the Narcissist Cookbook - GENDERING TEDDY (official audio)

written, performed & produced by the Narcissist Cookbook.
Social: narcissistcook
Patreon: patreon.com/thenarcissistcookbook
Bandcamp: thenarcissistcookbook.bandcamp.com

[@TheNarcissistCookbook]

hitting your Spotify / Bandcamp /streaming service at midnight 💜 LYRICS The Babylonians developed the first written numerical system, in 3400BC Their system was base 60, which we still use today for telling time, but for everything else we ditched it in favour of The base 10 system, which the Egyptians came up with a few hundred years later And this was rounded out by a notation for zero courtesy of the Mayans a couple hundred years after that Giving us the numbers 0 through 9, upon which is built our entire modern mathematical architecture Now Before this, It's not like humans didn't have a concept of numbers Any more than we didn't have a concept of time before clocks were invented We've understood natural numbers since before recorded history It's easy to understand that if you have 1 chicken and your neighbour has 2, they have more chickens than you It's just as easy to show someone that 1 plus 2 equals 3 Because we can see our chicken And we can see their two chickens And then, as if by magic, now we have three blood-stained chickens This is simple and observable mathematics And we didn't need language to make sense of this Beyond this, though, things get abstract and theoretical real fast I'm not even talking astrophysics here, Just getting into numbers larger than 60 or 100 poses serious problems in a world where you don't often have 60 or 100 of anything And inevitably somewhere adrift in the abyss of history is the first human who faced the challenge of trying to describe the concept of one million to a poor friend who was, understandably, less interested in a number with no practical application than they were in society's state of the art advances in avoiding being eaten by a fucking lion But in this one person's brain was an idea Of a number bigger than anyone had counted Something that they knew was real That they knew was out there But which they couldn't hold up and show anyone Which they couldn't even clearly explain Because the language hadn't been developed yet And if, as has been theorised, our species' intelligence is intimately tied to our capacity for language Then an abstract concept without a word attached to it Might as well not exist When I was born, I was given a teddybear That I called Teddy, because some days you just phone it in And I took Teddy with me everywhere One day, when I was around four My mum and I were getting ready to go out And mum asked "Where's Teddy" And I said "Upstairs" And mum said "Go and get him then, we're leaving" And I remember being jarred by this It was an unfamiliar, visceral feeling Powerful enough for me to still be processing it, way, way in the background, thirty years later I said "Teddy's not a him" And mum said "Oh. Her then." Hmm No That's still not right, I though "Teddy's not a her either," I said, struggling to find a word for what I knew Teddy was A word that I felt must exist, because on a purely conceptual level I could imagine it And because my experience thus far had been to point at something and ask what it is And be told it was a table, or a chair, or a deactivated exploder for a mark ten torpedo I just assumed, naturally, that in my four long years on the planet I had yet to come across the word for when something doesn't quite fit Into the boy box Or the girl box Now, I know Teddy was (Is, actually, I still have them, they are sitting in the next room as I record this) Teddy is just clumps of fluff stuffed into a furry bag There isn't any objective truth to be found as to whether Teddy is a girl or a boy Or something else But that's not the point The point is This is one of my earliest memories This, not skinning my knee or losing my mum in the supermarket, is what has stuck with me When I was four years old, Before I had had any exposure to anyone beyond the gender binary In real life or in books or on the tv Before I even had a concept of what it might mean Socially and politically Gendering Teddy felt like it went against something tangible that apparently only I could see And this is why I have so little patience for people who smirk and say we don't need new words to describe gender The reason That these people constantly belittle and undermine the words trans and non-binary people use to describe themselves and the world around them Is not because the words are meaningless It's because these people know fine well that words are powerful and dangerous And they know that their last hope of stalling progress is preventing people from having access to language that validates and vindicates their lived experience Not to mention that frankly fucking ludicrous idea that new words somehow erase their identity rather than give them a deeper understanding of it And the notion that it is somehow unnatural to invent new words for things, as if that hasn't been one of the leading preoccupations of humanity for the past 6000 years at least We are trying to do something that cannot be accomplished without a new language Without it, the concepts that make up vital parts of our identities are formless and amorphous Without it it becomes impossible to build support networks and communities Or to be taken seriously when your rights are being violated Or to tell the people you love who you actually are Or even to recognise yourself in the fucking mirror That lonely, early human who struggled to explain the concept of a million If they could, maybe they would have said You're right, we don't need a formal numerical system to know that one plus two equals three But we will need one to build a worldwide communication network To point telescopes into the darkest parts of space And to plunge with no regard for our own safety into the deepest parts of the sea Maybe some of you think it is unnecessary even dangerous to be coming up with new words like this, and in the process validating things you don't believe in Things you can't see But for me, I can't see it as anything except progress New words are new tools Which can be used to build a marginally better world right now And maybe Many thousands of years in the future These new tools that we drop and break and wield clumsily will be used in ways we can't even conceive of today To build miraculous, unimaginable structures With our distant descendants Standing atop of them Being the people we always wanted to be

