i figure through most of my transition(not done yet) i never once used the word transsexual to describe myself. People say that tg is just a umbrella clause and that i dont really match that ...but i really haven got myself up to say that word. i guess with jerry springer and rocky horror... the word just seems so dirty and fetishy to me. i dont even think its something we started calling ourself...maybe just some doctor who wanted to be descriptively..."anatomically correct". trans: change and sex:organs (not to be confuse with gender...which is how we precieve ourselves).
i was just wondering if anyone felt similar
Quote from: ravenx on October 14, 2007, 08:32:53 PM
i figure through most of my transition(not done yet) i never once used the word transsexual to describe myself. People say that tg is just a umbrella clause and that i dont really match that ...but i really haven got myself up to say that word. i guess with jerry springer and rocky horror... the word just seems so dirty and fetishy to me. i dont even think its something we started calling ourself...maybe just some doctor who wanted to be descriptively..."anatomically correct". trans: change and sex:organs (not to be confuse with gender...which is how we precieve ourselves).
i was just wondering if anyone felt similar
I have to say I don't like using the word either. It's sort of in a sense like were different so were labeled other than just a "girl" or "guy"
Quote from: ravenx on October 14, 2007, 08:32:53 PM
i figure through most of my transition(not done yet) i never once used the word transsexual to describe myself. People say that tg is just a umbrella clause and that i dont really match that ...but i really haven got myself up to say that word. i guess with jerry springer and rocky horror... the word just seems so dirty and fetishy to me. i dont even think its something we started calling ourself...maybe just some doctor who wanted to be descriptively..."anatomically correct". trans: change and sex:organs (not to be confuse with gender...which is how we precieve ourselves).
i was just wondering if anyone felt similar
I never use the term Transsexual either and no one's ever mentioned it or thought it in everyday situations , I also don't like 'Transwoman' which to me seems worse. I have an IS condition which I do tend to push to the fore if I speak to medical people who have been made aware about my medical history. I do think there is a stigma attatched to the transsexual terminology.
usually if i just stick to tg...its simple and to the point for likeminded individuals. otherwise..with doctors and such... it kind of confuses them beforehand and reduces the blow of a loaded word i could use. why cant we make up our own words? give it a new start.
I avoid "trans" anything words like the plague. I'm just a girl. I'm not denying that I was born physically male, but that little tidbit has no bearing on who I *am*. If I have to explain what I'm doing, I simply say "I'm Kate. I'm changing my sex."
~Kate~
There is a stigma with transsexual, little question with that, but the stigma is societal.
I know it may sound strange, if you don't like the term transwoman, and you identify more with being an intersex female, why don't you just use that.
I know that may sound silly, but you are not the only person around this board that can do that.
I am intersex as well, and I have the scars from an infant surgery.
I personally do not have a problem with the term transwoman or trans, largely because its a descriptive term used in specific, but often necessary circumstances. I think of trans in the way of transitional. But thats just me.
I also to do not like the concept of "changing ones sex". I prefer transitioning too that. Largely because it gets around the stigmata of "Sex change" as in surgery, and the societal focus on the surgery, and not the person.
QuoteI never use the term Transsexual either and no one's ever mentioned it or thought it in everyday situations , I also don't like 'Transwoman' which to me seems worse. I have an IS condition which I do tend to push to the fore if I speak to medical people who have been made aware about my medical history. I do think there is a stigma attatched to the transsexual terminology.
Hi, Berliegh,
Right now in the U.S. there is a bill in the House of representatives called the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA). The bill in its present form includes being gay, bisexual, or lesbian as protected expressions or human conditions. For some reason, transsexuality is not included. I have no idea why save for the politics of homosexuality.
I use the term "transsexual" only with those who need to know it, like my doctors and psychiatrist. I am just another one of the billions of women on this planet.
I do make a distinction between being transgendered and transsexual. One can enter and leave being transgendered as needed, especially to save them from being "outed" or between Tri-Ess meetings and weekends home alone. I can't do that with my transsexuality.
Thanks for hearing me out.
Wing Walker
Flying by the Seat of My Slacks
I did refer to myself as "transsexual" during my transition--mainly to explain my transition to others even though I've always
been female (the rest of the world just doesn't understand that yet). With full transition complete, I do not use the word nor
do I consider myself "transsexual". After all, a transsexual in my mind is someone who desires to be the opposite gender.
I am a woman and the idea of being a man repulses me.
Stormy
<<<I know it may sound strange, if you don't like the term transwoman, and you identify more with being an intersex female, why don't you just use that.>>>>
come to think of it... i think we have more in common with ais than any other classification( and for the people who dont kno...thats androgen insensitive disorder: xy women).
and either way...i figure i must get used to it at some point(unless the world changed while i was sleeping) because its such a common word. just wondered why it needs to be so deragitory of a word.
