Cognitive Abilities You Wish You Didn't Have

[Guest Soph]

What I mean to say is, do you have any mental abilities (not telekineses and stuff >_> ) that you wish you didn't have: like, one that isn't generally associated with your gender identity?

I, for example, am quite good at spatial awareness and orientation, a trait normally found in men and one that women often lack. Likewise, I am bad at multitasking, which is an ability generally associated with women and which men tend to not be so good at.

I feel like these two things (they're the only ones that really come to mind for this situation) loosely imply that I am not female because of my brain functions... like, they contradict the general accepted biological source of GID, which is essentially having the brain of the opposite sex. If I had a female brain, wouldn't I be good at multitasking, but unable to find west when travelling? Also, if I had a female brain, wouldn't my hormones have been at the same levels as normal women, since the endocrine system is in the brain? I admit, for the latter, I have very little understanding of the endocrine system, but my other point still stands...

[Guest Kaitlyn88]

I wish that I had some of that spatial ability. I constantly get lost even in a parking lot. I'm not that great at multitasking either but way better then the other. If you have any abilities just consider them a gift. Trust me being constantly lost while out isn't a good thing.

[Guest N. Jane]

I am pretty good at multi-tasking and always have been. Earning a pilot's license increased that A LOT!

My spacial awareness is strange. I easily get lost in a mall and haven't the foggiest idea which way to go but out in the open it's like I have GPS in my head. About the only thing that screws it up is if I sleep in a car and wake up in the dark or on a dull overcast day - then it can take me awhile to get re-oriented.

I think both "abilities" have a lot more to do with how much you exercise them and less to do with gender.

[Guest Penelope]

Soph,

Based on my experience I believe there is much truth in your assertions about gender traits.

My SO really enjoys, and is brilliant at, multi-tasking. But she is, to put it politely, topographically and geographically challenged. She has a positive aversion to the symbols on buttons, switches and knobs in cars and on domestic appliances. These, she says, were invented by men for male brains.

Having consulted a map, I can normally find my way to wherever I need to go by a 'feel' for the direction. I can visualise 3D objects in my head. If I'm concentrating on a task (driving excluded) I can't hear what my SO is saying to me. She has a persistent habit of doing that.

I can't say I've noticed any differences in myself when I'm in femme mode. But then, I wouldn't have the time or inclination to test for them.

Penelope

[Guest i is Sam :-)]

Don't worry about these things, you don't need to hit every single sterotype to feel justified in the knowledge that you are who you are. I wouldn't want to loose any of my skills or abilities, I'd be happy to gain others, and female ones would be good, i could certainly use being better at multitasking, or lateral thinking in general, but I have no desire to suddenly no longer be able to find my way around town.

[Guest Donna Jean]

OMG!

I've always had a very good ability to multitask!

Sometimes it's a curse, but I can have half a dozen things going on at once...

In the summer on the weekend I'll be moderating here, cooking something, mowing at the lawn, planting some flowers and washing some clothes..Just going from one thing to the next ....round and round...

I do enjoy that ability, but, sometimes I take on too much at a time....

Huggs

Donna Jean

[Guest Soph]

Don't worry about these things, you don't need to hit every single sterotype to feel justified in the knowledge that you are who you are. I wouldn't want to loose any of my skills or abilities, I'd be happy to gain others, and female ones would be good, i could certainly use being better at multitasking, or lateral thinking in general, but I have no desire to suddenly no longer be able to find my way around town.

The only reason I don't want the spatial ability that I have is because that is a trait that men excel at--not just because of enculturation, but because of their brain. Same with the multitasking for women. The fact that I excel at the masculine ability and fall short of the feminine one loosely implies that my brain is fully male, which would contradict my gender identity (which I maintain is fully determined by the brain).

I don't mean to make it sound like you didn't understand what I was saying, because I think you did... its just that I'd rather trade in my one ability for the other, as the one I have is somewhat invalidating.

