The Unpopular Opinions Thread

[Dracozombie 4,554]

The normal sane fans aren't the ones who represent a fandom, because the normal sane fans are too normal and sane to do things that will embarass themselves -- unless you count, say, enjoying a show about colorful magic horses embarassing, which a lot of people do. From what I gather, bronies can be vicious because they get a lot of toxic from outsiders. Really, anything popular will draw attention from people who can't see what the big deal is, how dare so many people enjoy this simple/stupid thing publically demonstrate it, I can see how pointless and overrated it is, etc etc etc. Sometimes it's Kingdom Hearts, Pokemon, Five Nights at Freddy's, or, yes, MLP. Especially MLP, which hasn't exactly gotten a good reputation during its previous We Must Sell Toys era. If a brony reacts to criticism more harshly than you'd expect, I suspect it's a knee jerk reaction to the amount of hate they get for liking what they like. I mean, society doesn't exactly expect a little girl's show to resemble anything close to decent.

 

I personally keep the MLP fandom at arm's length (not a huge enough fan to actively interact with them, though there is a fanfic or two I keep an eye on), so just out of principle I can say one shouldn't lump every person in a fandon into the same stereotype. Are all Kingdom Hearts fans the same? No? So why should it be different from MLP? The only difference between KH and MLP is that we're not as well-known and we're not about talking ponies. Oh, and if someone you know became a shut-in due to MLP, then it's not MLP's fault -- he must have had some issues to begin with. MLP just happened to be his catalyst, but really, it could've been anything.

[Exiblade7 1,917]

This might not be an unpopular opinion, but I think people (mostly on miiverse) need to stop calling people trolls because their opinion is so diverse. I saw this happen to somebody on miverse a few weeks ago. 

[Key Sharkz 69]

Wat. I don't even. You're saying all Bronies are like that? Not even. I'm not. As for the clopping thing, us non-cloppers within the fandom usually just love to make fun of it. Cause it's funny. The Brony group is full of many different types of people. All over the internet there are many types of people. It just seems like there is mostly "assholes and weirdos" but there's more to it than that. Pretty much like YouTube where most of what you see is just trolls causing a great amount of controversy, but sitting out from the comments are many quiet people, and then you've got some good people commenting as well. And Clopping isn't that big an issue. Before "clopping" even came along, "Yiffing" was already a thing. So don't throw everything on the Bronies for clopping when such activities existed for other things WAY before. From my several years of being a Brony i've encountered a number of really good people. I've seen the comments and what not on like YouTube and other social media from those troll-hard attention hog Bronies and what not of which are total a-holes, but there are definitely plenty of good people in the fandom. I do see some hostility from Bronies against non-Bronies, but all groups have those types of people. Plus there is a lot of hate for Bronies which is also another reason for such hostility. Honestly, it only seems you're basing all of this off of what you've seen and from the people you know which isn't a whole lot. There is a lot to this fandom, with many people in it of different types. 'Nuff said.

 

Note: I should also add that the Brony fandom is one of the biggest fandoms out there which means there's a lot of people in it, hence a large amount of such stereotypes and pornography within the fandom compared to others.

 

First of all, you should re-read the rules of the thread. You're not supposed to try and dispute people's opinions here.

 

The thing is though, the clopping thing is not funny. It's gross, and in many parts of the world, it's illegal. I am appalled about stuff in my fandoms that is that gross and the moment I see it, I speak out against it. The problem is, a lot of bronies don't. And saying that yiffing exists isn't much of a saving grace. Yiffing is also gross, and in my opinion wrong as well. So saying because one existed prior doesn't suddenly make clopping any better. This is what I hate about bronies too, their defending of clop. But most of all, I hate the mentality you are putting out the most. Why? because the brony fandom is CONSTANTLY trying to give itself a free pass for all the dumb shit it does and make excuses for it.

 

Look, if you see people in your fandom doing something stupid, you should speak up, not go "oh well they don't make up the majority" and let them continue. Know why a lot of other fandoms who are even bigger than bronies manage to keep better reputations? Because they discourage behavior like that.

