The prevailing wisdom is that you're genetically born as one gender, that's who you are and that's the identity you should develop to fit into your culture, either a manly man or a feminine women but somewhere along the way, there are people who don't fit neatly into the gender they look like and often want to be the opposite gender.
The stereotypical characteristics of women are:
clinging
coy emotional
manipulative
need other people
nurturing
The stereotypical characteristics of men are:
emotionally childish
one-dimensional
competitive (with themselves and others)
afraid of losing control
rational
horny
domineering
Fifty years ago or so, society had strict gender roles. Women became mothers while men went to work. It was overwhelming because everybody played by these rules.