First of all, no I don't think that transgender men or women are "faking it". Just because I disagree with the assertion that a feeling can define a biological reality doesn’t mean I think that feeling is made up. Nor do I think that being transgender is a choice, however in your own article you cite Krug saying that she “assumed identities within a Blackness that [she] had no right to claim” which does seem to fit the definition of a choice for transracialism.
And this question of choice brings us all the way back to the point which you made at the start, and yes, one that I struggle to understand for transgender people too. If there’s no such thing as race (or gender), if it’s all in our heads and infinitely varied by personal experience (which I happen to agree with you about), what does it mean to say that you feel like a black person? Or a woman for that matter. What is the blackness or woman-ness that you’re feeling?
Technically, you’re right to say that we can’t make assertions like these just by looking at superficial characteristics (at least if you want to be correct 100% of the time), but then you go on to suggest that there’s no problem making these assertions on the basis of the subjective feelings of an individual, even if those run completely counter to any DNA testing or superficial characteristics.
In fact, the very article you cited talks at length about how it IS possible to tell a person what race they are, even if it disagrees with what they previously believed (see, I really did read it). It talks about how people were told they were incorrect about the race they presumed themselves to be when the DNA results came back. So science can tell peole they're wrong when we're tearing down the concept of race, but not when we're questioning the valiidity of transracialism?
It seems like you’re trying to have it both ways. You want these things to be totally artificial and illusory when it comes to the way society defines race, and at the same time you want them to be concrete, undeniable truths when an individual claims they feel a certain way.
This contradiction, which you once again sidestepped even though I point blank asked you to address it in my last reply, is where I’m not understanding your position.