 

 

The normal sane fans aren't the ones who represent a fandom, because the normal sane fans are too normal and sane to do things that will embarass themselves -- unless you count, say, enjoying a show about colorful magic horses embarassing, which a lot of people do. From what I gather, bronies can be vicious because they get a lot of toxic from outsiders. Really, anything popular will draw attention from people who can't see what the big deal is, how dare so many people enjoy this simple/stupid thing publically demonstrate it, I can see how pointless and overrated it is, etc etc etc. Sometimes it's Kingdom Hearts, Pokemon, Five Nights at Freddy's, or, yes, MLP. Especially MLP, which hasn't exactly gotten a good reputation during its previous We Must Sell Toys era. If a brony reacts to criticism more harshly than you'd expect, I suspect it's a knee jerk reaction to the amount of hate they get for liking what they like. I mean, society doesn't exactly expect a little girl's show to resemble anything close to decent.

 

I personally keep the MLP fandom at arm's length (not a huge enough fan to actively interact with them, though there is a fanfic or two I keep an eye on), so just out of principle I can say one shouldn't lump every person in a fandon into the same stereotype. Are all Kingdom Hearts fans the same? No? So why should it be different from MLP? The only difference between KH and MLP is that we're not as well-known and we're not about talking ponies. Oh, and if someone you know became a shut-in due to MLP, then it's not MLP's fault -- he must have had some issues to begin with. MLP just happened to be his catalyst, but really, it could've been anything.

 

I'll quote you both since you're both talking to me.

 

Let's just set the record straight: I was not only in the brony fandom, but I was on a lot of their major hubs and even ran one with over 10,000 users at one point. So I am not basing this on small incidents. Look, you may find a few good people, hell I have too. I got a few buddies I grabbed out of the fandom that I held onto, but you want to know what the rest of my experience was like?

 

I am going to lay this flat out: bronies do not actually get that much hate. Most people want to ignore them. I very rarely got people joining just to troll bronies. On top of this, if bronies shut up about being bronies everywhere they went, they wouldn't have an issue. Many people believe it or not didn't know what bronies were and would have been content with that. The problem is bronies (now remember I am using bronies as a general term here for lack of a better word and I understand there will always be exceptions) have a victim complex. I have seen many of them liken themselves to homosexuals coming out of the closet and others acting like the whole world hates them. Here's the truth: neither of those two things are true. There are actually no where near as many brony-haters as there are bronies. How can you possibly take that much offense to a group that hates you when you drastically outnumber them? No, the reason why people get mad at bronies on other sites is because bronies have a habit of trying to take over non-brony spaces and not leaving well-enough alone.

 

But I digress, here is what I got to endure in the brony fandom:

 

• Death threats.
• Sexist and racial slurs.
• Constant organized revenge schemes against me for banning people for legitimate reasons.
• Rumors being spread about me and my loved ones.
• Threats so bad that I literally had to delete my accounts and change my skype.
• JUSTIFICATION of those threats. (Yes, groups of people on these sites literally tried to tell me that "maybe you deserved those threats".)
• Theft of my art, my friends art, and even my girlfriend at the time's art.
• Blatant disregard of that theft.
• Found a girlfriend in the fandom, ended up cheating on me (and no not an internet girlfriend a real life one)
• A guy marrying a Twilight Sparkle plushie.
• Threads literally almost every day about clopping despite being against the rules.
• Porn posted on a regular basis on a site made for kids 13+
• People literally complaining that their porn was taken down.
• Lazy co-worker staff members who don't do their job.
• Backstabbing left and right.
• 3 pedophiles roaming our site.
• When I stressed the need to report it to the authorities, literally people were too worried about if bronies would look like pedophiles for reporting them if they made the news. YES, people were more worried about bronies looking bad than stopping known pedophiles.

This is only on one site too. The issue is that bronies want too hard to be known they are bronies. If bronies donate to charity, they have to make sure it's under the brony umbrella and make sure everyone knows it was them. Bronies want to be recognized so badly that it makes me sick.

 

You can say what you want about that fandom to defend it, but after what that fandom has done to me, and the example it has set, it's going to take more than "not everyone is like that" to convince me to give them another chance. The sad part is, this is the THIRD time I had given them another chance because they have done stuff like this to me before, and I am at the point where I see little reason in giving them more chances. KH fans have never done this to me, Nintendo fans haven't, not even Homestuckians (which apparently people hate quite a bit). Only fandom I have ever had this happen was bronies.

