Transgender & Transsexual

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I had someone ask in another section about trans people. Since we're all different (and I know I'm not the only trans on WP... ) I thought an "Ask A Trans" thread might be helpful to those that would love to learn.

So you are a trans? What's the difference between a transgender and a transsexual? I'm guessing transgender doesn't require surgery since it's gender. Maybe transsexual is the next step?

Transgenders are pre-op. Many never get surgery. Transsexuals are post-op.

I'm transgender. Specifically... androgynous.

OK, so the term "Post-op transsexual" is redundant?

I'm not androgynous, I'm just not overly male or overly female, at least I don't feel that way. I feel like I have some masculine traits and some feminine traits, and that it's normal to be that way.

It's mostly redundant.

What makes you trans is the desire to be the other gender, whether it be partially or fully. I honestly believe I should have a penis.

Sometimes I wish I was dude. I am pretty androgynous.

Wouldn't transgender people refer to people who live as the opposite gender, where as transexual people are those who are a different sex - feel they are female trapped in a male body, rather than being a male who likes to dress as a woman (differentiating between trasngender and transvestite)...I have an ex boyfriend who is now a woman, as far as I am aware she still has male genitals but is very much female in not just the way she dresses, but she has female features like breasts, soft skin and lack of body/facial hair, and she has a female brain...I don't think she refers to herself as transgender.

How do you deal with pronouns?
Take for example if you are a female/live as a female then you are a she/her - but what about people who knew you before you were a woman, it gets VERY confusing explaining my ex boyfriend, she is a she but was a he...yet she would say she was always a she trapped in the body of a he...and it gets even more confusing when you throw-in the idea that she is a woman with a penis...and more confusing again when you throw in the fact she once wanted to be physically aswexual - imagine the pronouns there! (I can't even remember the pronouns used to describe people who are physically or gener-wise neither male nor female)

My head hurts

What do you call someone who is neither masculine or feminine?

The definitions of the two can vary from person to person. The truth is, we're all so very different and very few are black and white 'male trapped in female' (or visa versa) cases.

Pronouns are a personal choice. Some get extremely offended if you don't call them by what they have chosen, and some do not.

I am both male and female, and either designation works just fine. I tend to default to 'she/her', though. This is because it's what I was born as physically and have gotten used to it.

My name, Dawn, is best.

People who are neither masculine or feminine can identify in all sorts of different ways. Strictly speaking, I'd say that someone who is neither masculine nor feminine would be androgynous, but they may identify as genderqueer, agender, bigender, transgender, male, female, or some combination of the above. Best way of dealing with it would be to find out what pronouns the person prefers and use those, and not worry about attaching labels to them that they may or may not even identify with.

Hmm... I would draw that distinction differently. There are many transsexual people who, for various reasons, have not had surgery or other medical intervention, but would still identify as and generally be considered transsexual. Generally, I think of a transsexual as someone who identifies as the other sex and wants to change their body (through hormones and/or surgery) to be more like the other sex, regardless of whether or not they have already done so.

Transgender people, on the other hand, may or may not want to pursue medical transition. Transgender, as a category, typically refers people who identify as a gender that is different from the one they were assigned at birth, whether or not they want to change their bodies. It's often used as more of an umbrella term.

So, put simplistically, transsexuals want to change their sex (male/female/intersex - their physical body), and transgender people want to live as a different gender (woman, man, androgyne, genderqueer, etc.) than the one they were assigned at birth. Most transsexual people, then, are also transgender (they want to change their bodies and their social roles/designations).

And, of course, nobody can really definitively agree on what all these terms mean. Ultimately, the distinction lies with how individual people identify. Based on the definitions I just gave you, I am a transsexual. However, I prefer to identify as transgender, because I don't like the clinical feeling and implications of the label transsexual. Yet, conversely, there are many transsexuals who hate using the term transgender. And there are people who identify as transsexual who don't intend to pursue medical transition at all. It's really all very complicated and hard to define precisely.

I'm not sure if this counts as a question or rambling. We'll see where this goes.

Based on some comments I made elsewhere, a few people have suspected I'm genderqueer - whatever that means.

Sometimes I'm curious as to what it'd be like to be a female. Pretty much all July, August, and September the thought consumed me. The last few months I haven't really thought much of it at all. But it's off and on in my brain for much of the last 10-12 years or so. Just be able to live the life, look and dress like a woman, see what its like to live on the other side.

Just too bad it's not all that easy to switch back and forth. Can't really do anything about it. But, I don't hate being a guy and I'm attracted to women. I'd just really like to live on the other side once in a while. I think reading about trans topics such as this and whatever else in this new section just flares my interest up more than normal.

Let's be clear here... sexual orientation is an entirely different issue to gender identity.

As for switching back and forth... I do that often, but I'm physically female. It's a lot more socially acceptable for me to 'cross dress'. Any man with an overwhelming desire should seek some support where they can find what's best for them.

Quartz, I assume you're talking about cross dressing as opposed to feeling like you are in some way female?

Not necessarily. I think of it more than just that. However in my mind (thanks religion and guilt trips), there's this need to repress and suppress any feelings of wishing to have tits and a clam. (Forgive me for word usage, I just like saying that)

Ohhh... yeah I know well how religion can f**k us up. I got a double whammy of that being trans and bisexual.