Stepping On My...Er, Ah,...Genitalia, Sex, Or Gender

[Shana A]

Stepping On My...Er, Ah,...Genitalia, Sex, Or Gender
by: Autumn Sandeen
Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 02:45:00 AM EDT

http://pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=8CF80F470A5F10D5CE06CD2CECB9C7C5?diaryId=6801

Recently, I wrote an email covering some issue to an online LGBT group where I had to describe the surgeries that changes the shapes of the natal genitalia of transsexuals. You know, male-to-female or female-to-male surgeries that surgeons perform to align a transsexual's genitalia to that transsexual's gender identity.

Well, in my email, I used the following phrase and abbreviation to describe these surgeries:

    ...genitalia reassignment surgery (GRS)...

Well, there's some issue there in the terminology I used.  To begin with, the somewhat more standard letter assignments for GRS are gender reassignment surgery. In my mind, gender reassignment surgery is kind of a misnomer, because the surgery in question doesn't change one's gender (gender identity); these surgeries instead align transsexuals' genitalia to match the gender identity of individual transsexuals to the gender identity that's between given transsexuals' ears.

[Elwood]

That's why I use SRS. Sexual reassignment. The gender stays the same, the sex is what changes.

Gender = Between the ears
Sex = Between the legs

Simple way of putting it.

[Sandy]

That's why I use SRS. Sexual reassignment. The gender stays the same, the sex is what changes.

Gender = Between the ears
Sex = Between the legs

Simple way of putting it.

My surgeon called it Gender Confirmation Surgery.  I kind of like that one.  It confirms in the body what exists between the ears.

If we tried, I'm sure we could come up with a dozen more acronyms...

-Sandy