system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why is transracialism seen as less authentic than transgenderism?

If race and gender are both social constructs, categories society puts us into because of the way we look rather than biological realities about us, then why should one be seen as more authentic than the other? Many of those who claim transracial identities undergo surgery to look more like the race they identify with, it is obviously very important to them. The case is often made that we should refer to trans people by their preferred pronouns as not doing so can negatively impact their mental health. If it were the case that not respecting transracial peoples identities would have a negative effect on their wellbeing then I fail to see why theres a difference. The only argument I’ve really heard against transracialism is that race is a lived experience, therefore someone who was born as white British cannot truly know what it’s like to be Korean. Switch out “white British” to “man” and “Korean” to “woman” and it’s the same argument trans exclusionary feminists use as far as I can tell. I’m certain I haven’t heard all the arguments either way and my mind is far from being made, looking forward to an interesting discussion below. Thanks!
gpt
Attempts to validate transracialism through analogy with transgender people fail to acknowledge that race, ethnicity, and gender are fundamentally different categories. 

Race is a political category, which in its modern form was invented in the 15th through 19th centuries by white people to justify colonialism, especially in America and western Europe. It is fundamentally defined by a set of shared political experiences and goals. 

Ethnicity is a cultural category, fundamentally defined by shared cultural history and frameworks.

Gender is a social category, fundamentally defined by expressions of aesthetics and personality. 

People who identify as belonging to races or ethnicities that they are not of are attempting to claim that they have political, cultural, and historical experiences that they do not. 

On the other hand, the core idea of being trans is that it makes absolutely no sense to presume that ideas of gender defined and enforced by cisgender society are more accurate to a person than ideas defined and "enforced" by that person. It's more comparable to the Scientific Revolution than to transracialism - it seeks to leave issues of personal identity to those actually capable of verifying (and determining) personal identity, rather than to those who merely claim to be authorities on the matter. 

In summary - Race and Ethnicity are categories that, at their most basic, level, are defined by external traits. Gender is a category that, at its most basic, can only be defined internally. 

Also, for the record, "transgenderism" is generally a frowned-upon word, since it is often used to reduce the self-advocacy and push for greater public consciousness of trans identities and the nature of gender to a mere ideological allegiance. EDIT: To be clear, this addendum isn't intended as "you've committed a moral wrong by using the word in your question" but as "don't be surprised if someone calls you a transphobe if you frequently use the word around them"