why transsexual...

[Blanche]

i'm not trans-anything.  i'm only a woman, a girl, a female.  the rest is just details!

I like your answer!

[glnmdk]

I say I'm a transsexual & could careless what everyone else thinks, I had to hide who I really was all my life because they "society" didn't care to much about how I felt, only how I appeared, anything outside those perceived norms was wrong, period! Today I'm in transition from male to female, think what you want, the term "Transsexual" pretty much covers it, understanding why the trans community isn't strong like the gay & lesbians are is a no brainer when consider we can't even live with the label "Transsexuals" which in fact defines exactly who & what we are. Maybe they should rename being GAY? where did that label come from? After everything I've gone through to get where I am today, I need to worry about  the label "Transsexual" at this point,, just except the label & lets come together as a strong community where we can be heard and really make a difference for ourselves and those yet to come. just my opinion   

[pheonix]

Interesting topic.  I don't like transsexual but not for any of the reasons listed.

For me the term never felt like it fit.  I've had mixed biology my whole life and I still have mixed biology.  I have changed which gender I present outwardly, but internally (and even physically) very little has changed.  I use transsexual because its what most understand, but it's a poor label to describe me.

[Yasuko]

    i dont refer myself to anything much.. at best id call my self a New-Half.
its commonly used in japan and its less degradeing in my opinion...

[jilledwards]

Transsexual, transgender, trans- whatever. I don't care just don't call me late for the chocolate cake.

To me they are just words used as a point of reference for others to understand who they are dealing with.  None of them change who I am one way or the other so I don't even worry about it

[Miniar]

I use the term transsexual or trans-man because, quite simply, it's "honest".
I Am a man, but I am a man who happened to be born a woman.

However, I don't go shouting it off the rooftops, I mean, it's just when it is appropriate.

[Butterfly]

I'm just woman.

[Hypatia]

i dont refer myself to anything much.. at best id call my self a New-Half.
its commonly used in japan and its less degradeing in my opinion...

It isn't clear to me how the phrase "new half" applies to trans people in the original Japanese, because it loses something in translation into English. Can you explain the context of why "new half" is the term in Japanese? Half of what?

Whoops, I see that Yasuko is banned. No use asking her. So does anyone else here know enough Japanese to explain "new half"?

I did refer to myself as "transsexual" during my transition--mainly to explain my transition to others even though I've always
been female (the rest of the world just doesn't understand that yet). With full transition complete, I do not use the word nor
do I consider myself "transsexual".  After all, a transsexual in my mind is someone who desires to be the opposite gender. 
I am a woman and the idea of being a man repulses me.

WORD. This describes my thoughts too. I went through three stages with it, as my consciousness of self and situation in life evolved.

1. When I first came out to myself, and didn't know what I was going to do about my gender, I called myself transgender.

2. When I knew I was on track for transition, but before I was able to achieve it, I called myself transsexual.

3. After transition, I'm just a woman. I don't use anything with "trans-" in it to identify myself. I don't say HBS or IS either. As far as the whole world is concerned, I'm just a woman and that's all there is to it. My private medical history is no one else's business, except for a few healthcare personnel with a need to know.

Having experienced what it's like to live with these evolving understandings of my identity through all three stages, I can't disparage anyone else for how they understand themselves. It's up to you to find that for yourself, and it behooves the rest of us to respect your self-definition-- just as I want mine respected.

I dislike being identified as any subcategory that sets me apart from other women, or implies that I'm anything less than a full woman. For a time when I copped to "transgender" I experienced the allure of being seen as a "special" sort of being. But that allure quickly wore off for me. I've been marked out as "special" or different or weird all my life, and I'm damn sick of it. Now I just want to be ordinary--or, if I'm to be distinguished in any way, I want it to be for my intelligence or compassion, some generally human quality. Not for something that objectifies us. I'm sick of being objectified.

The central value in life that motivates me is the sisterhood that connects me with other women. The womanhood we share in common. Connection is all. I will remove anything that gets in the way of that.