3 hours ago, Lord Antares said:

But that just brings me to the point that gender (as opposed to sex) is a social construct and doesn't really mean anything.

While I wouldn’t disagree that gender is (partly) a construct I don’t think that means it isn’t real. Language, money, ethics and art are all social constructs and are real (depends ng on the definition for f “real”).

27 minutes ago, Strange said:

While I wouldn’t disagree that gender is (partly) a construct I don’t think that means it isn’t real. Language, money, ethics and art are all social constructs and are real (depends ng on the definition for f “real”).

Fancy a stroll down that rabbit-hole?   The most important thing is that it is a useful descriptive for a certain  condition or state.

1 hour ago, Strange said:

While I wouldn’t disagree that gender is (partly) a construct I don’t think that means it isn’t real. Language, money, ethics and art are all social constructs and are real (depends ng on the definition for f “real”).

Moreover, you could ask yourself what is the biological basis of feeling in tune with your sex. In addition to what Arete posted, there is not a lot of information on the biological basis of gender perception and its potential plasticity. But considering that even the mechanisms determining sex are not as dual in nature as often assumed, one can extrapolate that gender perception is likely even less rigid.

Also note that while certain aspects are constructed it does not mean that all aspects are flexible or even arbitrary. For example, associating gender with certain colors or clothing is clearly learned in a societal context, whereas mating preferences are far less flexible (though they also have a learned element to it).

Mollusks physically change genders in their life time. Social construction has nothing to do with it.