http://www.cristanwilliams.com/b/2012/06/02/rewriting-trans-...
Cristan seems to have done a real research job in tracking the source of the word down. See what you think.
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Transgenderisim
I personally dislike the term, and here is why. I never ever never ever felt like I was male. When I started living as a female, I just started being me. I think Trans implies that we move from something to something. I feel like I am being obstinate and I do it for a reason. I had to fight like hell to survive, and even when I was a shattered, sobbing heap on the floor, trying to get over yet another beating, inside I resisted. Eventually Gwendolyn had to go to ground and so deeply that not even I knew she was there, until much later in life.
In retrospect, after having lived the last 8 years, I would say that if you even suspect that you might be T, then get a blood test called a Kariotype test. They are less than $1000 and can clear up a lot for a girl. Mine came out abnormal enough that I can now wear the badge that says I am intersexed, and I can assure you that intersexed women face much less prejudice than T folk.
My advice is that once you start living as a woman, say to others that you are a woman. Don't tell people you are T anything because that is like wearing a dead albatross around your neck.
SAY you are a woman. Do your best to act like it and walk out into the world with real entitlement, not that pathetic "deer in the headlights" look.
We need to abandon any reference to being T anything.
Appropriate for everyone
What's right for you is not necessarily right for everyone.
And people WILL have a way to refer to this phenomenon, transgender is one of the least offensive that it is possible to use at this time. That's the way language works. One day, transgender will have not much more force than blonde, or left-handed. And yes, I picked those two because they both have some negative connotations. It's just a description.
Abandoning it completely and insisting on that would put people of good will who feel the need to speak about the matter with no polite way to address it. That invites a return to more hurtful words.
The word "transgender" is not the problem, the problem is the attitude of many in society toward people who are different from what is seen as a binary sex. Insisting that there are only men and women and there can be no label for those who do not fit neatly into those boxes at all points in their lives is doing a great disservice to those who still struggle with making changes in how they think of themselves, how they are treated by others, and how they fit into society.
Size 7 shoes do not fit me. I wear a 9-1/2M.
Hugs to all,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Still amazes me at one time.
In the United States, in the 20th Century, they would force people who were born left handed to learn how to write right handed. They even made one of our Presidents, Ronald Reagan, do it.
In the UK too...
I was lucky enough to go through education in the 1980s, when lefties were finally starting to get recognition, so I was allowed to write left-handed. However, as left-handed scissors weren't available, I learned to use them with my right hand, and would probably struggle if I found a set of LH scissors (which are still very rare). But discrimination against lefties has been around for a long time.
Courtesy of Wiktionary's entries for Sinister and Dexter under the Latin section:
sinister m (feminine sinistra, neuter sinistrum); first/second declension
dexter, dextra or dextera, dextrum or dexterum; first/second declension
Hence while sinister gives us negative definitions, dexter gives us dexterity and dexterous (skillful, ability to move fluidly and gracefully).
Skipping forward to the Middle Ages, [following text from Wikipedia] it was believed that when a person was writing with their left hand they were possessed by the Devil. (This was uncommon, particularly as there were fewer literate people). Left-handed people were therefore considered to be evil. Hence, the most common present-day meanings:
1) Threatening or portending evil, harm, or trouble; ominous: a sinister remark
2) Bad, evil, base, or wicked; fell: his sinister purposes
3) Unfortunate; disastrous; unfavorable: a sinister accident
In heraldry, the dexter side (that is, the right hand side from the POV of the bearer, left hand side to a viewer) is considered the side of greatest honour. Hence the Great Seal of the US and the flag of the POTUS have an eagle clutching arrows in its sinister talon and an olive branch in its dexter talon, which is intended to convey the nation's inclination to peace. Similarly the eagle faces its dexter side.
In relation to the main issue of the thread, we can but hope that at some indeterminate date in future, discrimination against people based on gender identity, gender expression or sexuality will seem as daft and archaic as discrimination against lefties.
