TG (Cocktail) Umbrella

[Natasha]

TG (Cocktail) Umbrella

http://transgenderica.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/tg-cocktail-umbrella/
4/11/11
by ConvertingErica

Ever since I have come to know that the term "transgender" was a blanket term for the entire community of cross-dressers, transsexuals, gender-queer, drag queens and anyone else who doesn't follow the strict "Male is male, female is female" gender binary, I have questioned why.  Why is that Gay men and Lesbian women are very strict in their definition, yet we are lumped under some kind of umbrella term together.  I mean, isn't a lesbian just a gay woman?  And isn't a bisexual person just a percentage gay?  Maybe 50%, maybe 20%?  If we are all into lumping shouldn't we just be GT's?  But alas, no, they are special and get their own letter, while the entire conglomeration of transgender-defined persons are lumped together.

[justmeinoz]

Well the philosophy known as General Semantics teaches, among other things that, "The map is not the territory".  A label is a word , not the thing.
Also what one person means is different to everyone else's meaning, and meanings change with time. 
We need to keep these concepts in mind whenever we try and define or categorise.

Karen.