the bearded woman wept

[mother engine]

a character on a television series speculated that gender is a societal construct. interestingly (ironically?) the very nature of this characters physical situation [a male who has physically become female through better medicine] seems to be to be a prime example of how gender is not socially dictated at all. there seems to be a shift in some of our species between what natural process has dictated physiologically and psychologically; the girl with masculine tendencies ("tomboy") and the boy with feminine tendencies ("nancy-boy") are examples of a possible chromosomal deviance (no offense intended but lets face it, according to natural processes deviance and abberation are appropriate terms in the case of gender issues like the one i am addressing) that confuses the two basic elements of gender behavior. but if a physical male feels psychologically and emotionally like a female, does this not go a long way in suggesting that feminine traits are largely biological constructs?

too bad we can't raise a group of children with no gender influence and at a certain age set them loose in a multisex clothes store to see what each gravitate towards. would the girls naturally choose dresses? would the boys ignore the clothes and ask where the guns and video games are? just some thoughts along the lines of "why don't most women have beards"?