Gender Expression Is Not Gender Identity

[Shana A]

Gender Expression Is Not Gender Identity
March 21, 2012 at 9:00 am Natalie Reed

http://freethoughtblogs.com/nataliereed/2012/03/21/gender-expression-is-not-gender-identity/

This is sort of turning into a bit of a "covering the basics" sort of week here- mixed with a little "dealing with stuff I've been meaning to address for awhile". So it seems appropriate that I should also take a moment to handle one of my biggest personal pet peeves regarding how people talk about gender, and ->-bleeped-<- in particular.

Honestly, I think I could feel pretty satisfied with my entire "career" (I know) if I could just manage put this one thing to rest.

Gender expression and gender identity are two different things.

One of the chief confusions about transsexuality and the decision we make to transition is how, from an outside perspective, with limited or superficial understanding, it can seem that the reason we transition is because we've determined ourselves to be female or male on the basis of our personalities fitting better into a female or male identity than into the gender that we'd been assigned, and that therefore we "ought" to be the sex that matches out personality.

That is not how it works, how we came to realize our gender identity, or why we transition.

[Jamie D]

Doing so -bothering to learn about who we are- is completely essential to not glossing over certain key details. One of these is the fact that not all trans women are feminine; many identify, or express themselves, as butch, tomboy, masculine, androgynous, or otherwise not strictly femme (and it is a relatively small minority for whom their femininity couldn't have been safely expressed within a male identity if they were male). Likewise, not all trans men are masculine. Many identify, express or present within a femme spectrum.  This reality collapses the abstracted, simplified concept of what ->-bleeped-<- is and means that most cis people carry around.

(From the article)

[Cindy Kate]

Being someone from the outside trying to look in I think it might have helped me understand a couple of things, but there is still alot that seems confusing to me. I have never before thought how a transgender individual or anyone for that matter expressed their gender. Now it just makes me wonder what is it that makes a man a man and a woman a woman and to ask myself that I'm not so sure I know what the answer is. I only remember ever thinking in terms of what makes a person good or bad and never once thought about this. Now thats another question that going to drive me nuts till I feel I fully understand it.
I think I just kind of assumed (shame on me) that when someone who is transgender (if they did) have the surgery than they would still express their gender in the same way before the surgury. Though I never assumed that a transgender individual could be 'fixed' through psychology or dealing with repressed issues. I mean you can't 'fix' something that isn't 'broke' to begin with. I probably will never be able to fully understand what any transgender person goes through or deals with, but I will try my best to understand everything I am capable of. And correct me if I ever say anything ignorant or offensive.