Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

torn lace · 12-11-2003, 12:40 PM

I'm a peer educator through the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) center at my college, and have received extensive training on these issues, so i'll try to field your questions to the best of my ability.

An important quote:
"I can't say who I am unless you agree I'm real." - Imamu Amiri Baraka

First i'd like to clear up some terms. Currently within the trans-community, a transgender man is a trans-individual who was assigned female at birth and lives as a man. A transgendered woman is a trans-individual who was assigned male at birth and lives as a woman. The reason behind this is that trans-men and trans-women consider themselves to be men and women, and they are not solely defined by their birth or assigned sex, though that is part of what makes up their gender.

So from now on i'll be using these terms. From reading your post, i'm guessing you are referring to a trans-woman, not a trans-man, but i'll answer inclusively, speaking of the trans-community in general.

In order to get a better understanding of what gender is, i'll explain its three components:

1. Sex. Sex is the biological/anatomic or organic sexual markers that are only assigned meaning in a social context. There is a large overlap between female and male, and they may change over time.

2. Gender Role. Gender roles are the social and perceived expectations of gendered acts or expressions. Examples include the stereotypes that boys play with guns and wear pants while girls play with dolls and wear skirts. These vary within cultures and are temporal.

3. Gender Identity. Gender Identity is the SELF conception of one's gender, and it may or may not have an organic component. Each person's gender identity is unique, and is often complimented by social perceptions, ie, someone confirming or disconfirming how you choose to identify.

Putting these three together truly makes up a person's Gender. Gender has often been thought as being binary, and synonymous with 'sex'. But it's important to consider gender as a spectrum or infinite series, that is individually defined for each person, ie, "there are six billion genders, one for each living person."

Transgender encompasses many communities. Transgender can be defined as "people who transcend typical gender paradigms", "an umbrella term used to group the many gender different communities", and as a "core identity", like race/religion/class/abilities etc.

It is important to recognize that transgender identity is seperate from sexual orientation. Trans-women attracted to women may identify as lesbian, trans-men attracted to men may identify as gay. Trans-women attracted to men and trans-men attracted to women may identify as straight. Trans-people may also identify as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, asexual, or celibate.

I hope this answered your questions. If I wasn't clear or if you want me to get more specific on questions you have, feel free to ask! I got all of this information from a training i received from Carrie Davis, MSW, who is the coordinator of Center CARE's Group Services and Gender Identity Project (GIP), through the NYC LGBT community center, (http://www.gaycenter.org)

-Justine

12-11-2003, 12:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
torn lace Upright Location: East Village, NYC	I'm a peer educator through the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) center at my college, and have received extensive training on these issues, so i'll try to field your questions to the best of my ability. An important quote: "I can't say who I am unless you agree I'm real." - Imamu Amiri Baraka First i'd like to clear up some terms. Currently within the trans-community, a transgender man is a trans-individual who was assigned female at birth and lives as a man. A transgendered woman is a trans-individual who was assigned male at birth and lives as a woman. The reason behind this is that trans-men and trans-women consider themselves to be men and women, and they are not solely defined by their birth or assigned sex, though that is part of what makes up their gender. So from now on i'll be using these terms. From reading your post, i'm guessing you are referring to a trans-woman, not a trans-man, but i'll answer inclusively, speaking of the trans-community in general. In order to get a better understanding of what gender is, i'll explain its three components: 1. Sex. Sex is the biological/anatomic or organic sexual markers that are only assigned meaning in a social context. There is a large overlap between female and male, and they may change over time. 2. Gender Role. Gender roles are the social and perceived expectations of gendered acts or expressions. Examples include the stereotypes that boys play with guns and wear pants while girls play with dolls and wear skirts. These vary within cultures and are temporal. 3. Gender Identity. Gender Identity is the SELF conception of one's gender, and it may or may not have an organic component. Each person's gender identity is unique, and is often complimented by social perceptions, ie, someone confirming or disconfirming how you choose to identify. Putting these three together truly makes up a person's Gender. Gender has often been thought as being binary, and synonymous with 'sex'. But it's important to consider gender as a spectrum or infinite series, that is individually defined for each person, ie, "there are six billion genders, one for each living person." Transgender encompasses many communities. Transgender can be defined as "people who transcend typical gender paradigms", "an umbrella term used to group the many gender different communities", and as a "core identity", like race/religion/class/abilities etc. It is important to recognize that transgender identity is seperate from sexual orientation. Trans-women attracted to women may identify as lesbian, trans-men attracted to men may identify as gay. Trans-women attracted to men and trans-men attracted to women may identify as straight. Trans-people may also identify as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, asexual, or celibate. I hope this answered your questions. If I wasn't clear or if you want me to get more specific on questions you have, feel free to ask! I got all of this information from a training i received from Carrie Davis, MSW, who is the coordinator of Center CARE's Group Services and Gender Identity Project (GIP), through the NYC LGBT community center, (http://www.gaycenter.org) -Justine __________________ make it electric.