Personally to me the word is something society cooked up to try to dissect my 'condition'. I am female. For some reason my body didn't get the memo. I really don't mind the term because it explains my situation in terms that can be used to communicate my situation for medical reasons. It simplifies when explaining to a doctor . Instead of saying my brain is structurally female and given the fact that my thought processes and self consciousness is basically centered in all the neurons firing in my brain I have a female designed concept of existence. It's easier to say Oh! by the way I'm trans and that's why I need hormonal replacement therapy. Personally, I think it's an interesting word to use to communicate yourself to others "Oh!, by the way , I'm tans ".
Stephanie would mind if I Moved this to either the Transgender talk forum or into the main transsexual forum considering the topic is for a broader grouping.
To me, it a broad term used to describe anyone who identifies, in a cerebral form, towards an opposite or neutral gender to what they biologically align with. To me, this broad term includes many crossdressers, those who are pre-HRT, HRT patients, those who are seeking total reassignment, and many who, for reasons, have to hide what is within from everyone.
Quote from: Mariah2014 on June 20, 2015, 09:20:42 PM
Stephanie would mind if I Moved this to either the Transgender talk forum or into the main transsexual forum considering the topic is for a broader grouping.
Sorry about that Mariah, I thought it had been moved already when I posted. Thanks for realigning my response :)
We need a word to mean "being wired to be a gender that differs from birth sex."
I've never understood why "transgender" is a bad word for this. What other word would be better?
Language becomes, much, much, much weaker when you don't have words for what you're trying to say. Example:
1. "End racism now!"
2. "End that thing where people of one race think they're superior to people of another race now!"
Which statement is more powerful?
Do you see now why I think it's important to have that word? If we're talking about transgender rights, describing the experience that transgender people have when we are transitioning, and discussing societal attitudes toward transgender people, such conversations become darn near impossible if we do not have a word that means "transgender".
I also think it's counterproductive when we police people's language. Words come easily to some of us, but to others, articulating themselves is work, and when we make it harder for them by asking them not to use terms that bother us, we create antipathy that is wholly unnecessary.
No worries Marlee. As far as what the words means to me I'm not sure it has much meaning. Other than that is who I am since I was assigned a sex that didn't align with who I am as far my brain and even parts of my body were concerned.
Mariah
Quote from: Marlee on June 20, 2015, 10:02:02 PM
Sorry about that Mariah, I thought it had been moved already when I posted. Thanks for realigning my response :)
Categorizing gender and sexual behavior is a uniquely Christian, Western civilization kind of thing. The American Indians and most Asian tribal societies, and the Buddhists, understood and far better understand the fluidity of gender.
To me, "transgender" describes a broad spectrum of personalities and behavior. I am not purely male, but I am not purely female either.
The thing I have been struggling with lately is the interaction between biology and social influence. My mother and sister were not very feminine, and I grew up craving much more femininity than what existed in my childhood home. But having been told "no" implicitly and expressly by society, I conformed my behavior and learned how to be male.
I think that if I had been allowed to transition in childhood, I would have been very feminine. Yet, in the early stages of transitioning as an adult, I keep compromising with femininity -- wearing panties and bikinis in solid, masculine colors, avoiding frills and ruffles, and so forth. But a small part of me keeps saying that I secretly loved all the frills and girly colors as an elementary school child, and makes me wonder how and where things will be farther along, and when I start hormones.
Transgender to me is an umbrella I can shelter and live under. I understand those MTFs who want to finish their transition, blend into the female population and go full stealth, but that is not me.
So, to quote Martin Luther, "Here I stand."
persistent and overt demonstration or desire to show traits typically associated with the opposite sex. This can include includes people who cross dress for reasons not necessarily related to humour or the entertainment of others (acting, comedy, Halloween, or Purim), drag queens/kings, genderqueer persons, some intersex persons, and transsexuals at any stage of their transition.
To me, it means to be free. To be ones true self. My signature sums up the first feelings I had when Jessica first spoke: "I'm Alive!"
:-)
Jessica