[Guest LottieZero]

The only reason I don't want the spatial ability that I have is because that is a trait that men excel at--not just because of enculturation, but because of their brain. Same with the multitasking for women. The fact that I excel at the masculine ability and fall short of the feminine one loosely implies that my brain is fully male, which would contradict my gender identity (which I maintain is fully determined by the brain).

I don't mean to make it sound like you didn't understand what I was saying, because I think you did... its just that I'd rather trade in my one ability for the other, as the one I have is somewhat invalidating.

Hi Soph,

the thing is, it's not all women that are bad at orienting themselves and good at multitasking... it's just most. Even if 80% of women were like that - which is a bit of a generous estimate! - that'd still leave a significant 20% (about 600 million in global terms) who identify as women, and why shouldn't they? Just because there are more women who have different abilities than them... I mean, think of the reverse - there are plenty of men out there who are rubbish at map-reading etc. - I can name quite a few! - but they're still men (presuming they feel they are, that is). My mum is much like you in terms of what you described, and I'd never even think of describing her as 'male' because of that. So don't worry... it's just a part of who you are, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it

Charlotte

[Guest Soph]

I didn't mean to imply that there were no exceptions to the rule. Its just not as likely that I can use that excuse when there is the possibility that is both simpler and explains the situation better, that possibility being that I have a male brain (I'm not saying I do, as I doubt I do. I'm confident in my gender identity, but these are two traits that I feel would cast doubt on the biological basis of it). I admit that that is not irrefutable, as it relies on induction, and cannot lead to a priori knowledge (how ridiculous, saying something "leads to" a priori knowledge!), but its a possibility--and one that would make me very unhappy.

On another note, why is it so important to me to find a biological basis for how i feel? Is it to avoid culpability and show justification? >_< I think I think too much...

[Guest LottieZero]

I didn't mean to imply that there were no exceptions to the rule. Its just not as likely that I can use that excuse when there is the possibility that is both simpler and explains the situation better, that possibility being that I have a male brain (I'm not saying I do, as I doubt I do. I'm confident in my gender identity, but these are two traits that I feel would cast doubt on the biological basis of it). I admit that that is not irrefutable, as it relies on induction, and cannot lead to a priori knowledge (how ridiculous, saying something "leads to" a priori knowledge!), but its a possibility--and one that would make me very unhappy.

On another note, why is it so important to me to find a biological basis for how i feel? Is it to avoid culpability and show justification? >_< I think I think too much...

I know what you're getting at (I think), but as you'll know, something probably being the case doesn't mean that it is. If you had a 'male' brain, why would you think of yourself as a woman, and feel so much better living as a woman? (And I mean, wouldn't that mean that your brain wasn't male at all? I can't think of any single thing which links all men - and I mean *all* men - other than the fact that they feel like they are men). It doesn't matter if it's not irrefutable IMO, but obviously your opinion can differ. (I hope I don't sound like I'm lecturing! I have a habit of doing that sometimes, but my intentions are good, really )

Anyway, when it comes down to it, isn't knowledge of your gender identity always a priori anyway? There'll be events to 'back up' how you feel, but I mean, wouldn't they have happened because you knew in the first place, unconsciously or otherwise? It's not like the event would have happened and then you'd have known. (At least, I don't think so...)

[Guest Elizabeth K]

DISAGREE TOTALLY!

(1) We are what we are - and for the sake of arguement - understand we MTF have been testosterone poisoned for years!

(2) And we are dual natured - having to imitate being male all the time

(3) And there is a huge overlap in male and female brain types.

(4) I think we can be 'wired' for female thinking, but we are not necessarily gonna have all the talents - not of ether gender in some cases. BUT we will have talents of both genders in other cases.

(5) PLUS - HRT rewires a lot of our thinking.

All that mix make us whatever we are - to say because i can find our way back to camp on a dark lake - dead of night(I can - I have a built in compass for some reason) is not going to mean I am more male than female. Because I cannot for the life of me learn a foreign language (women do better - I am female, but gosh, foreign languages are a mystery to me), doesn't mean I am NOT inately a woman.

