Anyone else hate the FTM label?

[Sebb]

It's amazing how many people over think this stuff. It's really only as complicated as you want it to be. It's really online for most of us anyways. I mean when you meet someone do you present yourself as a man or as a transman? Would you say "Hi, I'm (name) and I'm a masculine binary identified female to male transsexual"? Uh, more than likely no.

Online though everyone seems to want to shove everyone in nice neat little boxes on the gender spectrum. Why does it matter? All of us are different in more ways than one. We just all have this one common starting point that is really a very unfortunate thing.

In real life I'm Simon (obviously male/obviously masculine) and that's all I need.

You're right, in a sense.

But you have to understand that we have those terms for a reason. Is this something that is used on a day to day basis? No. Just like people don't need to know our entire life's story when they meet us. But we need terms like FtM and transsexual and so on as a quick reference. If I go to a new doctor (assuming they're LGBT friendly) and say "I'm FtM," then they will know how to treat me from that. They'll know that I have certain health risks that biologically sexed men don't have. For instance, I could potentially get ovarian cancer or cervical cancer. They wouldn't know that if I didn't tell them my trans status (or, at least, the wouldn't if I had my gender marker and name legally changed).

Generally just being me works the same. Or just using the word "male" if I need to. But there is a point where some of us do need certain labels just to navigate things easier.

[wheat thins are delicious]

If I go to a new doctor (assuming they're LGBT friendly) and say "I'm FtM," then they will know how to treat me from that.

Not always the case.  Not all doctors are knowledgeable of trans people and how to treat them and some are downright ignorant and transphobic.

But there is a point where some of us do need certain labels just to navigate things easier.

It may make it easier to navigate some things, but only if others in that situation (like the doctor in your for instance) are knowledgeable and accepting.

[Simon]

If I go to a new doctor (assuming they're LGBT friendly) and say "I'm FtM," then they will know how to treat me from that. They'll know that I have certain health risks that biologically sexed men don't have.

Going to a health professional is a different matter and something I deal with often. However, I only acknowledge that I am trans to a very select group of doctors. If I'm going to the doc because I have a sinus infection it has nothing to do with being trans.

What I am saying is the majority of this is just for online identification we use on each other. There are very few cis people who are going to understand what we're talking about. We label each other far more than cis gender society labels us when it comes to trans labels.

[Sebb]

Not always the case.  Not all doctors are knowledgeable of trans people and how to treat them and some are downright ignorant and transphobic.

It may make it easier to navigate some things, but only if others in that situation (like the doctor in your for instance) are knowledgeable and accepting.

Note that I said LGBT friendly and not LGB friendly. I'm aware that there are some doctors that are transphobic. I'm saying, if I go to a doctor and I know they're trans friendly, it's a lot easier to just say "I'm ftm" then to go on about my whole life's story just so I can get a pap smear or whatever.

[aleon515]

Well I do know people IRL and elsewhere who do identify with transmasculine. I find the term a bit "clinical" but maybe useful. I don't know anybody IRL who isn't really FTM or whatever. But there are probably posers on tumblr. It's a good place to pose.
Anyway the people I know are maybe genderqueer (or whatever term you want to use here). They are maybe more androgynous but identify more masculinely. Some of them will get top surgery and take low dose T and some will definitely not. There are also people who have struggled a bit with their identity and in my case, now that I know what the terms are, have definitely done this. I see some of them, I think they may transition at some point, but they use the transmasculine to kind of rest at a point where they can think things over. This was my situation. I used the term "ftm lite". But I am pretty sure there may be people who are not in either of these situations.

BTW, I used the ftm thing today with a pharmacist who was just too darned confused with why I was getting both T and also a female type product. He was starting to call me Miss. I said, I was Jay and that I was a female to male transgender person. They are very trans friendly there but they definitely needed help to get it.


--Jay