goth_is_not_emo

I've noticed a new trend among TERFs (trans-exclusive radfems) of conflating gender identity and gender roles.  So, to avoid having to re-type this 50 times for every person I come across making stupid arguments, let me make this 100% clear.

Gender IDENTITY is whether you consider yourself male, female, or nonbinary.  For the vast majority of humanity, our gender identity happens to match the organs between our legs (which is the basis of your assigned gender at birth, hence AGAB).  People whose gender identity corresponds with their AGAB are cisgender.  This is not an insult.  It is a completely neutral adjective.  People whose gender identity does not correspond to their AGAB are transgender.  This is an equally neutral adjective.  People who do not identify as male OR female are non-binary, or NB for short.  These are the actual medical definitions of the words "cisgender," "transgender," and "non-binary."  The vast majority of physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists accept these as the definitions of these words.

By the way, for those who are curious:  "cis" and "trans" come from the Latin for "on the same side of" and "on the opposite side of," respectively.

Gender ROLES are personality traits, careers, clothing styles, etc. that society designates as "masculine" or "feminine."  E.g., only girls and women are expected to wear dresses, boys are expected to be louder and more rowdy and physical than girls, boys are expected to like cars, robots, and action figures whereas girls are expected to like dolls and toy horses.  Whether you conform to societal gender roles or not has nothing to do with your gender identity, because they are two separate things.

Most feminists of all stripes reject traditional gender roles, because they are unnecessarily confining and result in harassment and bullying of people who don't conform, especially boys and men who act in any way feminine.  However, most feminists also recognize that gender identity is very important to a lot of people, and that we must respect other people's gender identities.  These beliefs are not in conflict because, again, gender identity and societal gender roles are two completely different things.

I am a cis woman.  I have female genitalia and have always considered myself female.  I am also gender non-conforming:  I climbed trees and preferred robots over princesses as a child.  I sit India-style more often than not (how unladylike!) and like to dress very "butch" often.  I also sometimes like to wear pretty sundresses, sew, knit, and other feminine things.  I have a weakness for fancy teacups, and for video games.  None of these interests or hobbies make me any more or less of a woman.