Is there an English word that captures the overall concept behind masculine and feminine?

We use terms like "feminine" and "masculine" without thinking about how to define them. They are clearly associated with terms like "female" and "male", but since we find "femininity" in men and "masculinity" in women, there is clearly no one to one relationship.

Then there is the fact that what is considered "masculine" and "feminine" varies from culture to culture and from epoch to epoch.

Is there an English language term that captures the whole feminine/masculine spectrum?

This is the topic for a discussion over at Crossdream Life. 

Painting of King Louis XIV of France with red high heels.  

Is there such a thing as a "female brain"?

Over at CDL there is an interesting discussion on the nature of the human brain. Some argue that there is such a thing as a "female" brain and that trans women have such a brain. Others argue that the brain represents a complex mix of stereotypical male and female traits, so that it does not make much sense to talk about "female" and "male" brains.

More about this here.

See also: In defense of the sex binary.

Women who love to feminize their husbands

Fiona Dobson tells the story about wives who love to feminize their husbands over at Medium. This means that feminization fantasies is not restricted to the man exploring gender expressions, but their partner too. This will probably also apply to transmasculine people and their spouses, whether they are male or female.

Alice tells Fiona about the role playing of her and her husband:

I let him dress at home, and at night I usually insist he wears a little pink night dress. In the three years I’ve been telling him to do it, I think he’s only worn his pyjamas twice and that was when we were staying with his brother in Des Moines. You don’t really think of many people crossdressing in Des Moines.

Fiona is apparently planning a series of interviews like this one.

Thanks to Terrie over at CDL for the link! Discussion there!

Who are trans and who are cis?

Over at CDL Carah Maise asks whether it makes sense to include people who have a different gender expression (as opposed to gender identity) in the transgender family.

She writes:

I've been around the trans world for what is becoming a very long time. I've seen things evolve and change. I’m seeing, a growing call for gender nonconformity and expression (whether for crossdressing, drag, fashion, etc) to move from just being under the trans umbrella but a call to be considered the same thing as transgender, regardless of actual gender identity/dysphoria. Beyond what we have classically seeing requiring at least an identity of not cis. Much of this comes from a very sincere place and is motivated by good. However something about this makes me feel just a little uncomfortable, probably that I've been accused and denied a trans identity by cis people. 

This intro leads to a lot of interesting questions:

• Are gender expression and gender identity really two completely distinct phenomena?
• How do you deal with the fact that many transgender people are on a journey, where their self understanding changes?
• Do we have the science needed to determine who are trans and who are not?
• Who is the arbiter, given that no one else but the trans person themselves can truly know who they are?
• Is being transgender a question about some kind of gender essence or is this a relative political or social term, defined by the way cis people treat trans people.
• If trans is defined as the opposite of cis, and cis are seen as those who are not trans, can the term be anything but relative?

Read the whole discussion here!

What makes transgender people trans?

Crossdreamers.com has published a broad discussions about transgender identities  and what makes trans people trans. 

The jury is still out on that question, but there are ways of distinguishing sensible explanations from those driven by bigotry and prejudice. 

Crossdreamers looks at the most popular theories around today.

Go to Why are trans people trans?

How can you beat gender dysphoria without transitioning?

There may be various reasons for why some trans people decide not to transition. Ultimately it is up to the crossdreamer or trans person themselves to decide. Whatever they decide they deserve our love and respect.

Felix Conrad has written an interesting article on how you can cope with gender dysphoria if you cannot or will not transition.

Read it all here: How can you beat gender dysphoria without transitioning?