I've been hearing some students talk about this recently, and seeing how nobody's brought it up yet I thought I'd give it a try.
Simply put I have a difficult time understanding all the different gender identities. Don't get me wrong, I would never shame anybody for their gender identification or lack of conformity to gender roles. I'm not one of those "men should act like men and women should act like women" people.
That being said, I just don't quite understand how there can be so many different gender identifications. From my time is psychology, I've come to understand that sex is a biological construct and gender is a social construct, reinforced by gender roles, society's expectations, and personal feelings. Naturally, this would open the door to many more possibilities for gender than sex.
Despite that knowledge, the crux of the argument still eludes me. In my mind (and this is just me, so please don't attack me with negativity) there exist three genders: Male, female, and transgender. This isn't to impose any restrictions on anyone. I would just think that even though gender is a very personal matter, that a person would fall under at least one of these categories.
I imagine that a person builds their own sense of gender identity by looking at how others of that same gender act, and the baggage that comes with that gender. They then come to the conclusion that they are or are not comfortable with being the gender they are. In other words, they find with one they identify more with.
In my mind, this seems to cover all the bases. A person can identify as a male, female, or be dissatisfied with their gender and change it. I may very well be wrong in that assertion. It may not be that simple. I would not know, considering that I've always been comfortable with the gender that I am.
It's strange really. I have what I consider to be a decent grasp on the sexuality spectrum. A person can be the most absolutely heterosexual individual you've ever seen, be bisexual, or heterosexual. Of course there are other inclusions such as asexual. But it seems fairly straightforward. Why then is it not the same for gender identity? Why are there these 50+ "Tumblr genders" as they've come to be called?
Again, this is not an effort by me to attack anybody that fits into these categories. I'd just like somebody here to help me understand.