 

Sorry if it comes off as "closed minded" to just lump them all together, but really in my situation, can you blame me? I can not even go to certain places because there is a crazy guy who was stalking me because he was out to get me and harm me, and for what? Because he got fired from a pony website. A lot of the people in the brony fandom, let's be honest: are not exactly there socially. Many of them seem to lack proper social etiquette.

 

At the end of the day, here is where I stand on them:

 

• If a brony is at a non-brony con and people are giving them shit just because it's not a brony con, I will gladly defend said brony. Only because I believe people can share space. Just like if there are bronies here, I will not assume you are instant assholes. So long as you're cool with me, I'll be cool with you. And you respect that I do not have a good opinion of the fandom itself, but that doesn't mean I will not have a good opinion of you. There is more to you than belonging to a fandom and you should recognize that.
• However if I see bronies in non-brony spaces attempting to take over said spaces, I step in. This is a KH forum for example, you shouldn't yell to get an MLP board added, etc. There are sites for you and sites for KH fans, use them.
• I don't want to hear about clop. Period. If you don't bring it up, I won't criticize you for it. Because really, I shouldn't be able to criticize anyone for clop, because I shouldn't know you do it because it shouldn't be publicly discussed. No one wants to know what you are pleasing yourself to, so if you are upset that I am criticizing you for liking clop, you have only yourself to blame for that, because the only way I could know you're doing it, is you.
• I will treat every brony as everyone else upfront, until they give me reason to be weary of them. Granted, I can admit that when I first meet someone and the most important thing they feel to tell me when first meeting them is "I'm a brony", that can be a little bit of a caution flag.

I intend on being "fair" to bronies as much as I can, but I certainly will not stand up for their fandom. I'll tolerate them, and I'll be willing to look past them being bronies at points, but I am not touching their fandom with a borrowed pole, and I am not about to stand up for them except in incidents of shared spaces.

[Weedanort 8,786]

Bronies are by far one of the worst fandoms I have ever encountered. Their "love and tolerate" motto is merely a facade. After being in their community for a considerable amount of time, I can honestly say they are spiteful, angry, sexist, and really just all around  bad people. Their artists are ego-maniacs a lot of the time, and charge insane amounts for as little work as possible. To top it all off, bronies feel that EVERYTHING is fair use, even when it isn't. They have this mentality that everything is okay to rip off (art theft is rampant in that community) and do not care if they are destroying anyone's livelihood. After spending years on their sites, I can safely say that a majority of brony communities are hostile towards non-extremist fans, and many of their sites are riddled with users making power grabs to get more sway in the brony community. Honestly though, I have had bronies threaten to kill me for the most benign of crap. I recently got a guy fired from a brony website for not doing his job correctly, the staff told him that I reported him and he came to me and threatened to kill my family with an AK-47 and went on about how I had formed a "powerful enemy". Shortly after he was telling the entire site about me. I was legitimately so concerned for my safety, I deleted all my account and made a new email/skype.

 

If that all wasn't bad enough, their obsession with clopping is disturbing. Any brony will insist "it's not the whole fandom" but a lot of the evidence clearly shows that it's a very popular activity among them considering how much porn is produced. This would all be fine and dandy if it were not for the fact that discussion of clopping seems to be permitted on any social medium they inhabit, regardless of age restrictions. I recall being on sites that were rated PG13, and right out on public walls people would post long detailed discussions about clopping, defending their weird masturbation habits. Look bro, I don't care what you are tugging to, the issue is: the world doesn't need to know about it. Bronies are far too open with their sexual exploits, to the point where they attempt to justify it in every single way possible. There are even people who made videos using "science" to try and make clopping sound normal.

 

I can honestly say, after observing that fandom up close, within their own fandom I am glad I never called myself a brony, and I can say with confidence that it is a fandom that is poison. I have lost a good real life friend to this brony obsession. All his free time is wasted on brony crap, all his social functions involve ponies, he is going no where with his life. His apartment lacks furniture for 2 years now, but he wastes money on bronycons.

 

Sure, every fandom has its bad apples, but all fandoms have their good apples as well

 

*LookingatyouRainbowDashandTrixieLulamoon

[Klonoa the Dream Traveler 678]

Smashboards sucks. All the moderators on there are retards and easily can get butthurt. Say one small insult like: "I don't like your Avatar". And they instantly ban you. How ridiculous.