However, as more people are literate than ever before and have access to deliberately dodgy translations1 of sacred texts which confirm their existing prejudices2, it may take a while yet, especially as the more conservative / fundamentalist branches of religions seem to be in the ascendency :(
1) In the case of the Christian Bible, although scholars have a much better idea of what the original authors meant when they wrote what they did, any translations which contradicted the gist of previous translations would probably be seen as erroneous by those who've experienced other translations, so the new [and better] translation wouldn't sell anywhere near as well - a classic non-controversial example is "no room at the inn", which spawned a significant chunk of the Nativity story; whereas in reality it was "no room in the upper room", relating to a typical dwelling of the time with accommodation split between animals below (the equivalent of a modern-day garage) and living accommodation above, but within the same physical space.
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2) While of course cheerfully ignoring anything that they don't agree with, e.g. the rules relating to combat, slavery, and expected punishments (the community stoning a perpetrator to death in order to "purge the evil").
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
I'm not ashamed
I am accepted everywhere I go. at work (a DIY shop), by my family (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins,...), by my neighbours (they gave me a gift certificate to a beauty salon), by people at school, the glb community I go to, the people at the playgrounds (animators for kids), etc.
I'm not lying about me being accepted everywhere. Yes, I've had negative comments, but they came from strangers, not friends or colleagues or family...
Maybe some of them are only nice to my face, but that's at the very least tolerance and politeness.
I don't intend to hide myself, why would I when everyone I care about accepts me? Even others who found out later and are just people I associate with briefly, reacted well. I'm not planning to tell strangers, but when they become close friends or my partner, I will tell them. I'm not ashamed to be transgendered/ transsexual, I don't want to feel ashamed by hiding. I'm proud of who I am. I wouldn't be the me I am now if i wasn't transgendered. If someone finds out I'm not gonna lie, that will only create intolerance and/ or unacceptance.
(a transgendered friend of mine tried to deny she was transsexual even though everyone at the glb community was pretty certain of it. her heavy voice being the main reason. telling them it's a hormonal problem didn't go well with them. They disliked her quite a bit (okay, she doesn't have a great personality, so that didn't work in her favor either), while they all accepted me directly and they still like me.)
I live in a very tolerant place. Not that there isn't discrimination here, some transgendered people still lose all their friends and family. But I just like to show that it's not always bad for people like us. I'm a prime example of that (I'd like to think).
Just wanted to share a good story for once. I hope this will give some people hope for the future.
grtz & hugs,
Sarah xxx
Which is to be master, that's all...
When one looks at the word logically, ‘trans’ means ‘beyond,’ as in Transvaal and Transylvania, so the coinage is perhaps unfortunate, but language is made by people, not grammarians nor linguists, so the word means exactly (more-or-less) what any given individual thinks it means, as long as he or she has at least a few people who agree.
The inhabitants of Phuket don't necessarily break into raucous laughter when they arise in the morning, despite the ‘obvious’ pun in English.
A Chinese man named Long Dong is likewise not necessarily embarrassed.
One has to take these ‘controversies’ in a spirit of generosity and bonhomie.
Puddin'
(and thereby hangs a tale)
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Regardless if the term started out referring one way.
I accept the umbrella term and resent the idea I should use the term "Transperson" should I decide to call myself under the umbrella instead of "crossdresser" or "Drag Queen". I like the term "Transgender" and should be able to call myself that without it being automatically assumed I'm "Transsexual". I think it provides a strong sense of unity amongst us all and just giving up the term to "Transsexual" I find incredibly divisive and fractures us more, forcing us each to label ourselves into separate categories. If "Transgender" is taken I guarantee you "Transperson" will also be mistaken for "Transsexual" as well. What will happen then? "Oh I'm a "Drag Queen". Oh.". The thing is all these terms connect into GLBT but how many straight people and outside of the community will connect "Crossdresser" and "Drag Queen" into T. Maybe "Transvestite" which has somehow managed to survive as understood to be one thing but that's an exception.
I want to punch Oprah and others when they use it to refer to "Transsexuals" when, as this article has said, it's been used for years as an umbrella term.
Sorry for the long paragraph which probably gave the rest of you a headache.
Where I live
Around here different words have different meanings. Please keep in mind these are not my views but the social views of many where I live.
Trans by itself means nothing. T/A is Trans Am or Trans America. Its a car type.
Transexual - "One of those dirty sick minded twisted people" If one says they are transexual its like asking to be beat up. Not my choice its how its seen.
