I don't want this post to lead to arguments or people being offended, I'm just curious of other people's opinions. What words come to mind are GRS instead of sex reassignment surgery. The latter seems more accurate as we're not changing our gender. I understand that we often use it as cis people don't understand the difference between gender and sex; but shouldn't we take this opportunity to educate them. Another if ftm or mtf as a trans women or man was never the gender assigned to them at birth.
Also calling it same sex marriage or gay marriage. The latter bcos the couple may not identify as gay and the former bcos the couple may be trans.
So what do you guys think? I suppose terminology will slowly change gradually with the new generation of trans youth, but maybe it should change sooner to garner more understanding.
I don't think it matters too much.
I'm not convinced that introducing "new! improved!" terms for things for which we already had terms does anything (except create some confusion for a little while.)
I watched as we went from calling a certain segment of the USA population "colored people" to "negros" to "African-Americans" and beyond, and I did not notice that the changes in terminology had any effect on the level of racist oppression and violence.
I don't think people dissect the words and phrases they use, anyway. The people who introduce the new terms feel they are making some political point, but once the phrases get into common usage, I don't think anyone thinks about the individual words (or parts of words.) Whether you call it GCS, GRS, or SRS -- does anyone (transphobes included) really think about their meaning beyond the surgery they refer to?
I'd say it's more a personal thing. For example, I wouldn't use the term same sex or gay marriage at all - I'd just say marriage. Plus, people may not be gay or the same sex - I'll use me and my partner as an example here - a cis guy and a non binary person. They're not the same sex as me, and I'm not gay because they are not a man.
As far as terms for surgery, GRS is being used more often that SRS from what I've heard.
Language evolves, and that is natural.
I thought GRS was gender realignment surgery.
I dislike stigmatising labels and acronyms.......but personally, I`d consider using:
'Marriage' or 'Partnership' which seem adequate to describe legally-formalised relationships.
Grammatically, I was once {briefly} 'trans'.....but would never have chosen to describe myself as such then, nor now.
'Woman', 'Man' or 'Person' would seem to have things covered.
Way-back in my surgical day, it was simply known as 'Gender Reassignment Surgery'.......`they did their best with the understanding that was to hand at the time and intended no offence; what more could one ask.
I hear you on GRS. I know what people mean when they use that acronym so mission accomplished as far as language goes, but it seems incorrect to me. Even "re-alignment" for the R instead would be incorrect as it wasn't ever aligned properly to begin with, and you're also operating on the sex, not the gender.
Edit : I just realized you could be "re-aligning" from the incorrect gender to the correct one, I guess?
Unless I'm really misunderstanding the terms and meanings at play here GRS is just wrong, and it only bugs me as much as someone using other words incorrectly. Which is to say not much at all. The question is would they rather be corrected or do I pretend like they're using their words properly? Personally I'd prefer to be corrected whenever I say something wrong, but I think most people don't.
I think the use of only one term implies a level of universal understanding.
Personally, I just call it marriage. And I use whatever term they use to refer to each other (partner vs. husband/wife). People know what marriage means. Across all cultures, it maintains the same basic premise (the benefits may vary between locales, but the gist is the same). Partnership may be a better option as far as inclusivity and equality goes, but it also presents a level of ambiguity that marriage does not. Are we business partners? Are we cops? Cowboys? With marriage, no matter what you leave off or tack on to the front of it, it is still marriage and the relationship it implies is understood without needing clarification.
The same kind of understanding doesn't exist for most of our community related terms. Within the community, sure. But when we involve cisgender people, not so much. Especially when we speak only in acronyms. I'm not sure we could get to the point as a community where we collectively agree on what terms we want to use.
In my opinion, someone would have to be pretty dense, not to understand that sex reassignment surgery refers to genital surgery.
Hello Everyone, last time I participated in the GCS vs. SRS discussion, I got banned from this site for 7 days. Spent time upstate in the Bad Girls Dormitory. Sisters, please learn from my mistake, GCS is fine.
But, now rehabilitated and off probation, hope it's OK to post 'I have undergone Sexual Reassignment Surgery, not Gender Confirmation.' :P
Thank you,
Anne
Quote from: OOAnne on October 13, 2015, 04:04:27 PM
Hello Everyone, last time I participated in the GCS vs. SRS discussion, I was banned from this site for 7 days. Spent time upstate in the Bad Girls Dormitory.
Now rehabilitated and off probation, hope it's OK to post 'I have undergone Sexual Reassignment Surgery, not Gender Confirmation.' :P
Thank you,
Anne
Tread lightly, as you may be on the watchlist; as a card carrying member of the Stepford-Trans program, I resent your outburst!!! "Resistance is futile; you will be assimilated"
Have a nice day,
10 of 12 :)
I use "GRS" to mean "genital reconstructive surgery," if it helps. Technically accurate without involving too many medical terms (in case that frightens some people). I think my gender and sex were changed without recourse to surgery, so I agree that I don't like terms that give too much power to the surgeon/act of surgery.
