Even our bodies themselves are converted into symbols. For example, bras and skirts are cultural tools and symbols that impose femininity on young women. These garments have the dual role of constraining feminine activities and functioning as cultural signs which eroticize the body. When we wear something or think something, culture does a magic trick, creating the illusion of an essential gender identity. You can't fight language - it is crucial for social functioning and cognition.
Gender is a performance on the social stage.
Part of the transition process involves learning to re-read your body. The Erotic is treated by western culture as a pseudo-science. Other cultures create an art of the erotic. Neither works perfect. Sex is the vicarious experience of the other.