[@disabledhart]

as a trans autistic person who has a very complicated relationship with gender and loves finding and even making new words for gender this song feels like it came from my own soul

[@42_violets]

"Or to even recognize yourself, in the fucking mirror" makes me tear up every time. that hits home for me

[@zackbuildit88]

Yeah, that one feels... deeply personal

[@krispy7014]

"Now we have 3 bloodstained chickens" lovely, absolutely lovely

[@emdove]

Did they... Kill the neighbours? I'm honestly asking cause I'm unsure who's blood it is 😂

[@DoogleLawless]

"New words are new tools" This alone is such a powerful statement. It's a new phrase that I will equip to my arsenal. Yet another brilliant performance. You're a legend.

[@panmikahilbolt3579]

I... My Teddy's name is Mister Missus. I feel weirdly understood by this song.

[@pendragonz8442]

Thank you for this. I've never quite understood nonbinary people. I've always supported them, because I believe in the right to believe what and feel how you wish, but I couldn't comprehend it. This makes a lot more sense. Perspective continues to amaze me.

[@mcdonaldsman8663]

I will always LOVE your kind of, musical essays/monologues

[@zackbuildit88]

I've been calling them prose music! It seems like a good title for such a broad and complicated genre

[@tinmoose2478]

I know im late to the party here, but I want to thank you. Something about this video made me realize that even though I acknowledge that I'm not cis, I've been avoiding my gender for a while, I don't feel too good right now but I think this is something I needed to hear, despite being one of the people outside the binary myself. thank you, even though I don't know exactly how my identity works, I just needed a reminder that I exist, and part of me was lacking acknowledgement. I remember what it is now, thank you.

[@demonindenim]

It's kinda like forgetting a word yet still having a vague idea of its meaning, and knowing full well you 100% know the word, but every word you think of or that other people tell you is just not quite right. Sometimes these "forgotten" words don't even exist, it's just a feeling that you can't quite convey with your current vocabulary. Always remember that everything about your own identity, how you feel about yourself, is valid. If words aren't working out for you, it's okay to remain at ease with your feelings. You don't even have to arrive at a label in the first place. Figuring out the words to describe yourself isn't necessarily the catalyst for happiness. At least, if you can recognise these differences you're feeling, I think that's major progress already.

[@tinmoose2478]

@@demonindenim yea, thanks for that, im honestly doing a lot better rn than I have all day + last night, I didn't sleep and skipped meals. I really need to get better at accepting myself and not letting my anxiety take over. I finally ate something a while ago, also nice Gregg pfp, love that mans

[@demonindenim]

@@tinmoose2478 good job, proud of you for eating. it can be tough sometimes, i understand gregg rulz ok :D

[@tinmoose2478]

@@demonindenim yea, and whatever going on with you, im proud of that too, you take the time to give kindness to others, that's amazing. Yea Gregg Rulz

[@chloe-sunshine7]

Hi there! I know it's only been a year, but I'd like to check in, and see how you're feeling now.

[@LYTALINA]

P.S. I *love* the grunts, breaths, and exclamations that you left in the track. It lends to the authenticity of this song and the depths from which you drew.

[@NikiPaprika]

it really goes to show the political climate surrounding trans people being so violent that when this showed up in my feed i had a moment of dread, worried it was going to be another pithy anti "gender cult" thing. i have never been so relieved to be proven wrong, but the fact that thought crossed my mind really is just depressing. me, a nonbinary person, and my girlfriend, a trans woman, are just trying to live our lives, and find words that describe ourselves. it's nothing short of amazing that trans people trying to put into language the complexities of what they feel about their gender, their bodies. thanks again for another amazing choon!