[Geralt 4,874]

 

First of all, you should re-read the rules of the thread. You're not supposed to try and dispute people's opinions here.

 

The thing is though, the clopping thing is not funny. It's gross, and in many parts of the world, it's illegal. I am appalled about stuff in my fandoms that is that gross and the moment I see it, I speak out against it. The problem is, a lot of bronies don't. And saying that yiffing exists isn't much of a saving grace. Yiffing is also gross, and in my opinion wrong as well. So saying because one existed prior doesn't suddenly make clopping any better. This is what I hate about bronies too, their defending of clop. But most of all, I hate the mentality you are putting out the most. Why? because the brony fandom is CONSTANTLY trying to give itself a free pass for all the dumb shit it does and make excuses for it.

 

Look, if you see people in your fandom doing something stupid, you should speak up, not go "oh well they don't make up the majority" and let them continue. Know why a lot of other fandoms who are even bigger than bronies manage to keep better reputations? Because they discourage behavior like that.

I am simply putting my opinion out there, not disputing. And it's not illegal to "clop" nothing is really illegal about masturbating to cartoon ponies. Only in countries where it's illegal to masturbate is it illegal to do that. And I wasn't defending clop. Simply saying that other things of the same existed prior and you we're putting a lot of hate into specifically clopping specifically blaming Bronies for doing that. Though of course neither yiffing or clopping or whatever else is out there is necessarily good. Not the worst thing though. And not all of the Brony fandom does dumb stuff. I could care less what one side of the fandom is doing, while I sit here and remain on the better side of the fandom.Go to 4chan. Every fandom has some bad rep.

[Forever 3,550]

This Thread is so entertaining. *Sips*

[Key Sharkz 69]

I am simply putting my opinion out there, not disputing. And it's not illegal to "clop" nothing is really illegal about masturbating to cartoon ponies. Only in countries where it's illegal to masturbate is it illegal to do that. And I wasn't defending clop. Simply saying that other things of the same existed prior and you we're putting a lot of hate into specifically clopping specifically blaming Bronies for doing that. Though of course neither yiffing or clopping or whatever else is out there is necessarily good. Not the worst thing though. And not all of the Brony fandom does dumb stuff. I could care less what one side of the fandom is doing, while I sit here and remain on the better side of the fandom.Go to 4chan. Every fandom has some bad rep.

Bronies are so quick to say "every fandom has bad rep" but really there are tons of fandoms who don't go to the extremes bronies go to. Look, I have nothing against you as a person, and so long as you don't do anything to me personally to get under my grill, I'll be cool with you, but I merely don't want anything to do with that fandom. They have done things to me that I can not forgive. I tried to give them a chance over 3 times, yeah not doing that again.

[Ghost 1,857]

Ok can someone explain to me what exactly qualifies as being "in a fandom"?  Cause I shit you not, my entire bedroom set is completely MLP:FiM. I like the show but I rarely encounter bronies online? (usually just people who like the show and they're usually cute girls or nice guys)

 

Where the firetruck are y'all going, is it like the deepest darkest depths of the internet, where you find the evil bronies everbody talks about??? e_e show me where they are 'cause I have honestly never encountered that and I'm curious haha.

 

I thought it was pretty much dead as a fandom anyways tbh, like it blew up 4 years ago but now I feel like "bronies" are dead, and now there's just people who watch the show casually? Or was I wrong apparently o.o 

 

I just wanna know where y'all find all the crazies. I'm curious!

[Dracozombie 4,554]

Ok can someone explain to me what exactly qualifies as being "in a fandom"?  Cause I shit you not, my entire bedroom set is completely MLP:FiM. I like the show but I rarely encounter bronies online? (usually just people who like the show and they're usually cute girls or nice guys)

 

Where the firetruck are y'all going, is it like the deepest darkest depths of the internet, where you find the evil bronies everbody talks about??? e_e show me where they are 'cause I have honestly never encountered that and I'm curious haha.

