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It is generally assumed that there are only the
two sexes - male or female, with two
corresponding genders - man and
woman. This is known as the gender
binary.
Like any other person, transgender people need
to live authentically according to their own core
sense of gender. Unlike other people, this core
sense tends to cross the gender binary or
displace it altogether.
Transgender people find the gender binary
uncomfortable, impractical and not useful to their
needs.
"Unlike the
majority of transsexuals that "feel they were
born that way" many of those identifying
themselves as transgendered or gender-bending or
gender-blending persons are attracted to the
concept of a constructed gender and see
themselves and their lives as evidence of it.
Eschewing any strict male-female dichotomy,
transgendered persons instead reach for a wide
range of mixtures of male and female
restructured anatomies and manifest masculine
and feminine life-styles..."
—
Prof. Milton Diamond, 2000
Most transgender people speak of being part of a
continuum of gender. Transgender people tend to
situate themselves on a continuum between male and
female and often includes a third, fourth or more
genders. Hence the term trans-gender.
Transgender people —
- recognise multiple genders or a gender
continuum;
- some have the one gender their whole life,
others change genders over time;
- some identify as having multiple genders at
the same time;
- others prefer to express their gender in a
fluid way, and avoid permanent changes;
- some transgender people are naturally
androgynous and find themselves able to live
comfortably without any medical intervention at
all; and
- some transgender people use medical
assistance to relieve their discomfort through a
range of different strategies.
The term Transgender
In the 1970s, the term 'transgender'
was coined by a cross-dressing man, Virginia
Prince, who wanted to live as a woman,
without the use of any hormones or surgery.
Virginia coined the term to refer to transgender
people separately and distinctly from
transsexual people.
Today it seems to have become commonly used
as an umbrella term for a variety of identities
and experiences.
Transgender does not describe men with
a fixed male gender comfortably situated
within the gender binary.
Summary
Transgender men (FTMs or transmen)
often feel uncomfortable identifying themselves
simply as male or just a man.
Transgender men usually prefer to acknowledge a
complexity of gender for themselves and
they usually use terms like trans,
ftm, transman, genderqueer,
third-sex, and many others when
describing themselves.
Transgender is an increasingly widespread
social expression which welcomes and celebrates
a multiplicity of genders. Transgenderism also
has a spectrum of self-expression, clothing and
sometimes body modification procedures.
One of the most distinct aspects of being
transgender is the abandonment of the binary
sex/gender categories (man/male or
woman/female). Many transmen seek the assistance
of a range of medical, hormonal and/or surgical
remedies.
(Many thanks to Jim for assistance in writing
this document)
Further Reading
Citation
— Transgenderism 101 (2004)
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