of identity.

I feel like there are groups: girls & boys, women & men, moms & dad’s, and even trans & cis, and separate from my femininity or masculinity, there’s a part of me that feels like I just know that I am a girl/woman/mom etc. and then I look to these categories, like the category of mom to understand what I am supposed to be like and to understand how I differ from a stereotypical mom. I feel like what makes me trans isn’t that I am different from my AGAB, but rather that I differ from a stereotype of the ideal female.

Great video! I only got to fully grasp the whole "biological sex is not the main anchor for a person's gender identity" point towards the very end of the video, I guess this shows just how much the gender binary has been incorporated in our cultures. Thank you for your channel, I hope more people find it.

I think that what is often misunderstood is that Gender Identification ends up being highly fixed and unchangeable, while sex or biological gender is actually more changeable whether in nature or by medical/surgical transition. The widespread cultural systems would have us believe that biology is more definite and certain than psycho-social gender, but unintuitively the oppositte is factually true. And also, if we look at the history of feminism and queer social movements: while gender norms have changed, they have not changed as much as these movements hoped for, and in many ways it has ended up harder to change culture and social gender than to medically/surgically alter physical gender.

First off I love watching your videos. The way you look and sound is soothing to my soul. I look at things more simply and more abstract. All fetuses start out as female and the fathers sperm determines what the sex will be. Something goes wrong in the early stages of fetus development that could cause the child to be born with Transsexual tendencies. Something happens either naturally or medically induced to induce a serge of hormones that cause the fetus to develop hormonally Inter-sexed. With the transsexual usually feeling this confusion from their first memory. While transgender comes on during puberty. What I have noticed is that transsexuals feels they ARE the opposite sex while transgenders feel they WANT to be the opposite sex.

I am Petra / Peter Brown, I am 67 years young, I prefer female company, the gents in my family are alright, I have a sister and a brother, funnily enough, my brother understands more about the issue, Gender identity is real and spiritual, we can be reborn, not literally, my sister is a lay-preacher, she is more into religious rebirth, not anything else, like we were just born to be the fatted calf and we have to live just for the glory of the “Heavenly Father”. I now what a Woman is, not just a biological-born Woman. I believe in the essence of the Spirit and Soul, I still have thirty or so years still, So I will enjoy endeavor to enjoy my life, Trans-Euphoria is happiness in life. Petra-Brown mxxx ❤U

I was born male. All I know for sure about my gender is I want to be female. I know that this is something I always wanted from about age ten or eleven. Before that I did not think about gender at all. At age eleven, I had surgery for an undescended testicule. I am not sure what they took out of me, but I then did not and now do not feel it was a trauma. The worst was my parents never openly told me what was happening and said I had a hernia. Many years later a doctor told me the truth. I resented my parents for that, but through years of psycho-therapy and analysis I got over it and other things about how I was treated by them. Growing up I knew I had a sister and two brothers, and my sister loved me. I spent most of my time as a child accepted and surrounded by women rather than men. Living male for the first forty years of my life, I would say I did not have any gender identity. I was a human-being is all. Yet, I always wanted to be female. Gay men were attracted to me, but I considered myself a heterosexual man and my desire to be female was part of that. I now consider myself a heterosexual trans woman. When I started cross dressing and having a sexual relationship with another man I started to realize I wanted to be a woman with the female body that goes along with it. Now that I have started transitioning including HRT in my sixties I feel more like a woman and my authentic self. I am often frustrated I do not have the female body I crave. Does this mean my body does not match my mind, I do not know? I know I will not kill myself if I cannot have the body I want. If I had a magic wand and could do it all over again, I would be born female. Do I now have a female identity? Seems so much of the time. Other times, I am just confused and dysphoric because I know I am not and probably never can be completely female. Nonetheless, I now am more connected and at peace. I often try to figure out why I am as I am, but I am never sure what made me who I am. Perhaps it does not matter. I know I am trans. I have that identity. I have come to the conclusion what matters most is to accept who you are and live authentically.