 

I thought it was pretty much dead as a fandom anyways tbh, like it blew up 4 years ago but now I feel like "bronies" are dead, and now there's just people who watch the show casually? Or was I wrong apparently o.o 

 

I just wanna know where y'all find all the crazies. I'm curious!

 

By loosest definition, being in a fandom just means being a fan of something. Obviously there are many levels to this, whether it's just casually watching the show and maybe chatting about it from time to time, to regularly visiting sites like Equestria Daily, having a bedroom full of paraphanelia, or -- apparently -- sending death threats and squandering one's finances for the latest convention.

 

Honestly I don't know where those evil bronies are. I could be missing something since I'm not that big a fan and I generally keep the fandom at arm's length, save for the occassional fanfic or fanart or video. It just sounds like those are extreme that aren't not much different from, say, people who take video games and anime too far. Art thieves? Getting cheated on/backstabbed by a member of the fandom? Seeing a lot of porn? Marrying a freakin' plushie? Honestly, replace "brony" with "anime fan" and you pretty much get the same instance of fans going waaaay too far. Case in point, dudes in Japan marrying their own dating sims, but even that's more a cultural issue than anything to do with the fandom.

 

I'll admit that clopping disturbs me more than your run-of-the-mill porn/Rule 34, just because it's about ponies in a children's cartoon. But I get disturbed by clopping the same way I would for any Rule 34 of my favorite childhood shows, or anything explicitly targeted for children -- but it exists regardless. As for why clopping is so widespread? Because there are a lot more people who draw art of MLP than, I dunno, Hey Arnold or Courage the Cowardly Dog. But at least as far as I know, Equestria Daily doesn't tolerate that shit (or at least they do a better job of monitoring it).

 

All in all I don't really encounter any of the crazies, either, and I must be better off for it. My experience with the fandom has been almost universally positive, at least of what I've seen and go out of my way to find. I know of a channel or two on Youtube that does some nice analysis videos that focuses on the show as a show and not as a phenomenon. And in general I think I do a decent job of keeping my distance from the crazies of any fandom. Let's just say there's a good reason my main hub for the KH fandom is KH13.

[Key Sharkz 69]

Ok can someone explain to me what exactly qualifies as being "in a fandom"?  Cause I shit you not, my entire bedroom set is completely MLP:FiM. I like the show but I rarely encounter bronies online? (usually just people who like the show and they're usually cute girls or nice guys)

 

Where the firetruck are y'all going, is it like the deepest darkest depths of the internet, where you find the evil bronies everbody talks about??? e_e show me where they are 'cause I have honestly never encountered that and I'm curious haha.

 

I thought it was pretty much dead as a fandom anyways tbh, like it blew up 4 years ago but now I feel like "bronies" are dead, and now there's just people who watch the show casually? Or was I wrong apparently o.o 

 

I just wanna know where y'all find all the crazies. I'm curious!

Sites like Equestria Daily, BronySquare, iBrony (which has shut down because the admin actually was running the site as a scam) to name a few.

[Ghost 1,857]

Sites like Equestria Daily, BronySquare, iBrony (which has shut down because the admin actually was running the site as a scam) to name a few.

Well with site names like those I'm not surprised LOL

[Key Sharkz 69]

Well with site names like those I'm not surprised LOL

Equestria Daily is probably one of the most populated brony spaces there is.

[Kaweebo 3,617]

I really do want Marvel and Star Wars in KH.

[Key Sharkz 69]

I really do want Marvel and Star Wars in KH.

I don't know why people are afraid of this so much! It could be done well. :I

[Kaweebo 3,617]

I don't know why people are afraid of this so much! It could be done well. :I

The same answer, short of 'I just don't want it in KH' is that it wouldn't 'fit' or 'mesh' with the games, for whatever reason. I just think it's a ludicrous reason to give for a franchise that has based itself around crazy crossovers. Freddy Krueger showing up in Super Smash Bros wouldn't fit, Banjo-Kazooie showing up in Injustice: Gods Among Us wouldn't fit, The Avengers showing up in Kingdom Hearts? That's plausible AND possible. 

[Philip Ellwell 5,487]

I do not, nor do I pretend to, understand transgender people. I have respect for them, certainly: if that's what you want for your life, more power to you. But people posting "My journey from male to female" or vice versa on youtube are a bit weird to me. No offense, but a woman growing facial and body hair due to hormones that are also flattening her breasts are freaky to me. 

