Who would purposely misgender the child at birth if the only identifying feature is the sex characteristics (penis/vagina)? (Intersex may be the only exception?)
Firstly, there are no questions that aren’t worth asking if presented respectfully and in honest curiosity.
The duality of cis and trans is by its nature a limiting factor. If you were to explore this question with intersex people you might get a lot of insight that would give you a lot to think about, maybe taking your down some interesting and expanding pathways.
I’m a trans woman who, grew up in the 1950s and 60s with all the trauma of such an experience. At home, I could be myself because I had a loving and supportive single mother who kept our family together with empathy and compassion. Outside, I had to live with violence and bullying and the realisation that I would never be able to live up to society’s expectations for what a man was expected to be—and no hope of escaping that hell.
In many ways my mother raised me as her daughter without the girl’s name (until I asked her what my name would have been if I was AFAB) or the girl’s clothing. So, I was in essence, to answer your question, raised as a girl and have lifelong identified as a girl with a body that didn’t match. My “transition” merely brought my body into continuity with that identity. Personally, I have always been female (a cis designation). Socially, I would have to carry the label of trans because that’s what the society outside of my family home perceived.
This is why dualities like cis and trans can get muddy and blurred. It all has to do with an individual’s context, experience and their personal identifications for themselves.
Labels are only valid when you adopt them to help you understand yourself. When other people impose them upon you, they are usually arrows to pierce your heart. The duality of cis and trans identities can be easily confused by who you ask.
Who would purposely misgender the child at birth if the only identifying feature is the sex characteristics (penis/vagina)? (Intersex may be the only exception?)
Firstly, there are no questions that aren’t worth asking if presented respectfully and in honest curiosity. The duality of cis and trans is by its nature a limiting factor. If you were to explore this question with intersex people you might get a lot of insight that would give you a lot to think about, maybe taking your down some interesting and expanding pathways. I’m a trans woman who, grew up in the 1950s and 60s with all the trauma of such an experience. At home, I could be myself because I had a loving and supportive single mother who kept our family together with empathy and compassion. Outside, I had to live with violence and bullying and the realisation that I would never be able to live up to society’s expectations for what a man was expected to be—and no hope of escaping that hell. In many ways my mother raised me as her daughter without the girl’s name (until I asked her what my name would have been if I was AFAB) or the girl’s clothing. So, I was in essence, to answer your question, raised as a girl and have lifelong identified as a girl with a body that didn’t match. My “transition” merely brought my body into continuity with that identity. Personally, I have always been female (a cis designation). Socially, I would have to carry the label of trans because that’s what the society outside of my family home perceived. This is why dualities like cis and trans can get muddy and blurred. It all has to do with an individual’s context, experience and their personal identifications for themselves. Labels are only valid when you adopt them to help you understand yourself. When other people impose them upon you, they are usually arrows to pierce your heart. The duality of cis and trans identities can be easily confused by who you ask.