yes OMG!! You are so right . I suffer from low esteem. To the point I am Drowning in it. I have never done anything for myself for just me. I am Lousy at putting myself first because I thought I was being selfish . Self care has always deemed to be self centered and wrong to put yourself first. I have lived life as my brothers keeper. Like a good Samaritan. I kept going with Jesus.as my guide. I always stood for the little guy. Now I am doing self care. How do I do it .Well its like this it has a lot to do with the fight or flight response. do I take care of myself or Travel down. the same old rabbit hole that I have always have. I have always had Dysphoria as long as I can Remember being aware of who I am. I had Overwhelming feelings of my self feeling like a girl .I felt a terrible need to express myself was ready to POP!!!! I loved and still till today love Everything. girly . OH GREAT GOD ALMIGHTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so I would hunt down Women's clothes . years old my largest stash yet. My mom wanted to help me . I was scared. spitless needless to say. of course I took the wrong course. so flash ahead to 2021. I came out dressing full-time. this is when I Discovered. that people are all in their own little world. they don't really care as long as you dont spoil their day.. well now it 2024 I am ready to do more shopping I am going for setting up the process of name change . dressing more put together .i feel ive gone and taken my steps far enough with estrogen I am reaching the stage of female Puberty. Now. I will tell you their have been some fat Redistribution .Because of the estrogen . I have asked to be put on a Antidepressant. also an anxiety Medication .I am rediscovering who I am. I could not of done this without your help and my Therapist. the new frontier that im Discovering. is Mindfulness and Kindlfulness .. through Positivity.. I also started to journal more . I have used AI to keep my busy mind busy and more Focused.. I am working on a vision board with positive Reaffirmation. sayings and direct Quotes. From Shakespeare. , songs ,cut up Magazines. I do arts and crafts so this is easy to do .I am thinking of Making. a scrap book that supports positive thing in my past and a hope for the Future. to be a more Positive. direction I have taken my life. Watch some Positive. Ted talks and pod casts. Above all be yourself. you have earned it.. Remember Blackout. as much negativity as you can. focus on the good in life. at first it will feel empty. I write down words and phrase of Positive reaffirmation. phrases. Till I know them by heart. You write down. something. 22 times. It becomes a habit. If you make positivity a habit. Then you will. be positive. Light of heart. Good luck. Sorry for this long post.

I took another break from your videos but I keep coming back and needing to see them all. This was excellent so I'm never going to leave this channel again, Doc.

I feel like my gender identity is masculine but I am a female biologically .What keeps the two from being in conflict is that fact of biology and me being ok with presenting as a masculine female.