[@LYTALINA]

Are you kidding me?? Every word in this song is POWER. POETRY. It's TRUTH. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for this song!!

[@NorthJackson]

i cannot put into words how much this song means to me. there's something so comforting about seeing my anger and passion mirrored in such a simple song.

[@danielb8643]

This is wonderful. I will probably talk insufferably about it to everyone I know in a few days. For now all I can say is thank you.

[@Death-gj2dn]

I’m listening to this in a crowded car on the way to an inevitability overwhelming family gathering but god I just needed to hear this

[@wearecoterminous]

whoa i just went on a rampage listening to your music like an hour before this dropped and got all mad at my friend for saying it was just talking over guitar and not understanding how big and cool the message is behind your music.

[@KarasWorkshopAlt]

this has 0 right to go as hard as it does but goddamn you killed it once again

[@kaleblaird8514]

I didn't know I needed a punk rock song to destroy the concept of binary thinking to me but you know, I realize now that I did. I've got some close minded relatives to send this to.

[@zackbuildit88]

Good luck

[@chloe-sunshine7]

It's a little late now, but I'm proud of you for growing, and thank you for trying to help promote that same growth in others 🩷

[@dinoduckpen]

Thank you for writing this. It's a very well thought out essay, and it really hit home. When I was young, I remember I had a duck stuffed animal, which I named Duckky. (yes, with two 'k's because I didn't know how to spell yet) In my head, Duckky was a boy, and I always called him 'him'. But one day, my mom said something along the lines of what your mum said. "Go get her", etc. etc. And I remember feeling so... violated by this. So I told my mom something along the lines of "No, he's a boy" or something, and she went along with it. But even a few years back, she called him "she" or "her", and I remember feeling that sense of violation again, albeit lessened by the fact that I was older. In the grand scheme of things, I know Duckky doesn't have a gender or sex, or what have you... or that it matters all that much to a stuffed animal. But if Duckky doesn't have a gender or sex, or any way to communicate Duckky's gender or sex, why do I get to decide that? I also have to wonder why my mom assumed Duckky was a girl. Was it because I was a girl to her? Because sure, all my friends were girls, but that doesn't mean that the stuffed animal was. I don't know, that thinking just rubs me the wrong way, so I'm not going to continue thinking about it lol Anyway, enough this song really means a lot to me, and articulated a lot of the thoughts I felt, and feel, about being transmasc. Again, thank you for writing this, and I always look forward to everything you write.

[@kezkai]

My "Teddy" was the Angel Gabriel in the reception year nativity, who I desperately wanted to be and refused to be anyone else. "but Angel Gabriel's a boy!" "angels aren't boys OR girls, they're ANGELS" Right you are. And Angel Gabriel I was

[@lymmea]

Absolutely breathtaking. At one point around the 5 to 6 minute mark, I had to physically put a hand over my heart because the emotions in my chest were getting painfully big. Between this and Good Morning Sunshine, I think you may have created two of the most meaningful and emotionally moving pieces of music I personally have ever experienced. They give me the same kinds of intense emotions I tend to only feel when hearing a full orchestra play particularly intense classical pieces, like Ode to Joy, and honestly for the exact same reasons. Thank you so much.

[@povotaknight2063]

Hi! I'm someone who, within the past month, has started listening to your music. Good morning sunshine started playing when I was waking up one morning, dreading my existence and wanting to just lay there. this one song took me out of a months-long spiral. I started listening more and more, putting my life back together with your songs as the soundtrack. I can't explain how much you have helped me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

[@sscrazz]

this is so amazing as usual!! as a non-binary person studying english language i am very excited to show my teacher this! it's so incredible, really. thank you so much for always spreading so much love

[@shutterzero]

i had to stop and process A Lot when you started talking about teddy. and how teddy isn’t a boy and teddy isn’t a girl. i have a childhood toy that is just called cat and often people would (and still do) refer to cat with female pronouns and i was never able to articulate that cat isn’t a girl, cat is just cat. and here i am, nearly 27 and out as agender/non-binary. this song is extraordinary.

[@nerdpiggy]

Overjoyed by this. Thank you for another fantastic work. As someone who is trans, more specifically nonbinary, more specifically maverique and xenogender in many different ways, and I could go more specific but I wont-- I am often smirked at and derided for "making up fake words" to describe myself. Cis people hate me but even some trans people hate me too and tell me "you're why society doesnt take us seriously". It can be really hard sometimes, but this work helps me put into words how happy labeling myself makes me feel! ❤ ❤people who have very specific labels for their gender 🤝 people who dont want to label their gender at all❤

[@friedhegg1994]

I eventually stumbled onto the term "binary trans man" for myself, because I'm just a guy. I don't use neopronouns or they/them or really anything besides a masculine name and "male pronouns" to identify myself. All of that is to say that I am "conventionally trans," if such a term exists. And lemme tell you, people like you are the reason I think it's so important to fight for trans rights. Because it could be so easy for me to pass as male someday that no one will ask any questions. I don't care about that. I want you, a person who is not defined by the gender binary, to fit into society someday. And if who you are doesn't fit with society, then we've gotta reshape society until it accepts you. I'm not completely sure if that sounds right. I dunno. have a good day, friend.

[@tangent7078]

THIS SONG IS SO FUCKING BALLER DUDE i was listening to it for the first time while reading along with the lyrics and i cannot decribe the feeling it gave me. absolutely beautiful. hands down one of my new favorite songs. i want to hug the first person who tried to describe one million

[@PhoenixWrites2309]

Well time for me to write a video essay about why music like this is objectively the best

[@nowallet3342]

I've cried most times I listen to this but I always laugh at /their/ chicken

[@markchurch524]

How in the hell does this only have 1k likes!? Incredible.

[@jaeblackthornekensington]

As someone who grew up in the southeast US in the 80s, this shook in my soul. It's exactly a conversation we've had, my anchor partner, long-distance partner and I - I grew up without knowing the language for who I was and how I felt, which meant it took 35 years for me to understand I'm trans (I'm also AudHD and have a unique relationship to gender because of it). Thank you.

[@transgendar]

this video made me cry labels and language are so much more empowering than people give them credit for thank you ❤

[@zackbuildit88]

I think your name is funny it's just transgender that's great

[@-soapybread-3521]

aAAA I love these kinds of videos- the guitar, the lyrics themselves, teddy- and just everything overall

[@sc14036]

I saw this on KZbin and I fuckin yelped out loud! Tears came to my eyes! Listened to it immediately while looking for it on Spotify and thank goodness it's there because I listen to music on Spotify much more than any other platform and I cannot imagine not having access to your music and your art. Your poetry and your profound, visceral, raw emotions... just beautiful. Your creations make me feel emotions when I'm feeling hollow and meaningless. Knowing that someone like you is making art, showing people, inspiring others- the idea of you screaming into a mic somewhere on this planet is nuts to me. Thank you. Thank you so much

[@Teddy-md9ve]

NONBINARY PERSON NAMED TEDDY AND I FEEL SO SEEN 🥰 💜

[@thefreakasaurus]

not exactly the same situation, but i have two teddy bears, one of which my great grandmother gave me the day i was born, and the other blue. i named them teddy and blue teddy respectively because, as you said, sometimes you just phone it in. they were both girls, and i had said as a very young child that they were in love, that they were married. i had no known exposure to queer people [both my parents are queer but i didnt know that for a good long while] and yet, i knew that it was fine for two girls to love eachother. i didnt understand what sexuality was, i didnt know there were even really people who loved eachother like that other than my parents, but i knew that my two girls were married, and they had a kid, who because the kid was a cat beanie baby, was adopted. thank you so much for your music

[@kid14346]

