What being a TS is NOT

[Kelsy]

I think Kate is right on this. There are alot of transgenderists that live and function as women in society but have no desire to change their physical
self permanently. I believe that a strong body dysphoria goes hand in hand with the general gender dysphoeia that characterizes, defines and separates the Transsexual
from other Transgendered individuals.

[Melody Moore]

There are alot of transgenderists that live and function as women in society but have no desire to change their physical
self permanently.

Transgenderist? Ok that is a new label, kinda like a new transsexual girl in my local
support group who was telling me about when she starts her transgendering LOL

Anyway, as far as I know a transgenderist is a person who lives cross-gender without SRS,
but to live cross-gender then isn't that the same as cross-dressing? Living as a boy through
the day to go to work & as a female at night when they come home? But what about those
transsexuals who don't live cross-gender & live full-time? Are they really transgenderist or are
they really transsexual when you read into the proper definitions?

Anyway, so Kate re-write the manual for what actually defines a transsexual did she?
Because what she is claiming is that a transsexual must have a desire to have SRS, but
if you read the proper definition of transsexualism, there is no requirement to have SRS
in order to be diagnosed & identified as a transsexual. Being transsexual is about having
the desire to live as the opposite gender to your biological birth sex. Go read it for yourself
if you don't believe me - See: transsexualism.

By the way, TG Labels Suck!

[Rianna Humble]

Transgenderist? Ok that is a new label,

By that definition, any term coined in the last 40 years is a new label. Transgenderist was first coined by Virginia Price in the 1970s to denote a person who lived in their chosen Gender role full time without medication or surgery. Her argument was that if you had any kind of surgery or medication, you would be a pre-op transsexual.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

people are too caught up too much in the medical definitions...and melody i agree labels suck anyway, so lets just drop the wikepedia/dsm links..!! LOL...
the medical definitions are being built up over time.. they are different in different countries.. years ago they caused more harm then good and they've been changed multiple times...and they will change again..

Melody i think you missing the concept of desiring to keep your penis and liking your penis as compared to the laundry list of issues that cause TS women to miss out on srs...and i don't think it's a stretch for some to become resigned to keeping it..

To the billions of cisgendered women out there, having a vagina is a part of being a woman...none of them..NONE..WANT a penis.... i don't really care what some doctors cooked up for me and you... doctors are necessary and they mostly want to help...but a woman does not want a penis... and a mtf transsexual woman does not want a penis...it has NOTHING to do with reasons...we are talking about people that DESIRE to keep their penis....even if that person lives as female, that is different than transsexual

and bree no one is really judging...(at least i'm not)... i think your points are well taken but there are many people here that have done the surgery...and they have experienced life after the surgery, and they know what it's like..
and they are saying that they cannot imagine that a person that isnt interested in srs is the same as them...

you are right that it may not matter......
certainly there are lots of similarities and every one of us is allowed to live their life in happiness and acceptance...

it only gets tricky when people start talking issues...to transgendered people it's an identity crisis, so we tend to protect and cherish our understanding of our own identities..
unlike cisgendered people, we have to EARN our own identities!!!! it's an accomplishment for us...(so unfair, but that's besides the point)
and when we come to these forums to discuss life changing decisions, it's important to understand where a person is coming from.. it's not judging..it's important to help us all communicate and understand each other...

[Melody Moore]

Melody i think you missing the concept of desiring to keep your penis and liking your penis as compared to the laundry list of issues that cause TS women to miss out on srs...and i don't think it's a stretch for some to become resigned to keeping it..

Kaitlyn, I came from the same old beliefs as you & a lot of other people did with believing what defines a transsexual,
however after more study I have come to the conclusion that my own initial beliefs were very wrong, just like many
of the other misconceptions about what defines our gender that you see posted here. As for cis-women having a
vagina & not having a penis... Well how should a person identify if they are born intersex with ambiguous genitalia,
but they feel they are female in every other sense but they have a over-sized clitoris which looks just like a penis?

Since the age of 15 I have known I am a 'female' but I then repressed it because I had 'boy bits' & no matter what
I did to try & prove to myself I was a male, those feelings about my true gender identity being female & that I also
felt was wrong constantly kept creeping back in. So what defines my gender identity? What is between my legs or
could it be something else? could it be my feeling of self-identity? The fact I have some natural female attributes
including breasts? My chromosomes perhaps? I would have a vagina & a very big clit if my vagina wasn't removed.

So what defines me now? So what does it mean to have the diagnosis of "Intersex: Assigned Male/Transsexual Female"?
From what I understand & have been told, this means I am a person who was born with physical characteristics of both
sexes has been surgically reassigned as a male, but now transitioning because of my desire to live forever as a female.

Now you know why me, my doctor & my pyschologist all really hate labels... If I am this confused imagine how they feel?

well i guess someday when my circle of gg friends starts discussing what it's like th have a penis, i'll be able to tell them

Don't worry even being pre-op it's already started for me, some of my GG friends
are already asking me all sorts of questions like what is it like having a penis? My
reply is usually... Well how would you feel of you had a 6" clit when it was erect?

[Kaitlyn Michele]

kitty i guess you are right, i haven't asked them all...i'm wondering how you got to ask them!!! in any case, wanting to know what's its like is different than having one..

[Kaitlyn Michele]

Oddly enough, they discuss it from time to time amongst themselves. I've never asked, I've only been told and questioned.

well i guess someday when my circle of gg friends starts discussing what it's like th have a penis, i'll be able to tell them

[Bree-asaurus]

That's a broad brush stroke and not true. Aside from this site, I chat and hang out with cisgendered women exclusively, and when the subject has come up, each and every one of them has expressed a desire to have a penis. Not necessarily forever, they just want to know what it's like.

It's funny that you mention that... one of my ex-girlfriends said she wished she had one and knew what it would be like to use it. Again, not permanently :P