What are the biggest misconceptions that the public has about US?

[buttercup]

Actually, Z, I really don't think that's very important at all. Why? Did I seem vested in that answer?

N~

I just thought you might have a strong opinion, what with the 50 pt font 

Anyway, I think it's very true that cisgender people can have gender issues too, particularly women.

Z

yeah, but I think Nichole is saying that most cisgendered people have no concrete knowledge or experience of their gender identity.  They can't understand gender issues because to them, it's a natural non-issue.

I think I think I think

Could that be related to the notion that some women supposedly have 'penis envy'?

[Sarah]

That for M2Fs, the driving goal is The Surgery. Probably the #2 question I was always asked was "so when's your surgery?"

Yes I agree, that's a big misconception that needs to be addressed.
And Taru, My head hit the desk with you.. that guy was a little weird..

The two most common things I run across,
Are one, two assume I assume that I am still a guy, and two,
To think that my next step is surgery.
I agree with Nichole, however they having a gender Identity is a bit out of most peoples ballpark for the moment..
Those are the biggest things.
Yes, the "lifestyle choice" opinion really gets me off, though not as much as it used too.
Most people here understand that it is different from being gay, but a lot of them still don't get it.
May need some more time..
Oh well..
-Sara

[NicholeW.]

Actually, Z, I really don't think that's very important at all. Why? Did I seem vested in that answer?

N~

I just thought you might have a strong opinion, what with the 50 pt font 

Anyway, I think it's very true that cisgender people can have gender issues too, particularly women.

Z

It was 70 pt. font when I started out!! See how much I calmed down before I posted?!! 

yeah, but I think Nichole is saying that most cisgendered people have no concrete knowledge or experience of their gender identity.  They can't understand gender issues because to them, it's a natural non-issue.

I think I think I think

Give Rebis a very gold star. *A huge hug as I jump around in excitement!*  Ze has it down. Cissexuals do NOT THINK (I should leave it there, shouldn't I?  ) that they have gender identities because since their bodies and identities match, well ... it's just "natural" that they have no gender identity -- they simply have a gender. (Recall the debates over whether or not blacks had souls that raged through western circles at the height of the slave-trade to Europe and the Americas and during the extended abolitionist-fights.) Another "difference" that some people wanted to make between themselves and the people they were oppressing and denigrating. It's what we do when we wish to justify our own heartlessness and ignorance -- we make ourselves seem to be "right."

Cissexuals have no gender identity in their own minds. Because of the congruence between their bodies and their internal sense of their own sex they have no gender identity troubles. Ergo they deny they have a gender identity or an internal/psychic sense of their own sex. But, if something were to change that neat balance they'd be us.

Could that be related to the notion that some women supposedly have 'penis envy'?

Sorta related, but only in the sense that chaff is related to milled flour -- they come from the same plant.

Penis envy is an otherwise unfounded notion that perpetuates a very misogynistic view of human existence. The only people who might have penis envy are 1) men who were originally identified by a doctor as 'female' and 2) males who feel they got shorted.

Otherwise, I cannot imagine a female wanting to have a penis. I mean look at me and other transwomen. The most terrible thing we do is to invert the penis in order to have a body-image congruent with our internal sex. That we would wish to do such a thing MUST mean that we are somehow unbalanced, mentally-ill. And some women are mentally-ill, but that particular desire and activity is not what makes them so. It says nothing about mental health or illness at all except that as a means to alleviate/end our body dysphoria & also alleviate depression, anxiety and some of the personality disorders that are growths from the body/mind/soul incongruence it works very well.

Penis envy is another sleight-of-hand that for awhile was an acceptable argument of the patriarchy to discount the true experiences of girls and women. I personally know far more men who are fascinated with and fixated on penises AND vaginas than I do women who are fixated on either. (And that is not a reference to sexuality.)

N~

[Shana A]

It was 70 pt. font when I started out!! See how much I calmed down before I posted?!! 

Oh, OK 

Give Rebis a very gold star. *A huge hug as I jump around in excitement!*  Ze has it down. Cissexuals do NOT THINK (I should leave it there, shouldn't I?  ) that they have gender identities because since their bodies and identities match, well ... it's just "natural" that they have no gender identity -- they simply have a gender. (Recall the debates over whether or not blacks had souls that raged through western circles at the height of the slave-trade to Europe and the Americas and during the extended abolitionist-fights.) Another "difference" that some people wanted to make between themselves and the people they were oppressing and denigrating. It's what we do when we wish to justify our own heartlessness and ignorance -- we make ourselves seem to be "right."

Cissexuals have no gender identity in their own minds. Because of the congruence between their bodies and their internal sense of their own sex they have no gender identity troubles. Ergo they deny they have a gender identity or an internal/psychic sense of their own sex. But, if something were to change that neat balance they'd be us. 

My partner isn't transgender or androgyne, however sie has often talked of hir feelings of not relating to hir birth gender. I think plenty of people, particularly in the queer community, feel some incongruence of their gender, but not anywhere as intensely as some of us. Maybe regular cis-people don't feel that. Perhaps my partner isn't the best example, after all, sie is w/ me 

Zythyra

[RebeccaFog]

Could that be related to the notion that some women supposedly have 'penis envy'?

I don't know.  I don't envy my penis in any way.




Not that I even know what it is to be a woman,     or a man,      or a tablecloth     

[Berliegh]

Re: What are the biggest misconceptions that the public has about US?

The worst misconceptions that the public has about US are that they will judge you before they have actually seen what you look, sound like or present yourself before they have even met you. Their misconceptions are also in their head that you will probably look like a bloke in drag as you are down as a transsexual. But this isn't always the case but that is the public perception of a transsexual.

I usually take people by surprise if I speak to them on the telephone and they don't get a male voice....and I take them by surprise at appointments where they have no idea I'm transsexual...and are looking for someone else..