Over all though great song/rant/thing I love it! The opening of it kind of tickled an autistic special interest of mine with numbers and like now I need to ramble. The thing that bugs me about this is that the system we got 0 from in our modern day was from an Indian Mathematician called Brahmagupta in the 7th century (600s to 700s). This later spread through the Arabic world creating the "Hindu-Arabic numeral system". Then between the 12th to 13th centuries (1100s to 1300s) Europe hopped on the Hindu-Arabic Numerals train via the Islamic scholar Al-Andalus. And then Europe colonized the world and said, "do things the way we do it or die." Meanwhile the Mayans developed a concept of 0 as its own number even earlier than India. Our best guess is they made their zero after the 4th century (300s to 400s) as we found number systems using zero in Olmec areas, but the Olmecs didn't use 0 and they died out by the 4th century. The Mayans used a different numeral system and base. They used base 20 and only had 3 symbols to denote 0 (Shell), 1 (Dot), and 5 (Line). All of our modern symbols we use for numbers are from the Hindu-Arabic system as people from Europeans didn't interact with Mayans until the 16th century (1500s to 1600s) which came long after the whole Euro-Arabic cultural exchange. An other interesting tidbit I would have added was that the ancient Babylonian base 60 actually included zero as like a "thing" they used. They would refer to it as 'nothingness' but it didn't have a name to refer to it. The reason we know this is that we have a Cuneiform tablet that writes out the number One Hundred and Two. Instead of writing 102, they just put a gap between the 1 and the 2 symbolizing nothing in the 10 space. Then again... that is basically the whole point of this song/rant/thing...

[@Addy_The_Baddy]

at this point I don't think you're capable of making music I don't love

[@Moose1919]

I realized I was somewhere in the enbysphere about six months ago and every once in a while I get hardcore gender impostor syndrome. Listening to this song, I feel SO aggressively at home and comfortable in my skin, I feel so seen.

[@CaptEef]

I’m writing an college presentation on the representation of trans people in history and there’s some very powerful thoughts in this song I’ve been desperately needing. I may end up quoting you because this is just sums up so many of the things I’ve been wanting to say.

[@electroman224]

I absolutely LOVE the contrast between the acoustic and fuzz in this song! Amazing job as usual.

[@RowanB6]

Thank you for making this, genuinely.

[@LlyricDragon]

You are genuinely one of my favorite musicians, ever, period. fucking amazing work

[@annabelbruce4238]

THIS DUDE FUCKING GETS IT. I HAVE NEVER FELT SO VALIDATED IN MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE.

[@aciddrinker2194]

literally in love with this song

[@fishyoung1346]

this was the perfect listen after having to hear the transphobic uncle at Thanksgiving rant on and on about "the 56 genders".

[@RockyStartTacoma]

This song literally could not have come out at a better time. Really needed to hear this one. ❤️

[@Launchycat]

A couple of months ago at one of your concerts with Big Hunter we chatted briefly and I mentioned how it was the first time I heard your your songs but I was finding them highly relatable for my ADHD brain. And how I'm finding your songs also speak to the queer/poly/trans/enby parts of my brain? It's starting to feel like maybe your discography might double as a roadmap through my brain as a whole. Excellent stuff, thanks for sharing!

[@va.spider]

I have been sending this link to basically everyone and want to tattoo parts of it on the inside of my eyelids

[@unicornsonrainbows]

Thank you for coming to my TEDDY Talk

[@shrai]

YOOOOOO I know what my friends are going to hear me talking about today aaaaaaa i love these songs with the musical background and monologues intertwined with it,,, never fails to impress me, always a banger in my heart :3

[@KB10102]

Thank you 💛🗯️💜🖤

[@Roll-Penut]

I love these long songs you make, I wish you had more

[@maeveballan2312]

This is brilliant, thank you for making this

[@crowsoto9612]

you had no right to make me cry like that over a teddy bear wth

[@Missstealyogurl]

Love love love this Just want to say how much i love your music, it's amazing and you're seriously my favourite music artist. amazing vibes and everything this song is genius, again, love it

[@vilmarmoccelin]

Discover your work today... Already a fan and sharing your music! Best regards from Brazil!

[@HappyGirlYaya]

That is really cool. Well said... eh, sung!

[@itoryetaubman4098]

I am nonbinary I tend to keep it private cause I don't want to have to explain it and I can get by invisibly. thank you.

