I subscribe to TED Talks and today's was about Trans activist & Model Geena Rocero: Why I must come out. It's only about 10 minutes long in which she tells her story. Seems to me it took a lot of courage to get up on stage as a successful model and declare I'm trans.
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Maybe someone will listen to me.
I like this news clip. However it is self destuctive to refer to yourself as Trans. It is a far easier path to say you are intersexed.
G
I will disagree with that a bit...
I am a post op transgendered person. I don't like the term tranny, or trans-sexual, but I am transgendered. It took me my lifetime to accept myself, but I am at peace with it.
My brain is inter-sexed, but people don't get that very well. Transgendered it is.
I am also an activist in my own fashion, my goal is help folk like me accept themselves and have the public accept us. The former is easier than the latter.
While Trans, in itself, is a relatively broad term...
It is also far more accurate than "intersexed" for most people in our community.
The trans community isn't just transsexuals; those who have had, or wish to have surgery. It is anyone who feels the need to express themselves as the opposite gender, or their true gender, or no gender at all. It is everyone who has to fight with the labels society puts upon them because who they are simply cannot match society's expectations of who they should be.
There are any number of derogatory terms for members of our community, but the simple label of "trans" is not one of them. And, in the case of someone who plans to, or has, transitioned, perhaps you are right that claiming intersexed -- with all of its implied physical requirements -- is the easier path. But... is the easier path the necessarily better one?
I was moved to tears by the video above. Not just out of jealousy of the girl's beauty, though there was that, nor envy of how she has managed to make her life what she wanted of it rather than allowing herself to become mired in society's often narrow-minded viewpoints. No, it was out of her bravery, and her honest wishes for our society to improve to the point where there is no reason to be embarrassed over labels or words. Where those labels mean nothing more than a flavor to one's background.
Being Trans anything -- transsexual, transvestite, genderqueer, genderfluid, a crossdresser or a gender explorer or anything else under the sun -- is not, and should not be seen as, a bad thing. It should be seen as an inevitable, as a chance for those who deal with it to grow into the people they were meant to be, without society placing a stigma on them for how something as inconsequential as the presence or lack of an appendage supposedly defines their role in life.
Melanie E.
I'm quite happy with the term
woman, with no qualifiers.
Angharad
I'm happy to use 'Trans' as shorthand ...
It covers a pretty broad swathe of transgendered, intergendered, transvestite and transsexual conditions which, if we are involved in discussion or further comment, usually requires further, or deeper discussion and/or enlightenment.
'Trans' works for me as a shorthand term. After declaring myself as such, 99% of the time it's easy to move on conversationally or socially or even (perish the thought,) legally.
Terms
Because I work at giving presentations on the subject (as part of my duties) I have to be precise about my terminology. By that, I mean precise in a very conventional and defined vocabulary.
'Transgendered' is a word used to describe an umbrella that covers everyone from intersexed people through transsexuals to cross-dressers and gender-queer folk. The point about the umbrella is that people can step out from underneath it.
I was asked what the correct terms were for post-transition transsexuals, and I said "Easy. They are called men and women", which is exactly what Angharad has said, as I understand her,
An umbrella is a shelter, not a prison.
I cannot agree that it is absolutely destructive
It is people like her who will help shape people's perception of what is a post-op. That said, she is a comparatively elite level of post-op who would never be outed unless they choose to do so like in her case. In a way that is a problem since it sets the bar of expectation rather high, not necessarily for beauty per se as even the hoi poloi recognize that not everyone can be beautiful, but for a post-op to have such an integral projection of femininity. Not fair, I know, as there is as broad a range of gender expression in M->Fs as there is in the general female population.
But hers is the pretty much traditional one, the feminine one, and I doubt she will have as hard of a time finding acceptance especially in the beauty world where right now being trans is kinda a good thing and may even help her career.
Thing is it will make those who do not make an effort to fix their voice, dress and act more femininely more suspect especially in the cisgendered population. Again, 'not fair'? Well life is not fair and since there are certain rules of the game that are pretty well known, then either come out and help change those rules (which are on the instinctual level ie what is considered feminine) or live with it.
Me, I'm pretty enough but I doubt I have her courage to be out there. Not everyone can but to have her as a 'spokesmodel' for free is a good thing, with caveats.
Oh, maybe I'll live like a man.
In the broad scheme of things, I have noticed a few things about Trans folk in general, and I doubt that anyone will listen to what I have to say but say it I will.
The most successful Trans folk I know of get over themselves. This will not matter to you if you just want to hang out in the T community for the rest of your lives.
Your voice, yes work on your voice, hard, until frustration makes you cry. I have seen a few T folk with flawless voice. People say mine is. This will do more for you than a gallon of makeup.
Don't use the word "I". People don't actually care about your shit. They are more worried about theirs. When you meet others ask about them and their cares. Be interested and try to be helpful to them.
Stop using all those exagerated feminine manerisims. Look at other women. They don't do it. If you want to be a drag queen, then be over animated. If you want to go out into culture, then do what real people do.
Don't reveal all your past. This has been hard for me to learn. Just be the best person you can.
I've come to the place in life where I want to do the things that matter to me. I want to write full time and I want to spend a lot of time out where I can see the stars. It will be safer for me as a male.
So far, the best transitioner I have seen has been Jazz and I will be really disappointed if she reveals too much of her past.
Um, well, I sort of outed myself in comments on the TED site
I got into a bit of a discussion with another commenter on Geena's page on the TED site. YIKES I wonder how many people I know will read it?
with love,
HER
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
You were probably already outed.
One of the stupidest things I have done in my entire life was to use my real name in an article in Willamette Week in about 2006. Now anyone who knows who Gwen Boucher is can find out about my Trans status very simply. This has bitten me in the ass several times since.
Soon I plan to adopt another legal name change and then be very careful where I use that. I was thinking that using something like Drew or Jean as my first name would be helpful.
Out
I rather think I am very 'out'. That's my real details on my Kindle and other pages.