Transgender?

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Can someone tell me PRECISELY what the difference is between Transgender and (a)Transexual?

I think we just did.

But the terms aren't rigorously defined.

A Transsexual is someone actively seeking to live full time as the gender opposite their birth gender. This may or may not involve surgery and hormones.

Transgender is an umbrella term. Anyone who crosses tranditional gender roles could be considered Transgender.

This includes transsexuals, drag queens/kings, genderqueers, Butch Dykes (althought they'd dispute it), Effeminate men (who would also dispute it), Androgynes, and People who just think like the opposite sex. Tomboys even fall under the umbrella theoretically.

It's a very inclusive term, but a number of the people it includes don't like the association it has with transsexuality, so they dispute being included under the umbrella.

I could go into the politics of why each group has reservations about standing under the umbrella, but they all boil back down to the gender binary and perceived gender roles and self identification. Transgender is almost too broad to please anyone, especially those who are looking to demolish the artificial constructs of gender.

In a way, the only group that seems to embrace the term, Transsexuals, are the ones who least belong under the umbrella, because usually they're seeking to embody the stereotypes of gender roles, and once they transition they happily step back into the binary. (Not all, but the majority just want to be normal men/women, and transition to bring their body in line with their mental gender - well, they all want that, but the majority just want to go stealth and live quietly in their corrected gender.)

flutter, i really enjoy your posts! Thanks for your input on my thought-out-loud.

PCOS is a syndrome and what that means is that every person with it will exhibit it differently, one may have high testosterone (me) and one may not (tree's) some may have cysts on their ovaries (hence the name poly cystic ovarian syndrome) and some may not (i don't)

Unfortunately there are a lot of Dr's who misdiagnose and who don't know enough about PCOS, they give their opinions and recommendations that are completely inappropriate, this is not always the case, but it seems fairly common. If you can find a specialist on PCOS, they will be a good bet... even then, you know your body best and need to do your own research as well. My sister had a specialist tell her at 17 that she had PCOS and the only cure is to get pregnant. Indeed, there is NO cure, and I have 2 kids with my PCOS symptoms largely in place.

High testosterone is a classic symptom of PCOS, but that doesn't mean you don't have it if you have low (or no) testosterone. It could be that that is a separate issue altogether, or that it is just the other extreme of this complicated endocrine syndrome.

I agree with this.

Actually I haven't even looked at this forum, I query the need for it, but.... maybe there are things I don't understand.

Your welcome! And thanks for the compliment.

In this particular case, it's something I've thought a lot about, because given current threory, the two would seem mutually exclusive, but yet here I am?

I'm not very feminine, but I have a deep body dysphoria. Socializing in either gender doesn't come naturally to me, it's learned behavior. So for me, it really is an "I feel I'm in the wrong body, and being in a male body with male hormones causes me significant distress, but that doesn't change the way I socialize"

I don't mind transgender people at all. All people are equal, whatever they are NT, Aspie, LGBT, straight, African, Asian, Hispanic, Caucaian, or whatever category they fit in. People tend to be ignorant of differences and because of ignorance, they tend to show fear and hate.

Sexual details topic

Flutter, I thought you were FTM.

Trees, I thought you were always a woman.

No shock, it is just that you have this visual of someone and then you realize you have to change it in order to keep some stability in your mind.

Just to be fair, there are others here I thought were male, and were in fact female, and vice versa. I do not always look at the profile, and it may not be accurate anyway.

People on the internet are not always as they seem.

I am a woman and glad to be. I would not want to be a man. Though sometimes I get these funny little perceptions and I somehow see out of my head as though male. Now how can this be when I have never been a man, never wanted to be, and never been seen as such? I also noticed this when I was a kid. Must be an Aspie thing.

To answer the original question, your discussions are relevant to women, and so are welcome.

I'm female, but gender means nothing to me, identity-wise. I guess that means I don't have a gender identity or something. Practically, being a woman means I get periods and PMS, so a women's thread is useful for that. But the fact that someone is transgender makes no difference to me. I wouldn't care if men posted in here. I don't really categorise people into binary opposites of gender.

I think its fine to be in womens space and also welcome the end to binary labels, I think gender should be viewed as a spectrum like ASD. People should be able to move about the gender spectrum according to how they feel, people should be more tollerant and less hung up on their expectations of people.

thought you might be interested in this

"Kate Craig-Wood on Midweek on Radio 4. Absolutely
inspirational. Kate was completely open about her transexuality and
it was wonderful to hear about her successes. If you can listen again
I urge you to do so. Think all teens would find this uplifting. This
is her online biog and she's only 31!"
http://kate.craig-wood.com/index.php

Listen again - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/midweek.shtml

Also...

Cutting Edge documentary about Thomas Beattie (the pregnant man) will be shown on Thursday 11th
December at 9pm (repeated on Ch 4 + 1 at 10pm.
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsi ... index.html

SEE ALSO:

How doctors choose a child's gender
31 Jan 04 | Health
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3434799.stm

How can a man have a baby?
04 Jul 08 | Health
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7489280.stm

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:

Gender Identity Research and Education Society
http://www.gires.org.uk/

Endocrine Society US
http://www.endo-society.org/

Last edited by lotusblossom on 11 Dec 2008, 9:23 am, edited 3 times in total.

That is the problem right there...'Womyn'. Those types are a bit radical. They will not even let women bring their young sons to their events.

^^^
I have to agree; the whole point is to make women feel comfortable, but biasing based on original gonad type rather than orientation or behavior is pretty dumb. It's a little bit like throwing a party for 'victims of genocide' and saying that 'no one from Germany' can come, rather than saying that no one who advocates or acts out violence or oppression can come.

As someone who is a transsexual woman, most of the places for women I have encountered that have little idea what trans means are pretty accepting when I explain the situation. Curious about my path even.

The few places I have encountered resistance tend to be some of the most staunchly feminist spaces who should be the ones able to sympathize. The Michigan Women's Music Festival (yes, I compounded their misspelling by misspelling it ) is obviously the leader of that list.

I did find it ironic that a local lesbian-oriented agency has had 3 'generations' of transsexual women (including me) who were the volunteers organizing their library. Ironic because some of their clients hate transwomen with a passion.

Last edited by Kara_h on 31 Dec 2008, 4:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Yes that phrase as well as 'wimin' started in the identity politics of the 80s. These are not accepting ideologies the complete opposite.

Many of these groups ended up fractured and collapsed because there could never agree and were pretty extreme. Not just leaving they kids from event’s but abandoning their kids all together, and living in communes.

I think that anyone who identifies as female should be welcome here.

There are plenty of men who contribute interesting posts to this forum too, and I see no problem with that, unless the thread specifies that it is for women only (per forum rules). I think it's great when men post threads here asking questions in a genuine effort to understand women better.

What does kind of annoy me is when men write posts that contain little content that goes beyond complaining about their own experiences with women, or women in general - just trying to provoke people. We have plenty of forums on this site. If a man wants to vent about his unpleasant experiences with women, he can post in the Haven, Love & Dating, Random, Social Skills, Adult Forum . . . there are plenty of options.

Also, I think we should definitely be welcoming to those who are in the process of questioning whether they might be trans (either mtf or ftm). There is a lot of discussion about gender here, with a range of experiences and opinions expressed. Such people could find this very useful.

Anyone who identifies as female should be welcome in this board. Period

I mean, your more likely to fit in here, aren't you?

Thanks.
Admittedly, it is funny in a way when I encounter anti-trans resistance. They are basically saying people simply born one way (who may or may not want to have been like that) are better suited to be in a space than those who have actively worked to get there.