[@user-lv6do3he5q]

This is so good

[@lasinhouseinthetrees1928]

A year ot so ago I messaged you on Twitter asking if being recommended your songs made me a narcissist. If having the words narcissist pop up into my Spotify recommendations made me a person who hurts people. And without thinking I shot a message asking you. You didn't reply because who replies to people shouting their minds internal battles into the darkness. Later that day I realized no, being recommended a song from someone doesn't make me who I am. And I sent an apology, praising your songs. And no one needs to reply to an apology but you did. Thank you for that of course but more than that thank you for letting me use my words to explain who I am. And thank you for being a absolutely amazing song writer. And I'd like to now thank you for not gendering a teddy bear. Sorry if this is gushing alot to someone who has so much on their plate. I don't need any reply I just wanted to let you know, I now know that I'm not a narcissist through and through but the fact that I may slip up can make my actions somewhat, idk actions in my favor rather than anyone else's because I might belive I'm better than them. Anyways cheesy Mc cheeserson goodbye

[@demonindenim]

Great words, cheesy Mc cheeserson

[@soap699]

Having npd is not a negative thing in the first place

[@satinizer8021]

another absolutely stunning monologue!!

[@BoosterDawg]

love it as always, keep killing it!!

[@lomosohneg3462]

We making it outta the gender clinic with this one

[@whimsypunch]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@OopisDoopis]

my earliest memory is putting coins and screws in my mouth and getting frustrated whenever my mom would take them out and get upset/worried about me having rusty metal in my mouth

[@michimatsch5862]

Holy shit. So good.

[@kittenmarengomeyer3008]

This is awesome!

[@smoncko6790]

Wow.

[@CarbonatedTobias]

This was Amazing

[@mysteriousluck]

For me it was a huge shock - the fact that you can _make_ pronouns and that there is something beside just "he" or "she" since my native language had no concept of it - you're either male or female, options? You don't get them. Every verb has a pronoun/gender assigned to it ("she said" is different than "he said" even though both are just one word) so I was used to they/them... not existing? If you change the verbs/pronouns to not male or female people will look at you like you're crazy (or at least would in the area I lived in). Using plural felt weird because you're talking about one person, but then I started learning English - the realization of they/them being the pronouns with no gender assigned to them was like a shock, I know it sounds like I'm overreacting but having no experience with them prior to that made me not accept that idea as something that can exist. For me the fact that you can just easily swap out the pronouns to make the person feel comfortable didn't feel like something that would be.. acceptable? Like, how could a person use both he and they? Then I actually started talking (not texting) in English - it was like a realization of something life-changing (well, for me it literally was lol) even when it was something as simple as they/them pronouns

[@meatsuitpilot6642]

Thank you for seeing me.

[@xXbussydestroyerXx]

WOOOOOOO FUCK YEAH MY DAY JUST GOT MADE

[@pearce554]

Why do I get the feeling there was a deactivated exploder for a Mk10 torpedo lying around the house when you were four? Possibly because I grew up in a house like that. Meanwhile, although gender issues are evidently top of this song's agenda, I like that it explores the whole concept of taxonomy from first principles. It has reminded me that I have trouble explaining what it is that you do to folk. It's not exactly song, it's not exactly poetry: but it certainly ain't rap; and it's not exactly prose either. Have you come up with a word for it yet?

[@Jojo-tf2zp]

This gave me the human equivalent of the zoomies. I wanna run and smash things now. Thank you!

[@futsell]

dope

[@woofmeow5752]

My grumpy bear was sometimes a girl and sometimes a boy.

[@friedhegg1994]

honestly it's amazing how much understanding young kids have of the idea that gender is absolutely meaningless

[@-Mawce-]

We stan genderfluid bear

[@The_Coolest_Sock]

Based

[@quantumblur_3145]

1:31 and thus begin the background shalalala's that I love so much _*Also what was that about a deactivated missile detonator?????_

[@burningbothbinaries9889]

you are the reason TOTP's is no longer on TV, too fucking cool for school, this should be number #1 in the charts, and would be quite frankly. You rock!

[@OneDeadArtist]

Holy shit this song is cool lol

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

So, there was that short story I read as a kid, which was in the form of a simple grammatical exercise. Chose wether each pronouns is a masculine or feminine one. And of course, you can't. When I read it as first, it was just a fun concept. But reading it as an adult, I was surprised how seriously this is presented. The reason why you can't chose a "right" gender is because that child can't. Not now. Not yet. They try their mother's make up. And then their father shaving foam. With extreme attention. If feels very ritualistic, in a way. Intense.