I have true womanly ways - I am so maternal, I practiclly emmit milk from my breasts when I hear a baby cry! I have been able to walk in heels from the very first time I tried, I can cry (God help me the HRT has magnified that!).

All that is in me naturally!

I have ALWAYS used both sides of my brain! I am very artistic and its my profession! And I can negotiate a room full of angry men into a peaceful agreement - and have then shaking hands at the end (also my profession - BUT THIS IS NON- CONFROTATIONAL TALENTS OF BEING A WOMAN). I pick hues and colors that make your life SOOOO pleasant and exciting (again my profession - I have a superior color sense).

BUT

I can tell you the name of the constellations - I always can point the direction 'north' within 5 degrees - I can do calculus - math is a cinch to me! Am I a man? No way...

What other things do women do that men usually cannot? I mean besides hooking a bra from the back (hee hee - I can do that!)

What things can men do that women usually can't? I mean besides being able to spit ito a cup at 15 feet? (I STOPPED doing that! Ha!.)

There is so much diversity - the genders are so similar - so much overlap - it is what allows us to transition! I will be accepted fully as a woman because I am one - and I can do what I do because I am me!

GRINNING AND LAUGHING

Lizzy

[Guest Soph]

Anyway, when it comes down to it, isn't knowledge of your gender identity always a priori anyway? There'll be events to 'back up' how you feel, but I mean, wouldn't they have happened because you knew in the first place, unconsciously or otherwise? It's not like the event would have happened and then you'd have known. (At least, I don't think so...)

The problem with knowing your gender identity is that you have to let yourself know it first. That opens it up to all kinds of subjectivity, and really in that light anyone could be transsexual, but just not let themselves know...

then you have to consider the abstract emotion of feeling like a woman. This would have to be completely removed from all cultural connotations (which you address in your second sentence there), and without them you're trying to define something that is near impossible to define, since its just so intangible. I mean, I'm no Ayer, so I can't reduce "feeling like a woman" to necessary components very well, as doing so is really quite difficult, and I think to really exemplify it in terms that can be understood you would have to use examples, making it an a posteriori issue.

Meh, emotions are weird >_>

[Guest i is Sam :-)]

of course the abilities you're talking about come down to white and grey matter, which you havve more of or use more of. Some studies have shown then transsexuals do have a white / grey ration more like that of their non-birth gender.

But there is also nuture involved, you might genuinely excel at more typically female things but you were taught male things in a male way. You also grew up, created new cells, fastly increased your intelligence formed trillions of new connections between neurons all while being full of testosterone, so who knows what that really did to you.

It really would be good to be able to find out more of these things for sure but we're just so gosh darned difficult to study.

[Guest Soph]

It really would be good to be able to find out more of these things for sure but we're just so gosh darned difficult to study.

I second that. It really is quite frustrating sometimes >_<

[Guest NatalieRene]

What I mean to say is, do you have any mental abilities (not telekineses and stuff >_> ) that you wish you didn't have: like, one that isn't generally associated with your gender identity?

I, for example, am quite good at spatial awareness and orientation, a trait normally found in men and one that women often lack. Likewise, I am bad at multitasking, which is an ability generally associated with women and which men tend to not be so good at.

I feel like these two things (they're the only ones that really come to mind for this situation) loosely imply that I am not female because of my brain functions... like, they contradict the general accepted biological source of GID, which is essentially having the brain of the opposite sex. If I had a female brain, wouldn't I be good at multitasking, but unable to find west when travelling? Also, if I had a female brain, wouldn't my hormones have been at the same levels as normal women, since the endocrine system is in the brain? I admit, for the latter, I have very little understanding of the endocrine system, but my other point still stands...

Wait so it's a gender based thing to get horribly lost with no sense of direction and suck at geometry? Really? I guess that explains a lot and how I could end up in DC driving past the washington monument when I was trying to go home (fairfax VA in 205) when I first moved back up to the DC metro area.