Interesting. I remember talking about this to my Therapist 5 years ago. But, I call it Objective Experience because even though we see it Subjectively from every person's experience people are often told the opposite so that they can choose to make the decisions, or rather it's forced upon them even though they question societies constructs. I remember when I was 4 I often took baths with my brother. I don't remember when I started talking, but I remember telling my brother, Why do we have male anatomy (other word was actually used)? He laughed, and said "it's something boys have maybe woman have them too." Since then, all the way through elementary, I thought all females had a male phallus. As kids me and other kids in the same class made the discovery in second grade that is not the case. Growing up my siblings and I saw anime from a very young age which exposed me to different gender ideologies. I remember watching one of the bad Pokemon episodes where James changes gender appearance feeling like his true self. I loved that episode. I remember watching other animes that had Transgender Identity and loved watching it. As for language... I was placed as a guinea pig in the Speech Development program in the district. I hated it, since they were trying to force me to speak southern English and central English from the U.S.. I always failed those courses and being Latin X if I didn't make my parents proud then I often get hit with the belt. The disgrace of all Latin X is the use of physical violence to induce fear and a totalitarian command that is not mutual respect but hate. I felt misunderstood for questioning the social norms of society, and cultural norms. I turned on the TV and often watched documentaries, history, Science, military channel that was often BBC back when their we're a few channels with cable. The British language soothed my soul, and I learned to speak like a British citizen. I started passing that program, but I was losing touch with my primary language and family from Mexico. Growing up since I was 5 I learned and mastered to devoid my self from emotions. You could say my personality as an INFJ was growing. My parents fought because I never showed emotion, I had fear of being whipped by a belt of hand, but when I did get hit I still showed no emotions on front of them. When I was a baby I often heard my family fighting and I just wanted out. It was suffocating being around them even being held by them. Their were times as a baby where I opened the door when the car was moving. I did want too jump as a baby and release my soul from this chaotic world that harbors nothing but sorrow and intolerance. My parents often tell me that I wanted to jump, and that they saved me before anything bad happened. In Middle School as my parents and family moved to another church, I learned how to fake a smile and keep it. I knew that everyone their was fake, just doing things to please others living an unhappy life by their own choice. I too followed that model all my life repressing my true self. As for spiritual connection. I find myself with a sense of spirituality even though I was born to think "Christian". I believe in reincarnation, and it's possible that I remember my past experiences ever since I was a baby. I remember being a woman in an etheral world of high beings. This self existence of a world and plane of existence is nothing more than a particle bubble in one of the tiers of the fountain of Life that's in the plaza of the thermal world. No one wants to come down to this waste of existence called, Earth because even though it's just a particle it's one of the projects of the Gods and Goddesses. This "project" of a world is a place where it has limited connection with the gods and beings of power. This particle of existence and all life in it, creates and evolves itself through the social and physical connections each living being makes with out the entire control of the powerful beings. Before coming to this world a portfolio is already made how we will live, where we will live, who we will give birth, and how we will die in that world. This life existence is a portfolio one of the Gods made that I took just for the sake of love. Oh and once each of us die we have to go to the council of elders and say what we learned, in that world. It will then be written down and placed in the hall of knowledge, or Library. This could be a reason why I feel the opposite sex ever since I was born. When I came to this world every time I feel asleep my soul departed from the body and I learned about the universe, planets, and the little things like seeing my parents, arguing. The point is this is my Objective or as you may call it Subjective Experience. I don't laugh at others experience, but validate and acknowledge it. However, this is my experience that I am willing to share. Some say their is a neurological chemical, maybe their is, maybe their isn't; but I think the purpose and meaning of life is enjoying the present. It's like taking a Lyft some want to get to the end goal in a sports car, others in a central, but as for me; I like to take mine that's a carriage pulled by horses. I don't speak for everyone only for myself. I do want to transition mtf in the future, do I feel gender dysphoria... Yes I do. I have taken measures and acknowledged myself and found those who support me in a very conservative and ignorant state (Texas). My life is like a book. The tittle is just a name, but the pages describe the story. The chapters are the timelines ages and events, but I will enjoy the most of this life as much as I can. Sure, some books are more painful experiences than others, but they are all individual and special. We as human beings do have an Objective or Subjective Experience that is all that I'd like to say. I do hope you all have a wonderful week, if not look at the present. The little things people take advantage of such as the air we breath, the grass and flowers, the blue sky and it's clouds. Take as many moments that's necessary to be mindful and practice it when you can. The past is irreversible (at the moment), The future in inconclusive and mysterious, but we do have the present. Let's all do what we can to enjoy the little things I'm this life, and life will get better with a different perspective. 😉

Many people may not be aware that individuals born intersex (or hermaphrodite) challenge the notion of a strict male-female binary. Biologically, a statistically significant portion of our population does not neatly fit into traditional male or female categories. This phenomenon isn't limited to humans but also extends to various species in the Animal kingdom. The historical concept of binary sex can be traced back to old Western philosophy, often influenced by religious beliefs. It's important to recognize that the idea of sex being strictly binary oversimplifies the complexity of human biology and gender identity. Additionally, the concept that male genitalia is inherently 'superior' is unfounded. In reality, all mammals start from a 'female' developmental template. Understanding this broader perspective underscores the notion that gender-comprising identity, expression, roles, and sexuality-is a diverse and multifaceted spectrum.