[@LimeyRedneck]

✊🤠💜

[@anthonypesola3294]

Gender, as it is modernly conceived, is a relatively new idea and is mostly useless for everyday purposes. Historically, what we currently call gender was more often dimorphistic traits based mostly in the natural capabilities of the forms - behavioral tendencies. Gender and sex are the same word originating from two different languages. There are two sexes, thus there are two genders. To best categorize the world, we must find the smallest non-one categories for any grouping of concepts. This is the nature of heuristics (mental maps). Sex/Gender is a smallest non-one category for reproductive capacity and behavioral traits relating to such. To add other, unrelated characteristics breaks down an otherwise naturally observable dimorphism. Try to observe a phenomenon/concept at first with as little language as possible. Words are invented to describe reality. They don't invent it. To confuse feelings related to traits of morphisms with one's sex/gender is to confuse color with shade (red, blue, green vs darkness/lightness). Two related, but observable different phenomenon. "Language is the liquid, that we're all dissolved in, great for solving problems after it creates the problems." - Modest Mouse lyric.

[@reinhardt3090]

Well put.

[@Tiny_Koi]

I wrote a long response to this but youtube discarded it so I will just say this; you do not know the definition of sexual dimorphism and I can tell you know very little about what you are talking about because I was trained to be an anthropologist and working on becoming a linguist as well. Your implicit bias is showing and even worse your lack of understanding of basic concepts related to sex and gender. Words have meanings for a reason and there is a clear difference between sex and gender from a definition standpoint. I can't believe the level of ignorance people show in a comments section just because its a tuesday and they felt like being unintelligent.

[@anthonypesola3294]

@@tauntingeveryone7208 Personality differences, particularly related to social roles, are recognized by a variety of societies or not. This is not an argument, but a diversion. Gender and sex, culturally and historically, are identical - yes, gender is a social construct, but a social construct related to the generally evolved behaviors in the dimorphistic qualities of the sexes. Sex is more 'form'; gender is more 'functions'; form and function are distinctions made about the same 'thing'. Objects are both defined by there parameters and capabilities. So are individuals. Different behaviors of individuals in a sex of any species is personality. Genders recent definition change is an attempt to ignore this for profit. Pharmaceutic & surgical industries can profit very much on the intentional manipulation of this word and not much otherwise. Other animals, even if they had different genders, do not hormonally alter themselves nor castrate themselves into successful reproduction (which is what sex and secual selection [gender] are entirely about). There is no third gamete. There are only two potential gametes determined by chromosomes. Novel mutation do not produce new 'genders' or 'sexes'. There is no spectrum. There is a male chromosome set, female chromosome set and evolutionary failures to produce gametes able to create the structures necessary to reproduce. This is why there have only ever been two. One causes rapid population collapse to any dangerous environment. Any more than two creates too much complexity to stabily maintain a species. There is no sex which can both impregnate an ova (male-type), or become impregnated like the ova (female-type). If certain characteristics don't develop to create certain characteristics necessary to complete the function of reproduction, what you have is failure to meet sexual requirements (capacities) for reproduction. Not more sexes or genders or spectrums thereof. Mitosis is complete, one for one, chromosome copying attempted by a cell to split into two 'identical', as in same chromosomes, cells. Meiosis is when cells which are selected by their epigenetic signature are split without chromosomal copying, but with chromosomal mixing. The cells two base pairs of each chromosome mix certain genes to create different protein expressions (qualities & quantites) in their later complete cells - fertilization). The chromosomal distinction of the sexes in every species is whether or not there is a double 'X' (base expression), or an 'X' and a 'Y' (base chromasome expression plus altered expression). There is the base organism set and the modified organism set. Female and male (modified gene expression to create mobile gametes which do not pass on mitochondria). This is very well understood and the basis of all our understanding of genetics, epigenetic, biology, biological medicine, etc. The consequences of ignoring this for pseudoscience is going to be a lot of harmed people with major reproductive failures. It is important here to note intersex (failure to completely dimorphise for successful reproduction) is not the same as trans (failure to see you are something other than what you believe - which impacts your self perception as all beliefs do). Intersex is reproductive failure. Trans is reproductive intervention, which to this date has never created reproductive success nor could. You would have to fully disintegrate the whole body, not just topical sex dimorphisms, and reintegrate it with an entirely new genome set - then hope it fully forms again, well integrated enough to reproduce. No amount of opposite sex hormones do this as hormones help express genes and cellular behavior, not replace chromosomes. Respect reality. You can deny it all you want, but you cannot avoid the consequences of denying it for long. A hundred plus years and millenia of research have put a deep well of observational data into what we understand as sex and gender (expression of sex). Ignore it at societies peril. Or we can just see who reproduces successfully as all of the animals of this earth have for the last 4 billion or so years.

