I'm going to introduce this topic by comparing it to learning styles. Science identifies three distinct learning styles (or modalities), which it calls auditory, visual and tactile. Essentially you learn by listening, seeing, or doing. Musicians are good auditory learners, writers are good visual learners, dancers are good tactile learners.
It was initially postulated that everyone was one kind of learner or another. More recently it has been determined that everyone has a diferent ratio of learning abilities. For example, I am primarily an auditory learner, but am very good at visual learning, and suck at tactile learning. So I would put my ratio at approximately 55/41/4.
Turning to trans issues, I theorize that there are three transgender modalities. I identify these three modalities as sex, sexuality and gender. I have a Master's Degree now, and I have been bouncing this around in my head for years as a possible PhD thesis.
To illustrate the differences, I will state what I would say would be the description of someone who was 100% defined by each modality.
Sex: I want my external body to match what I perceive my innate sex to be. I want to change my external body to match how I perceive myself.
Sexuality: I want my external body to be the best match for the kind of sexual experiences and sexual partners I want to have. I want to change my external body so that both myself and my sexual partners will be more comfortable with my body.
Gender: I want my external body to be the best match for the kind of life I want to lead, and life experiences I want to have. I want to change my external body in order to facilitate living the life I wish to live.
I expect the minority of trans people to be pure examples of any particular modality. Rather I expect most people to have a ratio, as they have a ratio of learning modalities.
I also suspect that, if you average the ratios, there will be a difference between MtF and FtM, trans people. I am not saying this is an inherent difference, so much as a function of the fact that natal females have a wider range of appropriate gender role in modern Western society. By this, I refer to the fact that women have the choice to wear makeup or not, to wear lingerie or not, to dress femininely or not; wheras men really have no options in this regard. Sissy is much more a pejorative term than tomboy.
For example, I would speculate that a natal female who is attracted to females and wants to adopt a male role sexually, has less motivation to transition than a comparable natal male who is attracted to males and wants to adopt a female sexual role. So, in this example, I would expect more natal males, who are high in sexuality modality score, to transition than similar natal females.
My purpose in posting here is to gather some initial data. I'd like to know how you would rate your ratio of the three modalities, and whether you are MtF or FtM.
For example, as a highly feminine natal male who is sexually attracted exclusively to females, and is relatively ambivalent about my genitals (I'd prefer they were other but I don't hate them) - I believe my modality is primarily gender based, with sex second, and sexuality lowest, since my desire to transition is contra-indicated to my sexual preference. So I'd put my ratio (in the arrangement sex/sexuality/gender) at approximately 35/-20/85.
While there is probably a place in this theory for understanding androgynes, gender-queer, ->-bleeped-<-s, drag queens/kings and cross-dressers, for the sake of simplicity, at this time, I would request that only those who self-identify as transsexual/transgender and have transitioned, are transitioning, intend to transition, or would transition if not for financial reasons, offer answers here.
Additionally, if you want to discuss or dispute my theory; I would ask that you start another thread, and keep this one for answers only. Feel free to explain your answer in this thread, if you like. Also, since it may correlate with the ratio data, I'd like to know what state of transition you are in; but that is not a requirement for submitting an answer.
