I found this article on the Maclean Clinic website and I feel that it does more than a decent job at explaining key differences within the global sphere of gender variance (certainly for those born anatomically male). Of course we have since added terms like non-binary, genderqueer, bigender, gender fluid, etc all in attempts to capture how people feel and what they do. Nevertheless, I would have little trouble passing these basic descriptions on to a person who has no familiarity with the topic..
"Many people have difficulty understanding and differentiating between who a transvestite, transsexual, or transgender is. This can be a huge problem, considering that it is a daily reality for some people. You may even unknowingly fit into one of these categories, or perhaps categorise yourself in the wrong group.
The rest of the population should also recognise and pay attention to the different “trans” terms as they may affect their lives – directly or indirectly – at some point.
Transvestite
This term is usually grouped together with “crossdresser,” and is used to refer to individuals who like to dress in what would conventionally be worn by the opposite gender, and act in that manner, as well. For instance, you can have heterosexual males wearing traditionally feminine clothing and acquiring feminine mannerisms.
Cross-dressers don’t regard themselves as anything but straight or heterosexual, and so they don’t associate with the LGBTQ community. Drag queens (men who dress up in female clothes and personify female gender stereotypes) and drag kings (women who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes) are generally not considered transvestites or crossdressers. This is because people who dress in drag are usually gay, yet crossdressers are straight.
Transsexual
This term is used to refer to individuals who refuse to accept the gender they were assigned at birth, and even take medical steps to change different aspects of their body to match the gender that they believe they are.
For instance, a person whom you perceive to be male because of his outwardly appearance, with male sex organs, and conforms to male gender roles may actually believe that he is not male, and wants to become female (or vice versa). The person’s believe is so strong that they seek a “sex change” operation, or what is better known as a gender confirmation or gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy.
Transgender
This is an all-inclusive term used by people who feel their assigned sex does not match up to their gender identity, behaviour, expression, or general sense of self, including non-binary individuals. So, transgender men (trans men) are people who were assigned female at birth but identify and opt to live as men; while transgender women (trans women) were assigned the male gender at birth but identify and live as women.
Transgender and transsexual should not be used interchangeably, since they do not mean the same. While transsexual people transition from one sex to the other, transgender people only associate with their identity.
Final note
Despite the different terms for the transsexual people, you should not assume that you know a person’s orientation based on their physical appearance or gender identity. You should also not try to fit a person into a certain category. Allow the person to identify themselves - it is their process of self discovery and self identification"
To be honest, I can't say I agree with them at all. Feels like very dated terminology/usage and not ones that I see in the community at large these days.
ReplyDeleteI never use the term transsexual, despite medically transitioning (including affirmation surgery), and I can't say that I know anyone else that does either. The term conjurs up transmedicalism to many of us and in all of the support meetings I have helped facilitate, I have never heard it said. Everybody uses "trans" or "transgender" regardless of where they are in their transition journey.
It's less about the terms than about how they denote identification of status of identity. Trans is a very loose term and some people are all about expression with no identity and no intent to have any journey. As I have explained in another post we lose meaning if we aren't more specific so you could change the names but they would still describe observable topologies of people I have met. I am not a strict transnedicalist by any means but do recognize that dysphoria is real and absolutely relevant and cannot be ignored as an important differentiator within the sphere of gender variance. I am NOT interested in creating hierarchy but more in understanding drivers for behaviour which is why I first started blogging in the first place to understand my own. The fact that popular terminology is different interests me far less because it has tended to whitewash over specifics which help individuals identify how to best deal with their own specific situation
DeleteFrom all of my experience, personally and in helping support others, the less rigid understanding has helped a lot of people. When I first attempted to move forward in the 90s, the rigid terminology of the day left me in a limbo because I didn't fit any of them. I needed that space to figure things out and so when I finally started to seek medical support to transition, my doctor asked what my goal were and I said, "I don't know yet, I just know where I want to start."
DeleteIt is important that we allow people to explore through their experiences. Not all come to these places through intense dysphoria or dysmorphia, sometimes that is revealed as people explore. The reason for that is that we too are products of our social conditioning around sex and gender and we're often going through a process of unlearning and relearning and that requires space, not boxes.
I help run a trans feminine and non-binary support group. People come to us confused and we help them understand that there is no "one true path" to our identities and how we manage ourselves within them, explore as you have comfort and feel safe to do so. For some, expression is enough, for others it's HRT, and for others still it may involve an array of affirming surgeries. We don't need a special label to re-enable the harmful boxes of the last century.
There isn't always a path other than allowing people freedom of expression. I have met people who are perfectly happy dressing once a year but there are seven year olds with dysphoria. Understanding that difference is perfectly reasonable and helps us determine which one needs help and which one doesn't.
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