[@toastbrot_junkie9037]

A teddy bear is a teddy bear, a human is a human.

[@povotaknight2063]

its called a metaphor dude.

[@noel350]

So the song starts off setting the grounds for reality and then trails off into unreality with arguments stemming from a human construct that was never real to begin with (teddy). I can't tell if this song is stupid or genius.

[@lulledart]

"Metaphysics" (not actually physics, silly name- besides the point) is the entire branch of philosophy about exactly that,, abstract unreality that defines Human constructs - things we make up. If you're talking about a human thing, it's very nearly impossible to separate human constructs from it. Human experience cannot be objective, or else it would not be human experience, it'd be something else!

[@noel350]

@@lulledart You've been staring at your porridge for too long 😆

[@tungstendeliz4960]

Human constructs are the backbone of all civilization. As he talks about in the song, you can't send a rocket into space without a bunch of nebulous abstractions such as integrals or central planning. If you missed this, then you did not listen to the song. Also, the point of bringing up Teddy was to emotionally affect the listener, and to illustrate a concept through analogy. Do you think that every sentence in a piece of music or literature is intended to neutrally present arguments with no emotional weight? You're the kind of person who would hear "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" and say, "Well a human's body temperature is usually significantly different from that of a summer's day! You're not even forming a coherent argument!"

[@noel350]

@@tungstendeliz4960 The utillity of a word is tied to its context and meaning. Create enough of them with neither of those things - and you get babel 🤣. A solid argument has a solid foundation is all i'm saying. If your argument stems from something that is not true or real - then you don't need to be a genius to see where the conclusion will lead. However abstract. I do like his music. Nitpicking aside.

[@yuu34567]

I don't understand the issue you're having with this. The part about teddy isn't the argument, it's an anecdote to introduce the topic of the song + note that the singer independently assumed, as a 4 year old, that there could be genders other than male or female. It goes to show that non-binary genders are actually pretty natural and not that hard to understand. As long as they're explained in the right way, and I think this song does it pretty well, albeit in a kind of stream-of-consciousness way. It naturally builds to its conclusions though.

[@tek_8186]

.... labeling is different than factual physical differences. Saying my hair is brown. Eyes are green. Skin is white. Sexual organs is penis. Testicles. Primary produced hormone testosterone produce by the testicles. More so than the human (label) entity next to me missing comparable sexual organs. Though their organs have eggs that if fertilized create through a metamorphic process another entity we call human. For my simplicity to save my friend of the headache of a million I will call this, penis testicle testosterone fueled entity Man, and Ovarian egg loaded human creating being women. Those that follow with similar mechanisms will be labeled the same for sake of explanation to others. If one says they are not in their classification and the pieces fit then by labeling alone can we change the name but for simplicity sake their mechanisms do not change without external unnatural forces. So like it or not. Gendering is a label based on conventions designed to simplify the explanation of the function of living physical material. Not on how we feel on a given day of what we identify as.

[@TheNarcissistCookbook]

nah

[@povotaknight2063]

@@TheNarcissistCookbook good lord gottem

[@Peirkerig]

i bet your SOO fun at parties

[@zackbuildit88]

AS A CONLANGER. MATHEMATICIAN. DESCRIPTIVIST (look up linguistic descriptivism philosophy). AND LOVER OF ALL THINGS QUEER (my gender is a very spirally question mark and my sexuality is super immensely bi). I HEREBY ADOPT THIS AS MY ANTHEM Seriously though this is great, this stuff is *why* im a descriptivist, *why* i love making languages, *why* i love exploring the borders of mathematics, just, finding ways to describe what we dont know. I love it. I love it. This, thank you.