Again, no disrespect meant, as there is currently a fairly famous person becoming the opposite sex right now. 

This is just my opinion. 

[Kittenz 4,281]

I am simply putting my opinion out there, not disputing. And it's not illegal to "clop" nothing is really illegal about masturbating to cartoon ponies. Only in countries where it's illegal to masturbate is it illegal to do that. And I wasn't defending clop. Simply saying that other things of the same existed prior and you we're putting a lot of hate into specifically clopping specifically blaming Bronies for doing that. Though of course neither yiffing or clopping or whatever else is out there is necessarily good. Not the worst thing though. And not all of the Brony fandom does dumb stuff. I could care less what one side of the fandom is doing, while I sit here and remain on the better side of the fandom.Go to 4chan. Every fandom has some bad rep.

lolz.

 

I don't care if people like MLP as long as you don't want to firetruck a horse or think you can have an actual relationship with the cartoon horse that is just freaky

All that MLP bestiality porn *shudders*

[Forever 3,550]

I do not, nor do I pretend to, understand transgender people. I have respect for them, certainly: if that's what you want for your life, more power to you. But people posting "My journey from male to female" or vice versa on youtube are a bit weird to me. No offense, but a woman growing facial and body hair due to hormones that are also flattening her breasts are freaky to me. 

Again, no disrespect meant, as there is currently a fairly famous person becoming the opposite sex right now. 

This is just my opinion. 

 

I can understand your point. I love all people, but sometimes I just don't understand...for example, I saw a person the other day- dressed like a male, but had large breasts and an obvious bra on. So of course, I assumed woman. But then I looked at the individual's face, and saw a small beard. This is not a joke, I'm serious. Now, I mean no disrespect whatsoever....but if I was approached by an individual such as this one, I wouldn't be sure how to address them. That's one of my larger concerns when it comes to the Transgender community. Accidentally calling someone the wrong gender. .-.

[Philip Ellwell 5,487]

I can understand your point. I love all people, but sometimes I just don't understand...for example, I saw a person the other day- dressed like a male, but had large breasts and an obvious bra on. So of course, I assumed woman. But then I looked at the individual's face, and saw a small beard. This is not a joke, I'm serious. Now, I mean no disrespect whatsoever....but if I was approached by an individual such as this one, I wouldn't be sure how to address them. That's one of my larger concerns when it comes to the Transgender community. Accidentally calling someone the wrong gender. .-.

That too! D:

I haven't ever met a transgender person in my life, but I did see one at Walmart once: a male in female clothing. 

The cashier simply said "Good afternoon" And left off a defining "sir" or "ma'am". 

[Forever 3,550]

That too! D:

I haven't ever met a transgender person in my life, but I did see one at Walmart once: a male in female clothing. 

The cashier simply said "Good afternoon" And left off a defining "sir" or "ma'am". 

 

My, my, my......so intriguing! Quite the colorful world we live in, huh?

[Philip Ellwell 5,487]

My, my, my......so intriguing! Quite the colorful world we live in, huh?

It has its moments

[DragonMaster 1,166]

Since we're on the subject, I've always had an incredibly hard time understanding what actually makes someone transgendered. (By the way, I should say that I don't mean to be disrespectful in anything that I'm about to say. If anything, I would love to have it explained to me so that I can dispel any false thoughts I have.)

 

I don't understand how someone can be one gender biologically (genes and anatomy), and not identify as that gender at all. I just can't wrap my head around how you can know what gender you biologically are, yet say that you are not. I don't understand how that works. What causes someone to identify themselves as a different gender? Is it the societal view on gender, the generally expected stereotypes, personally traits, physical characteristics of male and female? If so, then I'm still not sure I understand. Perhaps its just the way that I personally think, but to me a person is a person. A guy can have a completely stereotypical female personality, a girl can have a completely stereotypical male personality, and either can have a combination of stereotypical personality traits from both genders. I don't see why that should make them renounce their biological gender.

 

My other idea is that it's not so much society's view, rather its simply the way that they think. Like, a deep desire to be the opposite gender. If that's the case then I suppose I accept that I just can't ever really know what it's like. However, I don't understand how this explanation could lead to there being people who say that they are not either gender.