QuoteAfter all, a transsexual in my mind is someone who desires to be the opposite gender.
I am a woman and the idea of being a man repulses me.
Stormy
How's this for another way of looking at transsexuality: I was born female inside and male outside. I am seeking to make the outside match the inside, therefore, I am transsexual and transitioning Female to Female.
I never liked being stuck in a male body and I feel repulsed by it, too. And I have no desire to be with a man, never did, never will.
Wing Walker
Yeah, i don't use it either. For some reason it makes me feel a bit dirty... seems too clinical.
hi my name's katia & i'm a transsexual ::) does anybody introduce themselves like that? i doubt it very much. i'm not trans-anything either. i'm only a woman, a girl, a female. the rest is just details!
Quote from: Wing Walker on October 14, 2007, 08:58:50 PM
I use the term "transsexual" only with those who need to know it, like my doctors and psychiatrist. I am just another one of the billions of women on this planet.
I do make a distinction between being transgendered and transsexual.
thank you
Quote from: Wing Walker on October 14, 2007, 08:58:50 PM
I use the term "transsexual" only with those who need to know it, like my doctors and psychiatrist. I am just another one of the billions of women on this planet.
I do make a distinction between being transgendered and transsexual.
Never! I never use the term..... I don't need to. so why should I.
Posted on: October 15, 2007, 02:58:09 AM
Quote from: Wing Walker on October 14, 2007, 08:58:50 PM
Hi, Berliegh,
Right now in the U.S. there is a bill in the House of representatives called the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA). The bill in its present form includes being gay, bisexual, or lesbian as protected expressions or human conditions. For some reason, transsexuality is not included. I have no idea why save for the politics of homosexuality.
Does it need to be? If I go for a job interview no one is going to ask me if I'm transsexual, why would they? We have the 'Gender Recognition bill' in the U.K but I wouldn't want to get involved in anything like that, I have no reason to ......it would only make my life hell if I outed myself. I know I'm very lucky in the fact that I don't get percieved as a transsexual.
Posted on: October 15, 2007, 03:03:30 AM
Quote from: Amy T. on October 14, 2007, 08:57:17 PM
I know it may sound strange, if you don't like the term transwoman, and you identify more with being an intersex female, why don't you just use that.
I know that may sound silly, but you are not the only person around this board that can do that.
I am intersex as well, and I have the scars from an infant surgery.
I do identify with being IS and I do mention that if I reallly have to. Why does it sound silly? I'm completely aware that some of the people on the board suffer with some form of IS condition as well. But it still doesn't make us any more or less important than anyone else...
Well ENDA is needed for people with what I would like to call "gender issues" in the US for good reason, anybody who thinks otherwise is mistaken. Generally speaking there is a paper trail in the US that follows you around, and as much as some people think they can go deep stealth in the US they really can't because of those documents. In addition to that there is transitioning on the job and employment. Many lose their jobs because of this. And on top of that anybody who has not had SRS cannot change their birth certificate or gender tag at the SSA. I could go on and on and on about why this is needed Berleigh.
ENDA has two bills one for gender identity included and one that does not. And as much as one will not ask it, or you not telling in the US it is a needed document because of how much documentation is out there and the lack of privacy. Basically, they may not know, but they will still find out sort of thing. If you don't think its needed, you are out of touch with the massive civil rights issues in the US, which is not surprising since you don't live here.
Tg or gender disforic.
The only persons that know that I'm a woman with a transsexual history (I love it, Dawn! ;D) are, of course, my psychiatrist, my personal physician, and my gynecologist. If people want to call me some other label besides
female or
woman, I'd rather be called transsexual rather than transgender, why?
Because:
Quote from: Tink on August 27, 2006, 04:39:18 AM
I have to say that I'd rather use the word transsexual instead of transgender. Although I am aware that transsexuality has nothing to do with sex, to me TRANSSEXUAL implies that I am TRANScending from one sex to the other (anatomically speaking), and this is, in fact, true. I have never changed my gender, for my gender has always been female, what I am changing is my physical sex to be congruent with my female gender.
tink :icon_chick:
I don't usually use the word either, unless I'm with other people who know what it is. *sings the time warp*
Anyway, I call myself as a woman, and I refer to my trans stuff as my trans experience.
As i have not transitioned i feel a fraud calling myself transexual so if it comes up in conversation i prefer to use transgendered or explain that i am gender disforic. Not that it comes up that oftern
was also wondering if ->-bleeped-<- is bad... or just like N***** for black people?
