Well I thought the link I posted was very interesting.
So it goes.
TG Friendly,
C
P.S. Good intellectual reading is Gore Vidal’s essays in “Sexually Speaking.”
Thanks, rachelellogram; that’s all very helpful. And the term “genderqueer” seems to me to be a very valuable addition to the vocabulary. I kind of think "don’t feel like EITHER gender’ might apply to me in some ways. Or “feel like a third gender.”
Biology 101, born male = male, period. Male and female are not culturally defined, but biologically defined, period.
People born with deformities and organs of multiple sexes are simply people who have suffered mutations, the vast majority of people who would answer “yes” to the OPs question were not born with such afflictions but are just physical men and women who through mental illness have become convinced they are something they are not. No different than people who genuinely believe they are Napoleon–their belief is genuine, and to tell them otherwise will upset them greatly, but that doesn’t change reality.
Seems to me that in something as important to identity as “Am I a boy or a girl?”, the brain and consciousness should trump the physical genitalia. We (hopefully) don’t force left-handed people into being righties anymore; I fail to see why a person who identifies as one sex should be forced to live as a member of the other.
If I give a biologist a bitch and a dog and ask him to tell me the sex of each respective animal how do you think he will evaluate it? Humans are not excused from biology just because we’re smarter than all other animals.
This reinforces my experience that “period”, in an argument, means “I can’t possibly support my beliefs so I am saying them extra strongly in hopes that those who disagree are stupid enough to confuse that with evidence.” It certainly does in this case.
On the flip side, let’s not pull a Bricker and turn the law into an unassailable fact, either.
Regardless of what the latest preferred term is, I’m gonna hold to the principle that they can’t expect the ‘out’ crowd to keep up when the ‘in’ crowd can’t manage it.
But they don’t all agree with one another on what they are called. I have known three of them (all born male, now female.) All three of them simply say they are ‘TG,’ but when asked what it stands for, two of them say ‘transgendered’ while the other says ‘transgender.’
Also, some ‘transwomen’ insist on spelling it ‘transwomyn,’ which I am told takes the ‘men’ out of ‘women.’
Doesn’t it depend on the person? Not everyone identifies with the same gender their entire life. I’ve read about transgender people who say they’ve felt transgender since early childhood, but I’ve also known people who didn’t realize that they would prefer to live as the other gender until they were in their 20s.
This attitude is disturbing, in that you are saying people who are uncomfortable with the gender they were born with are crazy. You lack compassion, and an understanding that such a situation is not black and white. Closed mindedness toward differences is probably part of what makes it hard for transgender individuals to live openly and accepted in this world, so they must be some of the most brave individuals around to do it. Rather you would have them hide or feel bad about themselves, and that would make them sane enough for you?
Well, his name is Martin Hyde. Maybe there’s something he’s not telling us! 
Isn’t it possible that a statement might be false in a strictly scientific sense while at the same time true in a deeper, more poetic sense?
To get back to the OP-I suspect we have at least one “Ask the transgender doper” thread but I’m not sure of the best way to find it.
Ask The Transsexual (FtM) (2009)
Ask the Transgendered Person (2001)
Yes, that’s more or less the answer I’d expect from someone whose knowledge of biology is limited to what they got from a college survey class.
Incidentally, what connection does this have with what I posted? I didnt take any position on biology at all, I just made a statement about how trans people are likely to feel about John’s comment.
This is not true. There are, for example, physiological differences in brain structure between MtF transsexuals and cisgendered men. (I’m not sure if there have been similar studies done on FtMs). They are, quite literally, people with male bodies and female brains.
Actually, they are completely different. Transsexuality isn’t a delusion - people who are transgendered are very much aware of their physical reality and the facts of their personal history. Even if you insist on modeling it as a mental illness, it’s pathology is entirely different from a delusional disorder.
Miller, you’re wasting your time. Any statements that don’t support Martin’s own theories of life and existence are false and/or lies in his mind, and will always be false regardless of anything anyone says or demonstrates otherwise, especially if that someone leans leftward of Michelle Bachmann. He’s not looking to be educated, he’s looking validate his belief system.
That’s okay. It’s not him I’m trying to educate.
