"As a feminist I want to let go of gender" - A quote from the somewhat infamous Julie Bindel; a feminist newspaper columnist who often clashes with the transgender community in particular over her views on sex, gender and "no amount of mutilation can make someone a woman". To start with I'm not even going into that, I just want to talk about this quote.

"I want to let go of gender". Ok, first of all, what is gender? To some people sex and gender are interchangable but to people who study/talk about/are interested in gender the two words have separate meanings which I will also use here. "Sex" is a biological term; it concerns the physical characteristics such as genetics and physical sexual characteristics. Interestingly, there is no test for sex that works in 100% of cases. Genetically the vast majority of men are XY and women are XX but this is no means definite. In recent years a woman with XY genes gave birth to a daughter also with XY genes. Androgen insensitivity syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensitivity_syndrome) is where genetic XY males exhibit female sexual characteristics of varying degrees, Klinefelter's syndrome concerns XXY males (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klinefelter_syndrome). Around 1% of live births indicate some form of intersex or other ambiguity.
"Gender" is a term that refers to the social and mental perception and presentation of sex. Again in the vast majority of people sex and gender will match each other. For transsexual people, transgender people and other who deviate from the sexual binary, their gender does not match their physical bodies and some of these people will alter the physical sex to match the psychological gender. If you present as female and identify as female you are female despite any genetic or physical markers. The "gender binary" is the idea that there are two separate genders, male and female.

If gender is psychological and social in nature, the idea of letting go of gender is the idea that society should not impose a gender upon someone and that gender distinctions are irrelevant. To a degree I agree with this notion. Why do documents like my passport or driving licence have my gender on them? To identify me? They already have my name, photograph and address. I support the idea that legally, gender is become less relevant. However I also recognise that gender still holds an important social purpose. Gender is often the first characteristic we notice about someone, it is the first question asked about new babies etc. Letting go of gender would mean a shift in society away from this, that gender would become irrelevant in all places.

I disagree with this. I believe there are differences between the genders and I believe these should be celebrated. I believe in equal opportunity, and if this means that gender disparity in some areas still exists then so be it. My dissertation speaks about females and software engineering, and it's main finding is that the way girls are brought up around technology means they don't have the same social opportunity to follow software as a career path. The doors need to be opened, but I don't believe we should push people through for the sake of diversity. I believe that gender presentation is a deeply personal and important part of someone's mental map of themselves. I present as female and I am comfortable in that presentation. My gender helps define my personality. In the past I have not been as comfortable in that presentation and the male part of me has defined that personality.

I believe in choice. I believe in the rights of transgendered people to change their gender presentation. I believe in the rights of women to be stay-at-home mothers if they choose to, or be career-driven engineers if they choose to. I believe in the rights of men to do the same. Feminism is about granting *both* genders the choice to be and do whatever they want to be and do. In this way I am a feminist. However, feminism as a term is something I'd like to change as I believe in equality for both genders. There are areas where men's rights are lacking and these also need to be addressed. I believe that abortion debates should involve men but women have full rights to their bodies in the end. Do you have to be a feminist to believe in equality? No.

As a feminist, I want to support the rights of all to present their gender in any way they see fit. I want all people to feel comfortable and happy in themselves, and if they don't I want them to have the opportunity to be able to seek out that comfort. I support the camp gay men and the "straight-acting" gay men, I support the butches and the femmes and the lesbians who decide to ignore both distinctions. I support the bisexuals right to be attracted to both genders without being rejected from the straight or gay communities. I support myself in my femininity and my masculinity and I will celebrate those with you.