Does your gender define you?

http://www.afterellen.com/node/48556

If I could live in an ideal world, there wouldn't be a need to identify oneself with either gender (male or female). This is a topic that is oftentimes confusing to me. I am happy with my biological female anatomy for the most part. When I was little, I thought that I wanted to be a boy, but only because I was socialized to believe that only boys played outside and were allowed to get dirty. I always preferred playing sports with the neighborhood boys over playing dolls with the girls. I have a very distinct memory from my childhood where I was sitting in the car waiting for my mom and I wished so hard that my clit would grow into a penis one day so I could be a boy. I always had crushes on girls in my classes, but it never occured to me that I was a lesbian. I just thought that I was supposed to be a boy so I could act on those crushes.

My gender only defines me as who I am in the gender scheme. I have my likes and dislikes and I was raised as a boy. I never liked the boy things, well most of them anyway. I would have rather been in the house with my grandma baking and cooking. I loved it. I just loved all the things she did. I was suppose to go outside, not that I didn't like the outside but I just wanted to be inside doing all the things my grandma was doing. Now, I cook a little and do as little housework as possible, allergies and I can't smell or taste, I mow the lawns still and do a lot of work outside. What I find, though, is that most of the people on my block who do mow the lawns are the housewifes. We all have electric mowers and edgers and things. I'm female and that is all. I love it.

My gender does not identify me, but it does explain a lot.  I was raised as a boy but my Mom did teach me cooking, cleaning, laundry and caring for a home.  Boys need to learn this stuff to she used to say. 

Dad made me mow the yard, clean the garage and other boyish things.  I always tended to gravitate to Mom's stuff.  It was just more fun to me.

So I guess my gender does identify me as a woman because of what I enjoy doing.

Janet

I would have to say gender does not technically describe me because gender only describes a sex.
Yes, I plan to be a female but gender can only say the sex I CHOOSE to become.

My personality is combined with the fact I wish to pursue a female life, whether it be a mixed or unique life-style, I see myself as a female.

You can choose to be masculine, feminine, weak, sexy or whatever you want to be, but sometimes those building blocks do not fit the hole if one is square while the other is round, they do not compliment one another and thus, they do not fit.

Why one chooses to be a female or male is based on individuality and not a general "term" used to define behavior, at least that is what I think.

Why would you choose to be a different gender could be to express yourself differently, feel comfortable or anything in-between, gender just does not say much.

You have to be a person and not a gender but society literally bathes with stereotypes and gender bias.

My mentality fits in a very feminine attire only I can understand, I do not wish to be a man or perform manly roles and I think the life of a female is better suited for me.
Some say I should take the role of cross-dressing or just being a man with a woman... but what if you are not happy with that?
When someone challenges your individuality based on their belief, its like trying to prove something which doesn't exist because the two do NOT mix together, so that is practically reverse psychology to back one down on their decision.

How can one come to a conclusion instead of argue when both parties clash with opposing views?
Neither wants to understand one another because the views do not mix and they both become opposed to one another and eventually one does not want to be around for not being understood.

To sum it all up, I think people just try to get themselves into trouble as opposed to being themselves and I applaud the transgendered woman, myself too, for being yourself and not the female hero/celebrity you adore.

There's mental expression and physical expression, some do one or both or none at all, I happen to choose both :3
I do all, gender, mental and physical expression.