Is 'transsexual' a correct term?

[OCAnne]

Dislike being called transgender and correct anyone who uses that term to describe me.  Legally I am a transsexual woman that is transexed.

EOM

[Paige]

I agree with others, the sexual is what I get hung up on.  It seems very easy to confuse with sexual orientation.  The word pansexual sort of demonstrates this.

Paige

[SadieBlake]

For 20 years I've self-identified as transgender and been conflicted over 'transexual' because for a variety of reasons I wanted to transition and for a variety of reasons decided not to.

15 years ago I couldn't conceive of doing HRT or GCS and didn't believe I ever would pursue anything but social transition. Then depression returned and while that wasn't all about gender it's been a huge factor. It took 2 years of therapy to get to that (on top of 6 years of therapy in the late '90s/early '00s.

So fair to say I've been in denial about being transexual for a long time. And yet I'm not unhappy with the delay -- I'm in a far more stable place emotionally and I don't think I had it in me to deal with the standards of care that would have applied then. Reactions of my partner and children to my transgender status also influenced the decision, still I would have decided the same, maybe I'd have gotten to the point of start HRT earlier if the reinforcement had been positive.

To me transexual means wanting or choosing to change both secondary and as many as possible primary  sex characteristics.

For the time I identified as transgender (transexual in denial), I made do with cross dressing as the main outward expression.

[Emileeeee]

I think it really just depends on who you ask at the time. The definitions have changed numerous times over the year, even among different regions of the same area! I still look at it as I'm transsexual, but I only use trans when identifying myself because cis people don't seem to understand what trans-sexual actually means and they immediately think it's a fetish. Easier to use what sounds like an umbrella term and leave it at that.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

I consider myself transSEXual because it is the SEX characteristics which cause my dysphoria and which I need fixed.

The term transgender is useful politically but a problem socially because cis people assume I have an issue with gender roles and expression, which I really don't.

Dysphoria really comes down to SEX characteristics because those are what is different between males and females, so having a male brain in a female body, SEX and SEXUALITY are the problem, not anything else. All the other aspects of my personality and life are do not belong to one gender or another in our 21st century society!

As an American, I hate to talk about sexuality in any way, of course--it's a taboo subject! But I did desensitize myself somewhat by coming out as gay years ago. Sexuality has broader impacts in your life--like your choice of partner--which necessitates talking about it, even in a euphemistic way. Just being totally honest, most of the emotional/personality change with testosterone centered around sexuality (that and it affected my mood disorder profoundly, which is to be expected since I am trans). And what is different between men and women? Well, some muscle growth, some skeletal ratios, and, oh, sexuality! Sorry, we're stuck talking about this, taboo or no!

To the OP, I reject the notion of chromosomes as all wise and all knowing. You are disregarding intersex people and chimeras, as well as the fact that the male gene can jump out of the Y chromosome in some cases meaning there are XY females and XX males. So not only is this quite silly, it's also essentialist and in a sense wants to say that people like us don't exist. Because we are MIXED in our sex characteristics. That's the whole problem. The whole disease in a nutshell. We have masculinized, unmasculinized, or partially masculinized brains and our bodies don't match. This is not about gender, man or woman in society. It's about sex--male or female. You could have dysphoria about either one, of course, but only dysphoria about SEX is treated with hormones and surgery--get it?

If society makes you dysphoric, change society. If your body makes you dysphoric, change your body. Gender is undergoing a state of massive flux here and now. But bodies are the same as they ever were.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

I agree with others, the sexual is what I get hung up on.  It seems very easy to confuse with sexual orientation.  The word pansexual sort of demonstrates this.

Paige

I thought pansexual was a sexual orientation, not a gender identity, but correct me if I'm wrong. I thought there was a whole school of thought around bisexual people calling themselves pan because bi was supposedly trans exclusive according to collected internet wisdom (taste the sarcasm).

[AnxietyDisord3r]

since I don't think I will ever be able to ''hide the fact I was male before'', never will be able to go unnoticed, call that to pass or however, I think I rather embrace a trans identity, as I feel very good with my body just as it is now + more HRT, I just don't know how to call that yet. What about the term queer, is that more generic, more specific, does it apply to people all mixed up like me? 

I think queer would exactly apply to someone "mixed-up" like you because the sense of the word since the 1990s has been about blurring boundaries and transgressing categories. 