We also know now that during pregnancy and perhaps before impregnation, a women looks out at her society and biologically determines whether it is safe for her to give birth and what kind of person the world needs from her offspring. Does the world need warriors? Does the world need nurturers? I was forced to be a warrior though my nature is to be a nurturer. Thanks mom.

How would you respond to critics who may use your model against you? Specifically, they could concede that alongside biology, environment DOES alter gender identity, and therefore we should curb education/acceptance of trans issues? Perhaps they say that your model proves that the "ideology" is creating gender dysphoria where there was none before, and is thus harmful to society? Thoughts? Bonus points: I loved this video! If people must connect gender to biology, the best description seems to that 1) gender is subject genetically via multifactorial inheritance (more than one gene is involved) and 2) gender is subject (in a broad sense) epigenetically to the countless ways our environment impinges on an organism, whether that's more physically rooted such as prenatal hormone concentrations or psychosocially rooted such as the level of xenophobia and linguistic specificity of gender terms in a certain human environment.

I had to become an adult and be that for a while to finally have the freedom to live according to my sense and understanding of gender identity. My peers during childhood and adolescence would not have accepted my feminine side. I was bullied but only later understood that it might have been because I was not the typical boy. I cut connections with these people and feel much better now, in my midthirties, than I can live my softer and more emotional side. Also, I stress to my wife, who is rather traditional, that people need to be allowed to be themselves and that group thinking is damaging. I finally have the confidence to stand for that and being the change I‘d like to see in the world… namely that beauty, cordiality and similar traits are not gendered and can be lived by anyone who feels it‘s for them.

Anchoring is indeed important but I don't believe we can have it both ways. The simple compromise is what I thought seemed to occur among the last couple 'generations' or so, where "sex" has been contextually and socially separated from "gender" in a way which has become highly recognized. In my youth it wasn't difficult for me to identify what "gender" I was because it was always exclusively tied to "sex". They were synonyms. In situations where it was ever asked of me, it automatically just seemed a casual way of asking me my "sex". I knew my "sex" could be determined based on words and definitions which outlined the metrics. In that regard I can't even really begin to understand a general study of how males or females form their gender identities outside of when they begin to form an understanding of language and what words mean. Dysphoria is the interesting part to me where I can begin to imagine all the possible ways how someone may strongly feel that they do not identify with the things which make them fall under one definition or the other. I say one or the other because I don't see how we can have that anchoring while also allowing the idea of more than 2 genders, when those 2 genders and what they mean were formed from realities we anchored our definitions to. Even now, when reflecting and attempting to consider how much my personal experiences and feelings may actually anchor me to what it means to be a male, my brain doesn't go beyond my understanding that I'm biologically a male and have never had any thoughts or ideas that I might not be. I can imagine this to be some sort of real question a person may have if let's say they've never been to a physician in their lives and didn't seem to have identifiable body parts attributed to the sex they've been observably categorized. A dysphoria is something I would more easily perceive.. where someone may find their body repulsive, exclusively in ways where they seem to desire irreversible and very life-altering modifications a 'sound of mind' person would only consider for extremely important reasons. It's hard for me to begin to understand the psychological state of such a person unless they are able to articulate their reasoning in ways which are anchored in some objective reality. Otherwise it's not any kind of abnormal or condescending or insulting notion to reference a person who may want surgery to look like a lobster because for whatever reason they found a true connection with that identity. At what point outside of Male and Female does a gender identity step into the realm of what we should consider abnormal or even psychologically dangerous? We seem to already be in a dangerous situation if institutions which once enforced gender-exclusive rules based on biological sex are allowing exceptions for people who personally don't agree. How does one take a non-anchored understanding of gender identity to a point where I can't just claim to feel like some random endangered species animal at any given time, while feeling like a human at others, and that's supposed to be accepted by all of society. "Sorry, right now I'm a red panda so I don't exactly follow human laws but most of the time when I need my rights I just happen to feel like a human again." "Sorry, right now I'm a woman so I don't exactly go to a prison for males but most of the time when I'm not in prison situations I just happen to feel like a male again." Those become real and normalized situations without anchors, and unacceptably false situations when we have anchors.

Gender is a human mental way of functioning in feminine or masculine manner.

+DRZPHD *The medical profession still has a LOT to discover concerning the conditions that can occur in utero.* Genetics have a limited number of possible sexes, including intersex conditions. Gender, otOH, is affected by an unknown (as of 2022) number of factors. The chart Time 13:35 to end of vid shows ten aspects of life: Language awareness, sex, sexuality, spiritual, physical, time central, social, cultural, interpersonal, and trauma.

This was a really great way to explain gender identity.

I think of gender identity in terms of a “gendered gestalt” or “gendered model” of the self that the brain forms about us that helps us navigate our psychosexual and psychosocial world. I don’t mean to bring in the entire baggage of gestalt psychology since the brain works in many more ways that gestalt formation and maintenance. However, we do form gestalts, or models, for many things, and a sense of gender is one of them. This is a robust gestalt which seems to form whenever a sense of identity is formed in life. This gestalt can be unformed in life when the sense of self identity is rendered unstable for whatever reason. Our gendered gestalt can unform and reform whenever any of life’s natural or provoked identity crises occur. How our gendered gestalt forms or reforms will be dependent upon many the many factors that you elucidated. For most people, most of the time, it will be the person’s sexual physicality that will play the biggest role in the formation of a gendered gestalt. Once formed, however, it can be highly robust. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is absolutely stable, just robust. I have heard plenty of cis people say, “There are times I feel like [a member of the opposite sex], but that doesn’t mean I am going to rush out and transition.” I believe these people. There is no a prior reason to believe a gendered gestalt will be absolutely stable. As we know, gestalts can flip. Gestalts are more likely to flip in the face of ambiguous signals and feedback, as many optional and other sensory illusions have been illustrating for a very long time. However, for most people, the signals related to one’s sense of gender are not all that ambiguous, but actually quite clear. When our gendered gestalt is unstable, we feel very uncomfortable. Everyone feels uncomfortable when it is challenged. We place a lot of energy into resolving those conflicts. In fact, I posit that we tend to form binary ideologies and norms to help avoid the kinds of social ambiguities that can challenge our gendered gestalts. The modern world has broken these norms. I am not really certain this is a good thing as I found that the sex binary norms are likely in place for good reasons. Have we opened up Pandpra’s Box by “smashing the gendered norms?” With the growing number of detransitiiners, I fear we may have. The later in life that a gender gestalt forms that is misaligned with our less ambiguous sexual reality, it seems that the more likely it may be that the gestalt could shift again in favor of reality given yet another one or life’s identity crisis, natural or triggered by something like trauma or neurological phenomena such as seizures, or even the ego-dissolution dynamics of empathogen-psychedelics.

Dr Z, what do you think of papers like: "The microstructure of white matter in male to female transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment. A DTI study"?

Congratulations Dr.Z, You're exploring development of gender identity while I am still drawing zen diagrams just to explain the concept. Please accept the following paragraphs, as I can't offer you my pen, as recognition of your excellent work. I home they help. Nature vs nurture was an argument that lasted decades. We now know the two interact. Both influence each other. Current arguments over gender are very much following that same pattern. Imagine 3 overlapping circles with a space shared by all three. I believe that gender identity can be found in that shared space. The 3 circles are all products of the dynamic system of nature, nurture, and environmental constraints. Those 3 circles being personality, physiology, and mental health.

