-
Just what are we
How many times have we asked the question, just what are we? By that inevitable question we try to put ourselves in a box, shelf or whatever; it never really works. If you are like me and have wrestled with the question, who are we and what are we? There seems to be no satisfactory answer, until now. At least I think it provides some sort of answer to the age old question, what are we?
I strongly suspect the protagonist in the TV documentory on Thai Ladyboys may well have given a satisfactory answer. That answer gels with my SO and to a degree with me. The body of a male with the soul of a woman. If that be the case then there will never be a conclusive answer because we have to incorporate our spiritual beliefs, and they are no doubt singularly different to every individual. What do others think?
Moderator
Quote:Post moved to a new thread from http://forum.tgr.net.au/cms/forum/F157/5109-109
as it asks a new question which is not the same as those posed in the original thread. -
3 Replies
-
Quote:The body of a male with the soul of a woman. …..What do others think?Soul is a difficult concept for me…as I have only previously thought about in the context of religion.
Rushing to Google it tells me that soul is
Quote:1) The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
2) A person’s moral or emotional nature or sense of identity.Definition 1 is the one I am familiar with. But my transgender yearnings don’t come from a spiritual or immaterial and certainly not immortal source. It simply reflects a desire to act out a different role in our society than that expected of a “proper male”.
Definition 2 is broader, and I can understand that someone could consider that the role they play in society reflects their inner sense of identity. But to demand that that sense of identity has to be the same as (the soul of) a woman is restrictive and artificially limits the potential choice.
So I can accept, if you want, that my transgender nature comes in part from my soul. But it is my soul – not the soul of a woman.
On reflection that doesn’t advance my understanding much!
-
The soul? As I said the concept arises from some spiritual beliefs and is for me somewhat ambiguous. I was well aware that it would touch some raw nerves. And no, I’m not religous, despite being baptised as an Anglican. But, by the same token I’m well aware of something beyond what is tangible. Try going into cardiac arrest for the experience, it’s mind blowing.
-
I have always associated ‘The soul’ with religious beliefs that I obviously don’t share with the church. However I have often wondered what energy is within the body, that creates the thoughts and memories that generate our identity.
We have this intangible force that makes us all individuals, and yet we still allow society to pigeon-hole us into, male-female, boy-girl boxes etc etc.
Perhaps if there were greater or wider understanding of what makes us individuals there would be no need for labels at all.
