I wouldn’t generalize trans (or cis) people like that. I’m trans, but feel no pressure to conform, I chose to be the unique person that I am. That person happens to dress and look feminine, and enjoy some things that are stereotypically feminine. She also enjoys plenty of things that are very much the opposite. I am absolutely choosing to be who I am and who I want to be, and that person happens to align with many cultural norms. Every other trans person I know is similar. I’ve run into people saying things similar to your comment, with varied levels of severity, all relying on the same essential misunderstanding.
Some people whose gender doesn’t align to any societal stereotype seem to believe that this is because of some enlightenment they have found, and that anyone that conforms to those gender norms must be insecure or brainwashed. What they fail to realise is that their gender just happens to not conform, and that for many people their truest self just does align with the societal norms to some degree. Those norms did not arise from a vacuum. To a large degree, they’re “just” a social construct, but social constructs reflect an average of the realities that society experiences, shaped through a lens of social pressure, class, culture, and other filters.
I highly recommend you read “Who’s Afraid of Gender” by Judith Butler. It’s a great look at what gender really means, why people present the way they do, and what “performative gender” really means. All gender is performative, fundamentally. This is not to say that it’s obsolete or inferior, but simply the nature of gender itself.
I wouldn’t generalize trans (or cis) people like that. I’m trans, but feel no pressure to conform, I chose to be the unique person that I am. That person happens to dress and look feminine, and enjoy some things that are stereotypically feminine. She also enjoys plenty of things that are very much the opposite. I am absolutely choosing to be who I am and who I want to be, and that person happens to align with many cultural norms. Every other trans person I know is similar. I’ve run into people saying things similar to your comment, with varied levels of severity, all relying on the same essential misunderstanding.
Some people whose gender doesn’t align to any societal stereotype seem to believe that this is because of some enlightenment they have found, and that anyone that conforms to those gender norms must be insecure or brainwashed. What they fail to realise is that their gender just happens to not conform, and that for many people their truest self just does align with the societal norms to some degree. Those norms did not arise from a vacuum. To a large degree, they’re “just” a social construct, but social constructs reflect an average of the realities that society experiences, shaped through a lens of social pressure, class, culture, and other filters.
I highly recommend you read “Who’s Afraid of Gender” by Judith Butler. It’s a great look at what gender really means, why people present the way they do, and what “performative gender” really means. All gender is performative, fundamentally. This is not to say that it’s obsolete or inferior, but simply the nature of gender itself.