A dialectical material approach to gender identity

your analysis seems sensible and clear to me., Please integrate Gender Fluidity as found in traumagenic DID / OSSD 1.B, where a single body has multiple alters, each alter their own GI/SO in your model - maybe talk with CTAD clinic on their clinical experience with trans patients that have did/osdd. This being loosely related to the (endogenic internal family system of) micro pockets concept of gender fluidity used in your video. -- i like the subjective ontological based approach re each persons understanding/ontological model of GI influenced over the top of genetic material. it fits well in the "OODA loop" theory of cybernetic systems.

Very nice a long alot of information thx 😊

Once you start to understand that everything is energy, it may start to become more obvious that it is simply impossoble there would not be a gender identity, to me it is an often immutable frequency pattern of masculine and feminine that creates and matches the gender that society embody. It could also be in a way instinctual. Many cultures in the past had multiple genders for this reason to honor the sovereignty of the spirit over the matter, these communities may have also been more spiritual, not a coincidence that it has also largely been the materialistic western socity that usually disregarded the existence of gender, and not the native american and african tribes. We have to understand what is man and woman, it comes from the masculine and feminine archetypes signifying the forces of giving and receiving, and based on those markers we find where we are anchored in our sexual embodiment, how our body should look, what role it should play, is that body meant to symbolize the giving or receiving role. From this perspective it becomes very clear how gender identity is far more real as a deeply experiential knowing of I AM. It signifies we are the masters over our body, the sexism itself was a reduction of that freedom where the body was used against us, where we become mere objects in someone's eyes. That is why for exmaple TERFS are essentially supporting patriarchy without realizing it, when dictating for others what or who they are, and not our own selves, and ironically trans people are allowing us to free ourselves from it, it also brings liberation to women unless they objectify themselves as well by disregarding gender identity, and they often do when they encounter intersex people, these kind of people feel uncomfortable when they can not pui people in some well defined boxes. This is a matter of how expanded our consciousness is, we all seem to be at different levels.

A very good video and I agree with probably well over 90% of it. I would however say this. A child raised by wolves without any influence of a human society would still experience gender and thus have a gender identity. I also like to add that it has been proven that there are female and male brain structures. That there are male brain activity patterns and female activity patterns. Your gender and thus your gender identity is directly caused by your biology of your brain structures and your brain activity patterns reflect those structures giving rise to one experiencing a male or female gender. It has been proven that male to female transsexuals have female brain structures and brain activity patterns. It has been proven that female to male transsexuals have male brain activity patterns. It has been proven that what determines if one will develop, in the womb, male or female brain structures is not the sex chromosomes. It is determined by which hormone the fetus produces more of. All fetuses produce both testosterone and estrogen. Fetuses with XY chromosomes usually but not always produce more testosterone and estrogen. More testosterone means that fetus will develop male brain structures. Fetuses with XX chromosomes usually but not always produces more estrogen. Higher levels of estrogen means female brain structures will develop. If the estrogen and testosterone levels fluctuate and for a period of time one hormone is higher then after a while the other hormone is higher you will end up with a person who has a mixture of both male and female brain structures. Or if the hormones are very close to the same level you will end up with a person whose brain structures are neither quite male or female. Any unique set of brain structures is possible. This is why you have different ways trans people experience their gender. A transgender person who has more stereotypical brain structure and thus brain activity patterns of the opposite sex will experience a more stereotypical gender of the opposite sex. A transgender person who has a more unique mixture of male and female brain structures will experience a gender that is not stereotypical gender but can still be considered one of the opposite sex or even be gender fluid perhaps influenced by their own hormone levels they are currently producing which does fluctuate over time. You can think of brain structures and brain activity patterns as a physical musical instrument and the quality of the sound that instrument emits when being played. Societies influence lets the person know the type of music and individual songs are appropriate and allowed to be played on that instrument.

