What gender are you?

[Comrade Jacob]

I often get people telling me that Communism & Anarchism are dominated by men.
I want to get a rough idea of the facts.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

This site isn't representative of communism and anarchism. I also feel that online communities like this slant towards male users for whatever reason. There are fewer women here than you will actually encounter in real life organizations and/or at protest actions, etc.

[Creative Destruction]

cis male.

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

cis het male scum

[Landsharks eat metal]

FTM and wondering why there seems to be way more trans women than trans men on here (and if I'm the only one)

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I'mma goblin.

[Remus Bleys]

I'mma goblin.

waddya know? me too

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Communist (Sausage) Party of the Internet

Actually though, I think that this tends to reflect particular types of projects more than it does communists generally. I think that men, by and large, seem more likely to participate in communist organizations whose raison d'être is the organization itself, whereas women tend to be disproportionately involved in projects that focus on a particular field of practical activity. I think this reflects, generally, divisions of manual and mental labour, the division of "caring" affective labour and "productive" work, etc. As such, in my experience, if you go into a collective kitchen space, or a collective doing immigrant/refugee solidarity work, or prison solidarity, or whatever, the gender balance tends to change significantly from the composition of the typical "party" meeting.

That's not a hard and fast rule by any means, and there are particularities to every organization/project. I'd also say that I'm speaking from a specifically North American "settler left" perspective, so, given that gender roles are hardly fixed, this will likely not apply to other contexts.

[Il Medico]

FTM and wondering why there seems to be way more trans women than trans men on here (and if I'm the only one)
I'm not sure if it's like this everywhere, but even in the irl queer community around here there aren't many trans men (I've met like two and know of one other). There's definitely a lot more trans women around. At least in terms of being active in the community.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Male.

[Quail]

While I think that the anarchist movement is pretty male dominated, this website has a higher proportion of men to women than real life does. I'm surprised that there are even 5 females who responded so far because most of the time I think I could count the women on here on one hand, but maybe actually I need two hands.

[Il Medico]

Oh, also, in the most accurate terms I can think of and put in a run-on sentence:

Zig-zaging around in the androgynous zone between male and female whilst presenting as male and occasionally shooting off like some rouge planetoid into pretty much completely female, desiring but unable to present as female both physically and socially for relatively short periods of time before returning to the androgynous zone.


Or, Other. :lol:

[LOLseph Stalin]

cis female.

[Landsharks eat metal]

I'm not sure if it's like this everywhere, but even in the irl queer community around here there aren't many trans men (I've met like two and know of one other). There's definitely a lot more trans women around. At least in terms of being active in the community.
It's kind of weird to me, since Tumblr is absolutely overrun with trans men.

[Sinister Intents]

I don't know if its quite alright to post in year old thread, but almost a year ago I came out as MTF transgender. When I initially saw this thread I didn't really know how and was afraid to answer.

[Bala Perdida]

Plain old guy. I know, boring huh.

[consuming negativity]

i don't like gender. i'm biologically male and i like things commonly associated with men, dress like a man, and conform quite a lot to what men are supposed to be, but i take a lot of issue with masculinity as it is in our society. femininity too, actually. not to say that people can't identify how they want, and indeed if pressed i'll identify as a cismale, but i am extremely critical of how we "do" gender and i'd opt out entirely if it wasn't even more uncomfortable for me than identifying myself as what i am.

also, for the record, "male" and "female" are not genders, OP.

[Lily Briscoe]

Plain old guy. I know, boring huh.
Well, you could always just stop 'identifying' as one and there you are-- problem solved... :rolleyes:
--
Personally I think the whole idea that your gender is something you can just 'opt out of' because e.g. you don't like the social/political implications, is pretty absurd.

[Quail]

Well, you could always just stop 'identifying' as one and there you are-- problem solved... :rolleyes:
--
Personally I think the whole idea that your gender is something you can just 'opt out of' because e.g. you don't like the social/political implications, is pretty absurd.

What exactly do you mean by this?

---

I think the way that people experience gender is coloured by both the way they perceive their own gender and the way that other people perceive them. I don't feel as though I identify with either the "female" or "male" box particularly strongly, and although I am generally read as female, I don't really conform to the general sets of rules and expectations of femininity most of the time.

But on the other hand, I have experienced first hand various forms of oppression associated with both being "female" (e.g. sexual objectification and harassment) and being able to bear children (e.g. being poor and bringing up a child on my own).

[Lily Briscoe]

That I think gender is social/"performative" (ugh) rather than something you can just 'decide' to 'identify with' as an individual after lots of introspection and rumination. I mean, if I woke up tomorrow and decided I didn't like the social implications of being a woman, I couldn't just choose to 'opt out of it', because I would still be identified as one by everyone else.

I just think a lot of people here have a weird idea about how 'gender' works, where it's more down to personal whim and like inner dialogue than about how people are treated socially,

[consuming negativity]

That I think gender is social/"performative" (ugh) rather than something you can just 'decide' to 'identify with' as an individual after lots of introspection and rumination. I mean, if I woke up tomorrow and decided I didn't like the social implications of being a woman, I couldn't just choose to 'opt out of it', because I would still be identified as one by everyone else.

I just think a lot of people here have a weird idea about how 'gender' works, where it's more down to personal whim and like inner dialogue than about how people are treated socially,

gender is social and performance takes place in the context of an audience. that's why it's so perfidious for people to deny transpersons their gender of choice; because it is an ongoing process of socialization that is from and affirmed by our society. but it really is not a "choice" insofar as we are who we are; our "choice" exists insofar as we make conscious decisions to "play the game" of gender by gendering ourselves and our environments. but it is an interaction between society which is necessarily between individuals which include ourselves; our gender identity is real and more than just action - it is how we see ourselves in relation to other people.

[The Feral Underclass]

Cis-male.

[∞]

robut

[human strike]

I've started identifying as reluctantly male.

[Lily Briscoe]

gender is social and performance takes place in the context of an audience. that's why it's so perfidious for people to deny transpersons their gender of choice; because it is an ongoing process of socialization that is from and affirmed by our society. but it really is not a "choice" insofar as we are who we are; our "choice" exists insofar as we make conscious decisions to "play the game" of gender by gendering ourselves and our environments. but it is an interaction between society which is necessarily between individuals which include ourselves; our gender identity is real and more than just action - it is how we see ourselves in relation to other people.
I wasn't talking about transgender people, which are a pretty microscopic demographic; my post was in response to your comment. I'm talking about lefty guys who feel uncomfortable with the social implications of being guys, so think that they can just 'opt out of it' or 'identify' differently, as if that changes anything at all.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

a better question is: should cis male leftists opt out of hetero sex and piv?