Today I read that some think of transgendered people as people that should be allowed to define their own gender. It's nice that they try to be inclusive, which in todays world, is sorely lacking many places. But to me, it's also a misunderstanding. Define our own gender? That's the whole problem: we can't!
Gender identity is something we are born with. Why are there transgendered people? Because of evolution. Because when we are conceived and the building blueprint, our genetic make-up, is being made, from the genetic material of our parents, mutations occur. That have been the driving force of evolution since the first life starting on this planet. The mutations causes differences in people and it can play out in many ways. Sometimes, it's a good thing: the mutation causes us to have an advantage in the environment we are living in. That advantage mean we are more likely to make it to an age where we create offspring and this pass on our mutation to the next generation. Other times it might not really become relevant. And sometimes it's a bad thing. Birth defects, sickness or some other weakness. This is where our gender identity comes in. As far as I know, we don't currently know where our gender identity is located in our brain. But it's there, in our brain, responsible for developing our understanding of ourselves. And when mutations mess with it, stuff can happen. It can cause us our identity to be anywhere on the spectrum. Binary, non binary, or what have you. When mutations mess with it, it can end up not matching the sex of the body you are given.
As a certain whistle blower from USA once said when they were struggling with their transgenderedness.
The CPU doesn't match the motherboard.
We are born with a mismatching gender identity. It's not something we define. It's something we discover and it can be an arduous process. That's why it often seems like people try to define it and maybe redefine it as they discover more aspects. But it's set from birth. We can't define it and that is the whole problem. It's not our choice to be transgendered. It freaking sucks and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, if I had such one.