I think "fetish" is a distractor. If you crossdress in a sexual situation, unless there's something really kinky going on, it is with your consent. If you are a male who would consent to dress in female clothes there's some gender issue in play and you end up under the TG umbrella. So transvestic fetishists belong with us, they're just uncomfortable dealing with their gender issue outside of a sexual setting. (My opinion, of course, not law.)Originally Posted by ChristinaK
This is interesting and sooooo complicated.
Interesting post, my last visit (a while ago) with my GT she collected some LGBT literature for me and I thought, I'm not LGB...but...I guess...I am T...she smiled and said 'Yep!"
Labels!
"A transgender by any other name would still dress as well!" - Shakesquear
Ya, it's about self acceptance...and being able to chuckle once in a while 😠
I think the sexual aspect of being a TG or CD is very closely intertwined with the gender identity aspect. It's ok to crossdress and be transgendered and it's ok to be aroused at the same time. It's equally ok to use crossdressing as a path to arousal without being TG. 🌺
Ok, my jokes aside. Dog gone it, WE ARE T! Unless you are a supportive SO, or a troll or a kid here on a joke. If you are here more than once, if you adopt gender non-conforming dress, attitude or mannerisms. If your biology does not entirely match your gender identity, even if it only a once in a while thing. You are T by the current understanding.
Saddest thing this week, there has been more traction on all the negative group devisive threads and posts, and almost nothing on positive meaningful conversation.
We are the T in LBGT like it or not. We've got a whole week, no a whole month. Stop cowering in the bathroom stall, get out, be positive and live your life!!!!!!
Years ago I had a conversation with my therapist that pertains to this. I was, at that time, just coming to terms with all this and wondered aloud about the possibility of it being a "midlife crisis". She looked at me and said "Look, most guys having a midlife crisis buy a sports car or start an affair. They don't start dressing as a woman and taking hormones." End of conversation. LOL
But, just to keep definitions clear, I believe, according to commonly accepted definitions and according to the rules of this site, that "transgender" is a blanket term covering all of us from occasional fetish dressers to fully transitioned TS. I believe, and I may be wrong, that the Q comes into play with those whose everyday presentation and identity falls consistently as neither male nor female but rather as some variant in between. I know a lot of young people in my local community who definitely fall into this category, appearing in distinctly androgynous mode at all times. And as someone who rejects the traditional male/female binary, I love all those who happily cross boundaries and present in any gender or combination or blend of genders they prefer. Variety makes life soooo much less boring. lol
But, personally, not caring for labels much at all, I am quite happy with the term transgender as a vague identifier for all who fall in anyway outside of traditional gender norms in any way.
Every fear that held me back, when faced, has proven to be hollow.
Courage is not the lack of fear, but the willingness to ignore it.
It's your life. Make it count.
Personally I prefer wine. However I do enjoy the T in my life very much too.
Part of the confusion arises because 'transgender' is used as shorthand for those members of a broad category (those under the 'trans umbrella', see below) who specifically identify as a gender other than that which they were designated at birth and who express that gender full-time, often (but not always) with the aid of hormones and/or surgical procedures.
If you search 'transgender umbrella' you'll find a number of different diagrams, some of which include or exclude CDs, some of which include or exclude drag queens, some of which include or exclude intersex people. My point is that there's still no universal agreement on who properly falls under that umbrella and who doesn't. If you take the broadest definition, though, where 'transgender' means, more or less, 'anybody who blurs, crosses or contravenes traditional gender lines in identity or expression' then CDs, drag queens and intersex people are all included. Like LGBTQ in general, T is a melting pot in which not everybody has the same expression, motivation, or identity, but they all share something that goes against the strict binary.
It then becomes, I guess, a 'matter of opinion' as to who's who, based on whether or not your particular understanding of the trans umbrella includes or excludes certain groups.
As a non-binary-ish individual who often wears clothing of the gender I was not assigned at birth, I personally identify as T in the broad sense but not in the narrower, 'shorthand' sense mentioned above. In reference to another currently active thread, I don't consider myself female, I don't attend groups that are designated 'women and trans', and I would not enter a designated 'womens space'.
Last edited by Mayo; 06-11-2016 at 11:28 AM.
You seem to be saying that people confound transgender with transsexual. It's true. It's an observed and documented problem. The presumption is that some people are too squeamish about the word "sex" being in the word "transsexual" (or else they're just unsure if it should be spelt with two s's and so opt for the easier to spell word.) The transsexuals of my acquaintance understand the problem and make no claim to the sole use of the word transgender. I tend to be pretty loosey-goosey about letting people describe themselves, but I'm really cranky about word definitions because if the definition of words becomes fluid, then the ability to communicate is lost. I would argue strongly for a very simple definition of transgender as being the opposite of cisgender and having no other implications or requirements beyond that.
Drag queens: in my experience some are transgender some are not. The class itself doesn't belong under transgender though some of the members of that class are also members of the transgender class.
Intersex is trickier but mostly because intersex is about sex not gender, so putting them under transgender is sort of non-sequitur -- you can't say if their gender is different than their sex assigned at birth because we foolishly don't admit to a sex that's actually a fit for them and we have no idea what cisgender would mean for them. The only way to shoehorn them into transgender is if you say they don't fit the gender expectations of a sex they aren't. They need more study, research (and sympathy.)
As usual, my opinion; not law.
Yes, exactly. This exactly illustrates the unavoidable fluidity of language, whether one likes it or not.In many places (not here, obviously) the word 'transgender' is used instead of 'transsexual' because the latter refers to 'sex' rather than 'gender' and is a reminder of the term's medical/pathological background. I agree that 'transgender' is the opposite of 'cisgender' and so includes, basically, everyone who is not cis. Drag queens are therefore included. Intersex people are also included because the gender they are assigned at birth is an arbitrary decision to shoehorn them into one of the binary categories even though their genitalia are (by definition) intermediate.
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