[Elis]

I thought pansexual was a sexual orientation, not a gender identity, but correct me if I'm wrong. I thought there was a whole school of thought around bisexual people calling themselves pan because bi was supposedly trans exclusive according to collected internet wisdom (taste the sarcasm).

I don't want to step on anyone's toes but I think what she meant was being pansexual is all about being attractred to all genders a person could be and not about what sex parts they have or dont have.

[Sebby Michelango]

I uses both the terms "transgender" and "transsexual" when it comes to trans men and trans women. I also thinks the term "transsexual" are right to use, because it's tell us which one you mean. "Transgender" can be everything that is under the trans umbrella, but "transsexual" refer to trans men and trans women. Even though it's a medical term, I also use it for people who doesn't undergo medical treatment as well.

[Paige]

I thought pansexual was a sexual orientation, not a gender identity, but correct me if I'm wrong. I thought there was a whole school of thought around bisexual people calling themselves pan because bi was supposedly trans exclusive according to collected internet wisdom (taste the sarcasm).

Maybe I don't understand your comment.  Bisexual and pansexual are sexual orientations. On the other hand transsexual isn't a sexual orientation but a change in sex characteristics to confirm gender identity.  That's why I prefer transgender, but neither term seems to hit the mark exactly.

Maybe the other thing that gets me about having the term "sexual" in the word transsexual is that it sort of reinforces the ignorant idea this is some sort of fetish.

Take care,
Paige

[Sebby Michelango]

Maybe I don't understand your comment.  Bisexual and pansexual are sexual orientations. On the other hand transsexual isn't a sexual orientation but a change in sex characteristics to confirm gender identity.  That's why I prefer transgender, but neither term seems to hit the mark exactly.

Maybe the other thing that gets me about having the term "sexual" in the word transsexual is that it sort of reinforces the ignorant idea this is some sort of fetish.

Take care,
Paige

"Sex" comes from the Latin word "sexus". Therefor it's used in many terms. Btw one word can have difference meanings. E.g. "gay" can mean "Homosexual" and "happy". Therefor the term "transsexual" is right for me to use and it hasn't anything with sexuality to do. "Transsexual" is when the gender identity doesn't match the assigned sex.

[Paige]

"Sex" comes from the Latin word "sexus". Therefor it's used in many terms. Btw one word can have difference meanings. E.g. "gay" can mean "Homosexual" and "happy". Therefor the term "transsexual" is right for me to use and it hasn't anything with sexuality to do. "Transsexual" is when the gender identity doesn't match the assigned sex.

Hey Sebby,

I'm sure it works okay for lots of people.  I'm not saying you shouldn't use it.  It just never sat well with me.  Probably all the misuse in the 90s by Jerry Springer et al.

Take care,
Paige

[Kylo]

I don't so much see the 'sexual' aspect - sex or sexuality as we usually think of them - in the term transsexual. That's probably because of my background in scientific biology. There the term sexual usually refers to physical characteristics, i.e. the gonads and things concerning them. Transgender is such a wide umbrella term I find myself having to explain what that is and what it means to different people for far longer than the term transsexual takes to define.

It doesn't have much to do with sexuality at all to my mind. But with the way the words sex and sexuality are used at large I see the potential for confusion and association with the word as if it has more to do with who you want to sleep with than what you feel you are. Trangender sounds more 'polite' and less about sex. Even so I end up having to explain what it all is to most people who ask in full anyway. I'd rather use the term transsexual and get them comfortable with what it means, get rid of any untrue associations off the bat.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

I thought Jerry Springer did a lot to humanize transsexuals in the minds of the public, much more so than previous talk shows where "->-bleeped-<-s" were always prostitutes. The Springer show had love for its freaks. For example: "Who Wants To Marry A Transsexual?" I thought that was a great show. The titular transsexual hooks up with a bi woman who's "been with men and women and knows what [she] likes" because she was the best kisser.

I know Jerry Springer is terrible and all that but in some ways he did a service by desensitizing people who weren't part of academia to the whole GLBT rainbow. Remember, even talking about "the gay" or about trans people was very taboo up through the 1980s. Remember how liberals used to say "not that there's anything wrong with that!" I used to hate that phrase. It was to cover the social discomfort of touching taboo topics, while adopting a pose that the speaker is totally, totally cool with your taboo freakishness. Springer said gays, lesbians, bi people, transsexuals are people too. They live, love, and struggle just like you. Also, your stereotypes about what GLBT people look like are wrong. That's the message of all those "I've got a secret" episodes.