I am one of those who had a later onset of gender dysphoria, but I remember one time at college (probably at a woman's month event) that I was there, surrounded by other women and as I listened to their stories, I understood their emotions and experiences but did not resonate with the word womanhood in a single bit. I thought to myself, "how is it that I can relate to what these women are talking about but not the shared sense of identity and community as a woman?" Then I remember there was not a single time I understood particular behaviors and unspoken rules other girls followed ever since elementary school, like always going to bathrooms together. Also I always had a lot of trouble understanding what they expected of me emotionally or what they mean, how they feel, so I was always careful not to make them uncomfortable or misunderstood. Because of that, I never really felt a sense of belonging in any girls group, whether that is a girls group in my class, or a girls sport team where others were always targeting someone to casually bully, or at a karate school where I had to endure the other 2 girls constantly talking behind the teacher's back. Even in a group of girls who were genuinely nice and cool to be with, I was always trying hard to fit in, except in front of a few girl friends when we were one on one. Over time I have acquired skills to pick up the signs and read how they feel and what they expect so that I can react to them and make them comfortable in my company, but that was something I had to work hard to learn. When I went to college and joined a dance club with mostly male members however, I felt so comfortable and carefree like I could never imagine because at that point in life I just believed that I was inherently antisocial. I was wrong, I just never felt relaxed or fully understood in girls groups. Do I understand manhood? I cannot say I do, because I was raised and socialized as a girl for most of my life, and currently even men are rediscovering what manhood means. But I also know that resonating with manhood/womanhood is not a prerequisite to identify as either gender. To me, not resonating with womanhood despite understanding their experiences was one of the mere signs which pointed out to me who I was inside.

If anyone could prove that I was born with a biological propensity to be imprinted on the girl and group side of the spectrum, I'm not sure I would care. I need love and acceptance for who I am no matter what excuse you put on me or my ilk. Forcing people like me, the square peg, into something other than their own brain, their own hole doesn't make anyone whole or wholesome. It does create hiding, anger, even rage, and suicide or harmful self destructive ways. We need love and acceptance.

for me my trauma was very early i was molested by my dad the bible says that some were born into it we are called enuchs

Wait! я не познала вы же русский даже не могу понять почему я так за вас все рада! что вы мне посоветуете? я не нормалне малчик I would like to be transgender is that the same as being transgender?? I've always wanted to be transgender since I came to know trans people were a thing. I've DIYed hormones once

Sometimes I feel bad when non-binary people say that gender is just a construct because I know that this is not true for me. Of course they can't care cause they're not tied to societal expectations, but I don't refer to gender roles as my "inner knowing" kind of gender. The underlying way I feel. That I refer to. I don't quite dig gender roles either, but my gender (again, not role) is not a construct. But yet again, maybe that's just confirmation that I am binary. Nothing more

