Dealing with professors

[Kristopher]

Hey,

I was wondering it anyone has any advice as to how to deal with professors. I go to a smaller university that in mostly conservative in the midwest. This morning one of my professors called me Ma'am in class. After class i went to her and asked her if she had read the sheet she had us fill out. I had put that I was an FtM and that I preferred male pronouns etc. on it. Anyways she apologized and said she would try harder, but she really was not sincere in any sort of definition of the world. I felt like she did not get it and did not care to get it. I know I should get over it and not make a big deal about it, but it was hard enough to come back to school for my fourth year as a male instead of female and god dammit this sucks! Its just so hard to deal sometimes when people are not even trying to understand.

[ZenFrost]

First of all welcome to the forum. :smilep:

Now onto your question, in my dealings with professors I don't actually tell them I'm trans. I just tell them my male name on the first day they call roll, and then correct pronouns if they (or anyone) ever call me she. If it ever comes up, I'm just a guy who has a female name and happens to also look and sound like a female.

I agree with how hard it can be when no one around understands, especially when some of them had known you before you came out. My personal strategy is to just play it down, act like it's no big deal and when people screw up I correct them and leave it at that. I figure that if I make a big deal about being trans, people will think of that when they think of me, but if I just act like it should be obvious that I'm male I'm not giving them anything to confuse them, just presenting it as facts that they have to accept.

[Annaliese]

I am a professor in a small conservative school in Utah, Just because a person is educated dose not mean they have any common sense.

Anna

[ZenFrost]

I am a professor in a small conservative school in Utah, Just because a person is educated dose not mean they have any common sense.

Anna

That's a good point. And so true. Of course the opposite is true as well, an uneducated person doesn't necessarily lack it. It never ceases to surprise me who is accepting and who isn't.

[Alan]

Wow. No idea, my professors are ALL cool with it. I told them, since our class rosters include gender, pictures, names, etc.

You have the right to be called what you want. Check your school's discrimination policy -- see if it includes trannies. If it does, unless she wants disciplinary action brought against her, she has to respect that you're FTM. A LOT of them don't yet, though.