 

Again, no disrespect meant at all, I truly just want to know what makes someone transgendered. The simple "he/she doesn't identify as a he/she" doesn't help me understand being transgender at all.

Edited May 3, 2015 by DragonMaster

[HeyMouseSayCheese 1,133]

Since we're on the subject, I've always had an incredibly hard time understanding what actually makes someone transgendered. (By the way, I should say that I don't mean to be disrespectful in anything that I'm about to say. If anything, I would love to have it explained to me so that I can dispel any false thoughts I have.)

 

I don't understand how someone can be one gender biologically (genes and anatomy), and not identify as that gender at all. I just can't wrap my head around how you can know what gender you biologically are, yet say that you are not. I don't understand how that works. What causes someone to identify themselves as a different gender? Is it the societal view on gender, the generally expected stereotypes, personally traits, physical characteristics of male and female? If so, then I'm still not sure I understand. Perhaps its just the way that I personally think, but to me a person is a person. A guy can have a completely stereotypical female personality, a girl can have a completely stereotypical male personality, and either can have a combination of stereotypical personality traits from both genders. I don't see why that should make them renounce their biological gender.

 

My other idea is that it's not so much society's view, rather its simply the way that they think. Like, a deep desire to be the opposite gender. If that's the case then I suppose I accept that I just can't ever really know what it's like. However, I don't understand how this explanation could lead to there being people who say that they are not either gender.

 

Again, no disrespect meant at all, I truly just want to know what makes someone transgendered. The simple "he/she doesn't identify as a he/she" doesn't help me understand being transgender at all.

 

Not that I have really any experience with this sort of thing, but I think it's one of those things you just can't explain to other people who haven't gone through it. It's like how people who have anxiety attacks- something I am very familiar with- can't really explain how it feels to people who don't have anxiety attacks. You just have to trust them when they say how they feel.

[Dracozombie 4,554]

Since we're on the subject, I've always had an incredibly hard time understanding what actually makes someone transgendered. (By the way, I should say that I don't mean to be disrespectful in anything that I'm about to say. If anything, I would love to have it explained to me so that I can dispel any false thoughts I have.)

 

I don't understand how someone can be one gender biologically (genes and anatomy), and not identify as that gender at all. I just can't wrap my head around how you can know what gender you biologically are, yet say that you are not. I don't understand how that works. What causes someone to identify themselves as a different gender? Is it the societal view on gender, the generally expected stereotypes, personally traits, physical characteristics of male and female? If so, then I'm still not sure I understand. Perhaps its just the way that I personally think, but to me a person is a person. A guy can have a completely stereotypical female personality, a girl can have a completely stereotypical male personality, and either can have a combination of stereotypical personality traits from both genders. I don't see why that should make them renounce their biological gender.

 

My other idea is that it's not so much society's view, rather its simply the way that they think. Like, a deep desire to be the opposite gender. If that's the case then I suppose I accept that I just can't ever really know what it's like. However, I don't understand how this explanation could lead to there being people who say that they are not either gender.

 

Again, no disrespect meant at all, I truly just want to know what makes someone transgendered. The simple "he/she doesn't identify as a he/she" doesn't help me understand being transgender at all.

 

Sex and gender are technically separate. Sex is the biological stuff, genes and anatomy and whatnot. Gender is the societal construct of how people of a certain sex are viewed/should behave. Ffor instance, in different societies a woman should be covered head-to-toe, can show a little skin, or go topless. They can be expected to be nothing but glorified baby makers, or encouraged to pull their weight as much as the male gender. So, gender is constructed because there's no universally accepted expectation for what a woman "should" be (well, maybe aside from motherhood). A handy way to remember it is "Gender is between the head, sex is between the legs."

 

That said, I can't pretend to say I completely understand transgender plights, either. It's one thing to disregard certain societal conventions about what a man/woman "should" be like, but it's another to decide, "I want to be the opposite." And then there's the genderfluid/agender folks who make the whole thing messier. But part of trans surgery usually involves hormone replacement. A few wires probably got crossed in their brain somehow, so surgery and therapy are means to "fix" it I guess. Of course, I don't know what it feels like to have the wrong hormones, to feel like I'm not in the wrong body somehow, so I try to just let them do their own thing.