I like 'Gender affirmation surgery' myself
mmmmmm, I want GAS. No. LOL
I thought GRS could mean either "Genital Reconstruction Surgery" (GRS) or "Gender Reassignment Surgery" (GRS), with the former being used to mean Vaginoplasty/Labiaplasty or Phalloplasty, while "Sex Reassignment Surgery" (SRS) could mean any combination of surgeries down there including an Orchi. I agree that "Gender Reassignment" is inaccurate as we are not changing our gender.
The Insurance companies have even more terms, some of which I have never heard before.
Quote from: United HealthCare...sex transformation surgery, sex change, sex reversal, gender change, transsexual surgery, transgender surgery and sex or gender reassignment.
It seems Aetna uses the term "Genital Reconstructive Surgery" (GRS)
Quote from: AetnaRequirements for genital reconstructive surgery (i.e., vaginectomy, urethroplasty, metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, scrotoplasty, and placement of a testicular prosthesis and erectile prosthesis in female to male; penectomy, vaginoplasty, labiaplasty, and clitoroplasty in male to female)
I always thought GRS stood for genital reconstruction surgery as well. It can't really get more literal than that. I think other terms that use some form of gender affirmation/reassignment/confirmation are too euphemism-y, and can give the impression that you somehow operate on gender. It doesn't really matter that much though, as everyone knows all the acronyms are referring to 'the surgery' anyway.
I personally have a tough time being referred to as a transgender woman. I prefer transsexual woman.
OK with transexed woman. I corrected (educated) a reporter a few days ago.
EXAMPLE: Anne is a transsexual woman who is part of the transgender community.
Underwent SRS to change my sexual organs from male to female. My organs were reassigned female.
In my opinion SRS appears to be an accurate acronym for my procedure.
Thank you,
Anne
Maybe we should focus more on rights and general acceptance... constantly changing the terms just alienates people and gives them an excuse to be ignorant. There's also the fact that people associate with different words.
Traditionally, any word related to a minority gets changed when it begins to be seen as pejorative. Even such common childhood insults as "dummy" and "idiot" began as medical terms. Before very long hard-hearted people start using the new word as a pejorative and the cycle repeats. Acronyms are worse because no one is ever really sure what the letters stand for. I say use whatever the doctors use and don't sweat the mean people.
This is how I normally uses the terms.
Sex reassignment surgery= Often about the down stairs. But I use it too when a trans person being sterilized. I uses it rarely about top surgery.
FFS/FMS= The surgery that make anybody's face more masculine or feminine.
Change gender/gender surgery= It's sounds impossible according to my definitions. I doesn't think it's legal either. For me it sounds like a brain surgery or something.
Top surgery= The chest area. FTM - Removing breast MTF - Getting female breasts
The school or something should educate cis people about transgenders, their terms and their daily problems. That would be a good idea. Maybe they would easier understand then. Education is very important.
When it comes to sexuality, it's the brain that counts. If a person is a trans man and loves girls, he's straight. If he's liking guys, he's gay. If he like both, he's bisexual. Similar with trans women. If they loves girls, they are lesbian. If they loves guys instead, they are straight.
I consider myself a transgender woman. I'm not ashamed to say that. I embrace the term.
:)
Language can be bend and twisted in a hundred or more different ways to mean one thing to one person or exactly the opposite to another. Whatever suits you suits you.
Thanks for all the replies. I've never heard it called genital reconstruction surgery before but that makes a lot more sense. I guess I just want to get away from the notion spun by the media that we were one gender and then chose to be another. Maybe when I'm further on in my transition it'll bother me less. Use whatever terminology suits you though :)
Terminology is changing a lot in the younger generation of trans people - in my sphere, GRS does in fact mean genital reconstruction surgery.
From my understanding we're actually trying to get away from sex-based terminology as well, and encouraging that the physical characteristics of what most people know as "sex" also be seen as a social construct.
So basically, a trans women still has a female body, because it is her body and she is female. Her actual anatomy wouldn't have a bearing on whether she's female "bodied," only her gender. Especially because many people exist who can't fall into the binary spectrum of "male versus female bodied"
These people aren't sexless or genderless or anything else, their body is whatever their gender is. I hope that makes sense.
I don't even like to use the terms "MTF" or "FTM" anymore, since they insinuate that the person used to be a different gender and is now "becoming" something else. Just my perspective.
Hmm, well to me marriage is marriage. Mtf or ftm are convenient acronyms in certain cases, and I don't see a problem with it. My gender marker is 'F' so umm, it's not as if 'MtF' is going to be my label or define me, it's just a descriptive term. And for GRS or SRS or whatever, I prefer 'remodeling the downstairs'. ;D Or whatever other euphemisms I come up with. Might as well have fun with it!