The very point of Sex=Gender (rejecting gender identity) is to be simplistic and rigid. That Male=Man=He. And the "gender" of Masculinity/Femininity are defined by the "norm" practices/expectations of males/females. But that simply controls a few linguistic classifications. It doesn't deny than a man can be feminine. It doesn't deny that a man may have preference to be perceived as a female in physical observation and/or societal norms. It doesn't deny a male may desire to be female. It simply declares that to be a "man" isn't a feeling or a personal identity, it's a societal classifier based on sex. It's not that A=B, but rather A=A. Not that Gender corresponds to Sex for all, but that gender isn't at all it's own concept to be acknowledged in these specific areas. That any self desired expression or perception is it's own thing. That it's to be expressed through other avenues. That "gender" doesn't consist of some foundational aspect of oneself as to use it as a basis of identity. You highlight from your understanding how gender identity is to require one's individual perception and understanding of the concept, and such is subjective. That's precisely what causes many personal and societal issues. That others perceive such differently. In other statements, you've required the acceptance of other's gender identities. But if others hold different perceptions of what gender is, why should they? And what would such even mean if they did? If "woman" to me and "woman" to you can means different things, is there any reason to treat such as a collective? Is there any foundational understanding to the label for societal purposes? Is there really anything that makes it distinct from a "man"? Why is anyone creating association to these societal labels that don't have some greater understanding? That's what seems so difficult to grasp for many. If we are all so unique and individualistic, why are we forming identities around such collective language? Why do you prefer an understanding of "woman" that can't at all convey anything as it's subjectively defined by each individual? At 15:10 you seem to misinterpret the prior argument you made of an alternative view. That sex defines "gender", with there being no gender identity. Here you say society attempts to define your gender identity. This perspective is how one perceives "misgendering" while another simply perceives such as an attempt at correctly labeling one's sex. People are fundamentally discussing two different things. Other people aren't attempting to identify you, they are applying societal norms upon you based on your sex. They aren't recognizing others as "cisgender", but not recognizing self-identity at all. You're self-identity to a gender concept doesn't change how others will perceive you. You're self-expression to oppose said norms, may. I'd also argue with you on you're claim that children at the age of 4 known their gender identity. They have begun to recognize societal gender norms and have begun to express a preference for one over the other, most often in pursuit of societal or personal comfortability. That's precisely NOT how you just defined gender identity. Don't establish that these variables define an identity to gender. "Gender" doesn't need to be the concept we perceive at issue. Such "identity" also seems to dismiss the idea that minorities exist within a classification structure. That you don't have to fit the greater "norm" as to still be classified within. I'd argue most people view their "self-identity" as "fluid". They simply don't see such defined by the concept of "gender". That there isn't a current structure that ties sex to gender identity. But a structure that defines "gender" as simply interchangeable with sex, versus you're perception that it's a concept integral to one's personal identity. "Separating them" or as I'd argue, clarifying it as it's own distinct thing, would simply have most people confused on what to even associate to. As you've outlined, it's all subjectively defined. So there exists no foundation to even understand it as a separate concept. Simply saying it's distinct from sex still doesn't establish what it is.

Your définition = gender is the gender you feel... But what is gender ?

People spend so much energy and effort clinging to physicality to argue their bias. It's ultimately not about physicality. It's an issue on a higher level of psychological and spiritual. The body is just a machine for us to use and manipulate to reflect us, not a material object such as a body to manipulate us to reflect it.

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Sex = gender = works for 99% of people. But it does not mean the sex makes the gender. There could be a common underlying element that makes both. Chromosomes for example. Gender remains very mysterious and may be that's why you are obsessed by gender ?!

Gender is also influenced by the desires of the mother. Even if they are unconscious (the mother does not know her desires).

The irony I don't get is why the treatment for gender dysphoria is to take hormones of the other binary sex in order to resemble the stereotypical physical characteristics of that sex. You have just told me sex and gender aren't necessarily linked however transgender people are closely linking them by extreme efforts medically and socially to mimic their desired sex . Why isn't gender dysphoria treated by integrating the spectrum of gender within the person rather than turning to medicalisation as the golden gender ticket. If you did that it would not harm or medicalise the gender dysphoric person and retain their most fundamental life choices such as having children. What happens if on their revolving pedestool as you describe it they encounter life experiences that make them want to have children. If you've sterilised them through transgender medicalisation at an earlier point you have done them harm and reduced their life choices at another point of their life journey when , as you say, their gender expression or identity may have changed and thus their wants and needs as humans. How do you reconcile this dilemma which is the harmful outcome of irreversible damage done in response to a " feeling" state that as you describe may change as you experience life. Your very arguement about the definition and development of gender identity negates the treatment of gender dysphoria which is harmful to the natal sex , health, and future life choices of the dysphoric individual. Why is there not gender integration as a way to move forward with a deeper understanding of gender? At the moment there is so much irreversible harm done to people imprisoning them in medicalisation for life.

Я так и думал, что Вы из России Х)

So gender is who you want to be ?

How it is formed is not known. But we suppose it is a mix of biology, psychology and social. Like schizophrenia !

So I'm Les trans