Quotewas also wondering if ->-bleeped-<- is bad... or just like N***** for black people?
Hi, RavenX,
I find ->-bleeped-<- insulting to me, even when said to me by another transsexual person. It is demeaning and trivializes what I perceive myself to be. I also refuse to use the term "transgender" as it includes behaviours that serve to muddy the waters for us. Other pejoratives are "->-bleeped-<-," "he/she." These are solely my opinion. I speak for no one else.
I wish that I could have always been true to myself since birth but I had to be born female in a male body. What can I say? I eventually broke out of that mess and now, since I am a female inside transitioning to female outside, I believe that it is accurate for me to say that I am F to F.
Wing Walker
Knows Where Her Compass Is Pointing
Quote from: Katia on October 15, 2007, 01:42:06 AM
i'm not trans-anything. i'm only a woman, a girl, a female. the rest is just details!
I like your answer!
I say I'm a transsexual & could careless what everyone else thinks, I had to hide who I really was all my life because they "society" didn't care to much about how I felt, only how I appeared, anything outside those perceived norms was wrong, period! Today I'm in transition from male to female, think what you want, the term "Transsexual" pretty much covers it, understanding why the trans community isn't strong like the gay & lesbians are is a no brainer when consider we can't even live with the label "Transsexuals" which in fact defines exactly who & what we are. Maybe they should rename being GAY? where did that label come from? After everything I've gone through to get where I am today, I need to worry about the label "Transsexual" at this point,, just except the label & lets come together as a strong community where we can be heard and really make a difference for ourselves and those yet to come. just my opinion
Interesting topic. I don't like transsexual but not for any of the reasons listed.
For me the term never felt like it fit. I've had mixed biology my whole life and I still have mixed biology. I have changed which gender I present outwardly, but internally (and even physically) very little has changed. I use transsexual because its what most understand, but it's a poor label to describe me.
i dont refer myself to anything much.. at best id call my self a New-Half.
its commonly used in japan and its less degradeing in my opinion...
Transsexual, transgender, trans- whatever. I don't care just don't call me late for the chocolate cake.
To me they are just words used as a point of reference for others to understand who they are dealing with. None of them change who I am one way or the other so I don't even worry about it
I use the term transsexual or trans-man because, quite simply, it's "honest".
I Am a man, but I am a man who happened to be born a woman.
However, I don't go shouting it off the rooftops, I mean, it's just when it is appropriate.
I'm just woman.
Quote from: Yasuko on April 04, 2009, 06:53:16 AMi dont refer myself to anything much.. at best id call my self a New-Half.
its commonly used in japan and its less degradeing in my opinion...
It isn't clear to me how the phrase "new half" applies to trans people in the original Japanese, because it loses something in translation into English. Can you explain the context of why "new half" is the term in Japanese? Half of what?
Whoops, I see that Yasuko is banned. No use asking her. So does anyone else here know enough Japanese to explain "new half"?
Quote from: Stormy on October 14, 2007, 11:22:58 PM
I did refer to myself as "transsexual" during my transition--mainly to explain my transition to others even though I've always
been female (the rest of the world just doesn't understand that yet). With full transition complete, I do not use the word nor
do I consider myself "transsexual". After all, a transsexual in my mind is someone who desires to be the opposite gender.
I am a woman and the idea of being a man repulses me.
WORD. This describes my thoughts too. I went through three stages with it, as my consciousness of self and situation in life evolved.
1. When I first came out to myself, and didn't know what I was going to do about my gender, I called myself transgender.
2. When I knew I was on track for transition, but before I was able to achieve it, I called myself transsexual.
3. After transition, I'm just a woman. I don't use anything with "trans-" in it to identify myself. I don't say HBS or IS either. As far as the whole world is concerned, I'm just a woman and that's all there is to it. My private medical history is no one else's business, except for a few healthcare personnel with a need to know.
Having experienced what it's like to live with these evolving understandings of my identity through all three stages, I can't disparage anyone else for how they understand themselves. It's up to you to find that for yourself, and it behooves the rest of us to respect your self-definition-- just as I want mine respected.
I dislike being identified as any subcategory that sets me apart from other women, or implies that I'm anything less than a full woman. For a time when I copped to "transgender" I experienced the allure of being seen as a "special" sort of being. But that allure quickly wore off for me. I've been marked out as "special" or different or weird all my life, and I'm damn sick of it. Now I just want to be ordinary--or, if I'm to be distinguished in any way, I want it to be for my intelligence or compassion, some generally human quality. Not for something that objectifies us. I'm sick of being objectified.
The central value in life that motivates me is the sisterhood that connects me with other women. The womanhood we share in common. Connection is all. I will remove anything that gets in the way of that.