I see ZipperJJ has linked to a couple ask-the threads - the first one there’s mine (Ask the FtM). I can’t see any transpeople answering in this thread, so I’m going to give it a go. bouv is right about the etiquette, but the OP seems to be asking in good faith, and I don’t see any reason not to answer in the same way. We all have to start learning somewhere.
Where Martin Hyde and John Mace’s posts are concerned, I’m just going to go ahead and pretend they don’t exist. I don’t need to deal with that today.
FTR, I’m FTM transgendered (and I’ve always said transgendered - I’ve never met anyone who had an issue with that terminology, and I’ve never really thought about it the way Ethilrist describes - the ‘ed’ just says ‘adjective’ to me).
-
I’m not sure how to answer this question. I guess? I spent the majority of my teenage years feeling extremely derealised, and that lifted a lot when I started viewing myself as male. When other people started perceiving and treating me as male, the effect was less dramatic, but a lot of awkwardness and stress disappeared. I’m a lot more relaxed now.
-
I think what you want to say here is, what are the downsides of transitioning? I didn’t “change gender”, but I did transition from presenting-as-female to presenting-as-male. I’m lucky in that after hormone treatments, most transguys are able to pass without too much trouble (pass - that is, be seen as the gender they are: male). I’m now seen 100% of the time as a guy, often as a gay guy (which doesn’t bother me; I’m bi, so they’re half right). So I don’t often have to worry about transphobia; only homophobia.
The downsides…I don’t see my father’s side of the family any more. My blood pressure is a little high, which my doctor tells me could be from the hormones. I don’t go swimming any more, even though I love it, because I don’t have the cash for surgery yet, and I don’t think I pass well in a swimsuit. I get nervous when I’m travelling, and I have to share changing rooms, bathrooms, etc - there are places where it feels dangerous to be outed.
Though I’m out to half the friends I’ve made since transitioning…I’m too nervous to come out to the other half and watch all their ideas about me change. This is a major downside (though it’s my fault, I guess); it makes me feel dishonest, as it’s something that’s had such a big impact on my life, and I don’t talk about it.
What else? I don’t really enjoy sticking myself with needles. But honestly, the downsides - they’re nothing, really. Compared to not transitioning…
-
My friends were all very supportive. My family, not so much. My immediate family have come around - they share Martin Hyde’s POV, actually, but they also observe basic politeness: you treat people as they want to be treated. I can’t visit my father’s side of the family, as they haven’t come to terms with it yet. But I saw my grandmother on my mother’s side of the family on Mother’s Day, and she told me she was very happy for me! She said, “You look so happy now. You never used to smile.”
-
Here in NZ I can’t legally change my gender, as I haven’t had surgery. So I’ve got my NZ passport, which still says “female” on it, and I’ve got a British one which says “male”. I try to use the British one as much as possible. I’m in NZ right now, and when I look for jobs I worry, a lot, when they ask to see my NZ passport. I don’t want to be refused a job because my employer can’t handle my being transgendered.
Other than that, I haven’t had any legal problems. I did have to go through the diagnostic process three times…I went private, first. My endocrinologist tried to play amateur shrink with me, and refuse me treatment even though I had the required 2 psychiatrists sign off on me (according to him, “people don’t make this decision until they’re in their 30s”), but my GP (who had known me since I was 5 years old) went over his head and prescribed for me.
I got sick of seeing the nurse every three weeks to get my shots, so I asked about self-administering, and was referred to the Sexual Health Clinic - which is on the public health system. Oh, and I wanted to see what government funding there was for surgery (answer: in NZ, there’s funding for 10 people a year total, ftm or mtf. In the UK? I can get on the list and get surgery in 2-5 years). So before they could teach me to self-administer, they had to diagnose me again. Cue another few months of seeing psychiatrists.
Same story when I lived in the UK for a while; I had to be diagnosed a third time by the NHS over there.
-
That it’s not a change. Or rather - yes, my body’s changed. My gender hasn’t. I’m not play-acting, and my gender identity isn’t fake, or somehow less real than cisguys.
-
Yes. I wouldn’t be here answering if I didn’t :).
Personally, I didn’t know that stuff you said about brain structure, so thanks.
There was actually a thing on the Wikipedia articles that stated that the proper method actually requires a space. Trans man, trans woman, trans folk, etc.