I know this opinion is controversial, but for me, Springer helped my self esteem as a young queer person and I felt so relieved that somebody was talking to middle brow America about these issues, somebody other than lying preachers trying to make a buck off fearmongering about GLBT.

[V]

I describe myself as a transexual woman, pre-op and post-op. That's the term I became familiar with, and best describes me. Well, I'm not cisgender, never will be, so transexual fits. To me it's quite specific. It has always been the term that all medical people have used when treating me.
The term 'Transgender', is more recent to me, and seems to be much more an umbrella catch-all term.

[j-unique]

I don't like the word transgender because it is defined so broadly that it does not communicate a clear and precise idea of what one is trying to communicate.

For me, that's the reason why I prefer "transgender": In my opinion, it doesn't matter whether I do HRT or whether I had GRS (except when I talk about exactly that). Also, I dislike "transsexual" for three reasons:

• It's a psychatric term, and it has been used to pathologize people's feelings. There are exact definitions who counts as "transsexual" and who doesn't, and I don't fulfill the requirements to be "really" transsexual (see next point). So, psychiatrists have questioned my identity when I needed HRT evaluation. Should be enough to question the term and it's (psychatric) definition.
• As I see it, transsexual is mostly used for trans* people who are assigned male or female at birth, but are the "other" gender (female or male, again). It's very strictly bound to the idea that there are only two sexes and two genders (see ICS-10 definition of "transsexualism"). However, I'm neither a man nor a woman (for a couple of reasons). So there's no "opposite" sex/gender for me, so I don't like a term that's somehow linked to the idea of opposite sexes/genders.
• Also, I think it's often used to distinguish between "real transsexuals" and "the other ones", like cross dressers, which are then considered to be "second-class transgender", if any. I think that's over-simplifying and can be hurtful. When it's necessary to talk about certain medical things, you can just name them.

This is why I currently like the terms "non-binary transgender" for me. Of course, those are only personal opinions and preferences.

[Soli]

so I don't like a term that's somehow linked to the idea of opposite sexes/genders

I think this is the idea that is carried in both words, transgender and transsexual, the prefix trans is suggesting a move from one to another, I mean it could mean from one of the 42 genders but for most people, there are 2, so the prefix trans in that context suggests the idea of two.

I don't consider myself male nor female either, therefore any word with trans isn't really accurate since I'm not moving from one to another, I never really was male and never really will be female.

In both sexes the word used to describe ends the suffix 'male': female and male. Now it seems when undertaking HRT, we lose that suffix, I wonder why.

It's also a matter of language, in French, persons don't have a gender, things have a gender, so if I say in French that I'm changing gender (je change de genre), people would think I'm adopting a new lifestyle, a new way to think, until I specify: sexe, je change de sexe -ahhhh). I think it's the same in all Latin languages and I also think it's the same in English but since English doesn't use the gender of things, the word gender kind of extended to persons but uhhhh I doubt that officially the word gender can apply to persons in English too.

[Serenation]

Those objecting to the idea of transgender people will often bring up the fact that transmen and women are not men and woman but 'masculinized women' and 'feminized males'. This is backed by the clear biological and karyotypical fact that all men and women cannot change their genetic makeup, they are all XX or XY, and this cannot be undone. SRS is merely a close imitation of the physical genitalia of the proper sex as well, rather than making correct genitals, they see it as butchering or creating facades.

this is terf stuff, not at all to be taken serious or wasting time on. Not everyone is born xx or xy either.

[Melody.T]

I preferred to be called my gender, which is female. But yes, I am a transsexual female undergoing medical transition as opposed to a cisgender female. I do not like to be called transgender personally, because it's simply too big of an umbrella term. I take zero offense to the word transsexual. Everyone has different views on the word though and just because I am not offended by a word most certainly doesn't mean that someone else won't be.

[xchrisx]

"Biological determinism reduces a human being to the state of a mechanical device.  I sense we are more than that and possess a divine spirit.  This spirit, however it is joined to the mechanical device of the body, is who I am.

It amazes me that the ones that hold most strongly to this idea of humans as a mechanical device are the ones that so loudly proclaim the spirit. "

This is brilliantly said. I wholeheartedly agree.

To the OP: For whatever reason, the word transsexual makes me cringe. I'm not sure its the word itself, the fact that its sort of old fashioned, or its just one of those words that makes me ears bleed--I have few of those words haha