Transvestite - "whore" boy or girl that dresses as the opposite sex to sell themselves to make money. We have a number that do that here.
Crossdresser - This one is actually acceptable. You get a cold shoulder from some but otherwise your "okay". You dress as opposite sex for fun.
Intersexed - "Doctor's f**ked up" This may or may not cause problems. If F2M its fine. If M2F well there is Friction.
Transgender - "Oh your one of those" People pity you but since it is such a broad range covering all the above they do not generally react negatively.
What really makes this all so funny is when a person is "Mature" it doesn't really matter what sex they are. If you can do the job then do it nobody here really cares that much. There are some religous groups that have defined ideas on what women should do , mormons, mennonites, amish, omish. take your pick. These groups are a minority.
It's both good and bad...
"Transgender" is both good and bad. As a Specific term for a specific condition, it's not all that descriptive, but as long as everyone agrees to it's definition, it works. As an umbrella term, it's fine... But, (you knew there had to be one)... IMO - the biggest problem with the term is that it is used in both specific and general ways, sometimes by the same people at the same time. This, among people that KNOW the context, isn't too much of a problem. But, among those who either don't get it (or don't want to get it), or only get part of it, leads to a LOT of friction and problems.
Here's some examples...
Quite a few people I know "assume" that "transgender" = "transsexual"... and that the "general" and that anyone described as "transgender" is a transsexual. I suspect we all know this is far from the truth... Who we are is different, what we need is different, etc.
Medical needs (if any) of various groups within the "transgender" umbrella term vary a lot - from none to major surgical and hormonal intervention. Education of the general public... Is spotty and tends to be very CONFUSING for the most part. And, even among those who are "transsexual", the need for intervention varies.
So - in some ways, I like the umbrella term - as it simply indicates that there is a wide variety of people who don't fit in the "stereotypical" narrow "Man" & "Woman" categories. But, for me, personally, I find using the umbrella term less than useful, and that it causes more trouble than it helps.
Whether it should or not - some categories that fit within the "transgender" umbrella term seem to be more socially acceptable - or at least less unacceptable - than others. I'd like to think that education could help there, but...
The Umbrella term also makes it far easier for opponents to confuse issues and make it harder for any of us to get the services/care/etc. we need.
Annette
Latin Prefixes
Trans is a Latin Prefix meaning on the opposite side, just as the antonymical prefix is Cis meaning on the same side. So, TransGender, CisGender... very simple and completely blown out of proportion.
and if you what to know the difference between a transgender person and a transsexual person... in Canada it's about two years.
Wordsmith Diana
Trans
also means, through, or over or across.
However, as far as I'm concerned the two words I use to describe myself are woman and female, as I've done all the crossing I'm going to do. For thse who need chapter and verse, my birth certificate says female(girl actually)and as a mature specimen of that group I am entitled to use the term woman.
What other people call me or themselves is their business, and it's all semantics anyway. As long as they call me for dinner, who gives a toss?
Angharad
Labels
Labels of any sort are generally used as a convenient collective shorthand for a group, and may not adequately describe everyone within it.
Imagine a three year old going on a walk, sees a daschund, and is told it's a dog. Later on, they meet a labrador, a rough collie, a basset hound, a great dane - each time, the child's told they've seen "a dog". While technically all are members of Canis lupis familiaris and can interbreed, it still requires a leap of imagination to group them all together under one label - while also differentiating them from members of Felis, who have similar anatomical arrangements.
Of course, as others have mentioned above, one of the main problems with the various T* labels is that the definitions aren't set in stone - different people interpret them differently. For example, while "cross-dresser" and "transvestite" technically mean exactly the same, the former term tends to attract less negative connotations than the latter.
So generally speaking, if you must use a label to describe yourself, pick something that (a) you're comfortable with and (b) your intended audience will understand. Of course, it's easier for those who are at RLT or beyond, as (like Angharad said earlier) they can just avoid use of the T* labels entirely and describe themselves as "just another" member of their true gender. Obviously it's harder for those who are predominantly living in their assigned gender, especially if circumstances contrive to make it very difficult or virtually impossible to poke their head above the proverbial parapet and announce their true gender.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!