FOR ALL TO READ:- Myths and Misconceptions about FTMS and Testosterone!

[Kieron Andrew]

I originally posted this in the boys clubhouse then i thought..............

There has been alot of thoughts and questions thrown around trying to understand us FTMs a little bit better, and so i came across a link that may lay to rest SOME of the questions going round in peoples minds about us, i do hope this proves to be useful and helpful to EVERYONE, even those FTMs coming out for the first time and having questions about themselves! If i find any better links i will post some more!, in the meantime any questions you feel you need to ask go a head, im sure the boys will be only too obliging to answer any queries.......oh and please try to be sensible as im trying to gather info together in a sensible way so that it will helpful to everyone :)

here is the link http://www.ftmguide.org/myths.html, i really hope this proves helpful
Thanks......:hugs: to you all!

[CaptLex]

here is the link http://www.ftmguide.org/myths.html, i really hope this proves helpful
Thanks......:hugs: to you all!
Great link, Kieron. It certainly puts to rest a lot of myths about the effects of T and some frequently asked questions (and misconceptions) about FtMs. I think it's a good idea to post it here because not all FtM members use the Boys Clubhouse - especially if they're brand new members, and it's also accessible to non-FtM members who may be interested. :thumbsup:

[Felix]

Thanx Kieron good link xx Felix :hugs:

[CaptLex]

This really is a great link. I like that they explode all kinds of myths about being FtM, not just the testosterone ones. This one really caught my attention:


OTHER MYTHS ABOUT FTMs AND TRANSITION

Myth #9: FTMs are just lesbians who couldn't cope with their homosexual feelings.

Until quite recently, in order to be considered a "true transsexual" by the medical establishment (and thus be granted access to hormonal and surgical treatment), one had to declare sexual attraction exclusively to members of one's birth sex. So, for example, a "true" female-to-male transsexual was thought to necessarily be attracted to women. Indeed, if he declared he was attracted to men, an FTM might not have been considered a "good candidate" for medical transition or for a "successful life" as a man. This notion was probably due in part to the overwhelming assumptions of a heterosexual norm in our culture, as well as to "homosexual/gender invert" theories that were popular with some doctors and psychiatrists around the early 1900s.

Clinicians who treat transsexual populations have in general moved away from such thinking, recognizing that a number of the transsexual people they treat are indeed attracted to people opposite of their birth sex, and identify as gay post-transition. There has been increasing recognition that gender identity and sexual orientation are separate aspects of an individual identity, and one is not necessarily predictive of the other.

The very existence of transsexual people who identify as gay post-transition pokes a giant hole in the theory that all transsexuals are just gay people who cannot accept their own homosexuality, and supports the notion that sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation may all be separate parts of a person's identity.

Another blow to the theory that FTMs are simply unhappy or unaware lesbians is the fact that a significant portion of FTMs (but certainly not all) have lived "successfully" as lesbians, or in queer women's communities, for some fraction of their lives. Many of those who have lived in LBG communities transition not out of homophobia, but simply out of the recognition that the identity of woman just did not fit them.
I discussed this with my therapist today - particularly about not being considered a "true transsexual" and not being a good candidate for transition because I'm attracted to men and not women. He told me that still goes on in some parts of the country, and some TSs have to either lie about their sexual orientation or not mention it in order to get the hormones and surgeries they need. Isn't that crazy? He and I both agreed that this smacks of homophobia. Basically, they're saying, "We're not going to let this woman become a man just so she can sleep with other men." Makes me :Angry3: