Pregnant man points way to new identities

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/04/12/2003409070
4/12/2008

"Such turns are quite rare in the existing script of a transgender life. And this is exactly where the problem lies: Everybody seems to expect transsexual people to tell the same story, a story of ? soul trapped in the wrong body,??and the determined search to find a ? true self.??And when this quest for the ?true self? is to be proven with a relentlessness that strives forward regardless of the price to be paid, then how could a transgender person still harbor a lingering sense of attachment to their original reproductive organs, their sensual feelings and functions? Consequently, full identification with the target gender, and showing only the behavior of that gender, has become the only way for transgender people to validate their identity."

QuoteConsequently, full identification with the target gender, and showing only the behavior of that gender, has become the only way for transgender people to validate their identity.

I think this is the real problem, that some trans people feel they need to validate their identity in the eyes of others by behaving in a certain way.  Our identities are not seen as valid simply because we hold them.  This is why somebody who is prepared to publicly assert his identity while doing things that some would consider inconsistent with that identity, is seen as a threat: it shows up that our acceptance is obtained through performative means, and therefore inherently shaky.

I like this article, a lot.

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To take this thought one step further: If a person could decide to change their sex through surgery, then could other people also make a similar decision to become both woman and man, or neither man nor woman?

Well I seem to be managing it quite well ^.^

What an excellent piece. Thanks for posting, Natasha!

~Simone.