A question of gender: Would you rather be male or female?

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I am usually defined as a woman and female, although I see myself as genderless. I don't really equate that to being "like a man" at all, even though I guess a lot of my interests are considered unusual for women. I do like feminine expression and I like my body (mostly) as it is right now, so I guess genderless would be arguable, but I find it hard to pin down a specific definition for the sake of argument.

I'm born in female body, would like to be genderless.

I do not like:
* People assume that I'm an idiot in areas I actually am not. If I get to write something serious one day, should I take a fake name?
* My grandfather sometimes tries to take tools away from my hands and complete these interesting works himself (he is cool otherwise ), and other people also sometimes seem to assume that I should do the boring things and men should get all the interesting ones.
* Men think they should protect me in the streets at night, But I want to fight myself if such situation comes up, I want to find out how my karate training works. I percive myself as a hero from an action movie, and none of them would accept that protecting treatment as they were weak women, also no real (as opposed to movies) male does, so why should I?
* I'm weak and it's harder to get results from training without testosterone. I hated sports class in school since 5th grade, that was the time boys and girls got separated. I didn't have much competitive sense towards girls, actually it was hopless anyway to really win anything, but I think competition with boys would have been more motivating. And in the class 10 the teacher tried to motivate us with "being valued because of goodlookingness" the superficiality of which made me hate sports class even more. So I ended up as really weak grown-up. Though I have a perfect female body which maybe contributes a bit to my other mentioned issues, but don't know really.
* I also hate to have periods (were they "invented" to humiliate?) and that the uneven responsibility of a theoretical accident-baby would be bigger on me.
* Double standards regarding sexuality.

At the moment that's all that pops into my head, but I think there might be more.


I like to dream what if I was born hermaphrodite (and not spoiled by medicine "fixing" it). If I hadn't such strong aversion towards lying I would reaaly like to try to convince people that I was one

I would rather be male: I get paid more, I don't bleed every month, I don't have to worry about getting pregnant, clothes are more roomy, men aren't under as much scrutiny about appearance as women are, I could go on but I think you get the idea.

I voted male, but would prefer to be genderless.

Female, because I could experience carrying a child and all that other stuff. Because men don't they sometimes are not taken into account enough in divorces or if the parents are only in a short-term relationship at the time.
When I was 14-early 16 I wanted to be male on the top half but be female on the bottom half, I got over that but I still don't conform to the gender stereotypes. I'm a bit of everything gender wise.

I'm female and am content with that. I used to want to be a boy when I was a kid sometimes, but that was because I had two older brothers who constantly told me that girls suck and how awful they are. I am glad I am a girl and I wouldn't want to change.

I am happy being a female, and would not wish to change.
Though the combination of a biological urge to reproduce and being physically incapable of doing so is quite painful, I like everything else.

Female, and content with my sex. I'm a feminist, and there's much that I despise about the feminine gender role - and, more generally, the way in which most societies tend to respond to the differences between women and men, and regard those differences as a sign of inferiority in women - but I wouldn't really want to be male. I'd really hate to face such a strict social expectation for me to suppress emotion, engage in combative behaviour, and avoid anything remotely feminine like the plague.

The idea of being genderless is an interesting one, but I do feel some sense of 'belonging' with my own sex.

I'm a guy and I'm content with my sex. That said, I'd be just as content if I were a woman (although I suppose it would be slightly more uncomfortable being a woman in situations, given the struggles that are far more exclusive to being a member of the "fairer sex", such as being hit on, which is uncomfortable, even for "Normal" women.). What's far more important to me in than my sex is my "essence": What are my hopes, ambitions, desires, fears, interests, struggles, etc, which make me uniquely me? In my view, sex doesn't play a large role in that self-determination (Just to clarify: I'm not saying it does not for other people. I'm just saying it does not for me. If a large part of your identity is your pride as a woman, right on. If it feels right to you to feel pride in that, that's what should matter.). Therefore, I don't tend to give it much consideration, to be honest.

Usually I am quite happy being female, but right now I'd give my left foot to be male for the next week or so.

i am happy as a woman but i would be equally happy as genderless or cogender.

I wonder if I have answered this thread before and just forgotten--it seems like something I would have responded to.

Anyway, I am a woman but feel myself to be genderless and would prefer to be seen that way. Though of course, I am coming to accept that this is impossible: People see someone walking down the street, and they don't see "a person," they see "a man," "a woman," "a girl," "a boy." Of course, the skirts probably don't help my cause.

I actually care less whether I'm male or female. I mean, I like being a woman, but I wouldn't care if I was born a man instead either... I'm content for the most part...

Even though I dress like a male (and intend to keep doing so) my interests and the way I act is quite androgynous.

I'd love to be male if that meant no more periods and wearing bras. (Especially wire bras, which are evil.)

How can you be content wth being a woman, and HATE the role that is an INTEGRAL part of it? I know you may hate it, but men can't be pregnant, aren't built to provide for a baby early in life, and often just aren't able to provide the care a woman can. As for men, a lot of emotion suppression is part of beng a man. That is to say that things like crying just don't come as easy for men. Boys are different in that regard. So even the toughest man probably has had a taste of that experience. And males are SUPPOSED to be more aggressive. Historically, males have been the ones to fight, protect, negotiate, etc.... And they ARE better built for that. Those two roles may have played a BIG part in the REAL wage gap, but there are several reasons why the statistics are skewed such that the wage gap tends to look FAR worse than it really is. Heck, how many women work for a short time at a simple job to earn money in addition to what they already have? If you counted only income from a job, the queen of england may be looked down on as poor and underemployed. But she IS the monarch of one of the worlds most powerful countries.

And YEAH, historically, many cultures have considered women to be the weaker sex, etc... Not necessarily inferior though. Heck, look at manners, and customs. Even a wedding effectively treats the woman as a princess. The man is held at a lower point. Often the woman picks exactly how things should be done. She is given a ring that is expected to be worth at least three months of the man's income. And HE pays for it. Often, SHE gets any kids, and he pays for their support. And SHE often gets half of his assets. When a woman enters a room, the men are expected to stand, just as in a wedding everyone is expected to stand when the bride enters. US banks in the early 20th century were as nice as they were for the WOMEN. And women are the first to know about children, and can get rid of them. The husband really has NO say! If SHE keeps the kid, HE is expected to pay. And she is the only one that knows the father of the kid.

And I am unsure of why men are expected to avoid things that are feminine. I guess it is because some might tend to make them sometimes appear homosexual. Some things, men just CAN'T do, or generally don't. Too many women think that some things, like understanding some indirect hints, are easy for men, as women seem to find them easy. In MY case, and generally accepted in various research, men DON'T generally understand such things. So some things you THINK are hard on men are a part of the actual makeup that makes men men. I will say, however, that I, like many men, would like to understand women better. You see, men and women really ARE different. It isn't simply the genitals. In a way, genitals define the gender like skin color defines the race. But skin color doesn't fully define race either.

So I guess you like the laws, manners, being considered pretty, time off, and some treatment, and hate periods, child care, etc... Gee, if you want to get rid of half of it, you should expect to get rid of all of it.. I expect that you would then HATE the idea. Men don't get all positive stuff EITHER! And *I* am NOT a good negotiator, aggressive, etc... So I am missing a good deal of the positive aspects of being male.