I guess having a female brain might have something to do with the hormone levels but it's the testicles that are pumping out the testosterone that screws things up. Maybe it explains why some of us did not start with as high testosterone levels.

I wouldn't worry about your mental abilities though. No one is going to go, "a woman that can do math... you know what that means shes a ...." Don't worry yourself about this.

[Guest NatalieRene]

The only reason I don't want the spatial ability that I have is because that is a trait that men excel at--not just because of enculturation, but because of their brain. Same with the multitasking for women. The fact that I excel at the masculine ability and fall short of the feminine one loosely implies that my brain is fully male, which would contradict my gender identity (which I maintain is fully determined by the brain).

I don't mean to make it sound like you didn't understand what I was saying, because I think you did... its just that I'd rather trade in my one ability for the other, as the one I have is somewhat invalidating.

Even if your brain is male you are not your brain. It doesn't invalidate how you feel.

[Guest NatashaJade]

Well, I'm actually pretty okay with being able to find my way and parallel park. Just because something is typically this or that, it doesn't mean you are not who you think you are. Part of this journey is learning to love ourselves, male baggage and all.

luv

Gin

[Guest NatalieRene]

Well, I'm actually pretty okay with being able to find my way and parallel park. Just because something is typically this or that, it doesn't mean you are not who you think you are. Part of this journey is learning to love ourselves, male baggage and all.

luv

Gin

Us girls can learn how to parallel park eventually. After I ran over enough traffic cones practicing and bumped into cars in my early days I can now finally pull right in. It only took two years of living at an apartment where I had to parallel to park that I figured out the trick. You park at the end spot at the front or the back. LOL I can't back up very well though, I tend to hit stationary objects.

[Guest Soph]

Well, I'm actually pretty okay with being able to find my way and parallel park. Just because something is typically this or that, it doesn't mean you are not who you think you are. Part of this journey is learning to love ourselves, male baggage and all.

I can recognize that I should be able to accept that maybe I'm just a girl who knows how to get around... but what you ought to do and what you do do are two different things, and I do have trouble with this facet of my existence. I'd just rather be a perfectly normal girl, and this is one more thing on top of everything else that indicates that I am not, nor will I ever be, one.

My speech therapist (yeah, I started speech therapy. Going pretty much awesome!) said that I need to be more optimistic, and whenever I say something negative I should counter with something positive to make it a habit of being upbeat, so here I go. I am now presenting in my real gender, and while I may have intellectual doubts from time to time I recognize that deep down this is the right path for me, neuroscience be damned! (I rather hope it doesn't auto-filter that >_<).

Yeah, optimism sounds corny to me too.

[Guest ChloëC]

Well, yes, there are some 'abilities' I have that I really wish I didn't.

I have an intense awareness of everything around me, and not just in the physical, where is each thing located sense. I mean, in the how might it affect me, and what might I do about it sense.

For inanimate objects, I can deal with it, tho I'm tired of 'seeing' everything when I walk into a room (oh, dust doesn't really bother me that much). But if there are people present, my mind goes into hyper-drive as I see each person, and if they're reacting to me, exactly how, and why, and what should I be doing to change it, if I feel that it (whatever interaction) isn't going positively.

And especially when I think about myself and what's around me, it's in the sense of where am I fitting in at each moment in the local space, the extended space, the universe around me. And how is everything else fitting into it, too, and not just in the present, but historically.

The 'RENAISSANCE' or more accurately, the Italian Renaissance of the Middle-ages was actually the 4th one in Europe but is in big letters not because it was the biggest, but because the Italians figured out it was a renaissance as it was happening, AND marketed it as such. They were 'aware' of their place in history and made sure everyone else was, too, and they coined the term 'Dark Ages' , to make sure everyone bought into their awareness and their renaissance.

I sometimes wish I could go through life like the vast majority, believing in the utmost importance of HERE, NOW, ME. That would make life so much easier.

Chloë

but then, I wouldn't be me, would I.<sigh>