Quote Originally Posted by ReineD View Post
I still say, we don't have enough labels (I prefer to use "definitions"), since everyone is using their own version of what they think two or three different words mean, and no one can agree.

Can you imagine the mess our world would be in if we only had "apple", "orange", and "banana" to describe all the fruits? Goodness, there'd be wars between people who call a papaya an orange, and people who call pineapples the same. lol
That hits the nail on the head, Reine. The major problem is the Latin language, which is very imprecise when parts are taken out of context, and the prefix "trans-":

a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin (transcend; transfix); on this model, used with the meanings “across,” “beyond,” “through,” “changing thoroughly,” “transverse,” in combination with elements of any origin: transisthmian; trans-Siberian; transempirical; transvalue.

It doesn't define what we want. It gets used for single direction ("transsexual") and omnidirectional ("transvestite"). Obviously the latter can change clothes in both directions at will.

The term "transgender", as it has been defined, is so wide that you can drive a fleet of buses through it. You may as well just change it to "human" and be done with it. Freddy's definition of it, as I read it, is more accurately derived and far more precise:

a person who changes their gender (not their sex or sexual preferences) to that of the opposite gender.

I read that as being a single-directional term, similar to "transsexual". Using this definition Freddy is not "Transgender" and neither am I. (Sorry if I got it wrong, Freddy. )

Of course, we can never correct all this. The media demands an umbrella term that can be applied to everyone who doesn't fit into the commonly accepted norm. They've applied "Transgender" to that and we're stuck with it. So, "Transsexuals" (pre-op, post-op or whatever), you are "Transgender" whether you like it or not (and you always will be). So are you, "Crossdressers" and/or "Transvestites". The media says so. The actual definition has become so diluted now that it's completely useless.

If this post doesn't get me flamed I've done something wrong. :D