TG 101

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What is transgender?

Transgender is a relatively new term minted to consolidate the sometimes disparate group of people who share the experience of an “appearance and behavior [that] do not conform to the cultural ‘norm’ for the gender into which they were born.” For trans folk, the sex of male or female they were assigned at birth just doesn't reflect their own knowledge of their gender.  Sometimes it's cause they are really the opposite of the sex they were assigned, sometimes it's cause they feel a need to dress up as the other sex occasionally, sometimes it's cause their gender incorporates pieces of both check boxes, or neither.   There's a bunch of different possibilities.  And this phenomena echoes most of the rest of nature, where biodiversity results in a natural range of characteristics in all animals, whether it be colors, or weights, or genders. 

Words and Phobias and People

Prior to the 1990s, transsexuals and transvestites were often grouped under the umbrella term homosexual by outsiders.  Now, we separate out how gender identity and sexual orientation are measured.  Around 1990, the word transgender was made up to refer to the group of all gender variant people.  Now we understand that sexual orientation is about who one partners with, while gender identity is about your own perception of who you are.  So, you can be transgender without being homosexual (tho this whole area does get complicated).  We do know there's a lot of overlap between these groups in real life.  For example, in one study it was found that 89% of transgender respondents also identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.  This overlap is probably why LGBT is grouped together, even tho LGB refer to sexual orientation and T refers to gender identity.  In a similar evolution of language, homophobia is often used to talk about a wide range of discrimination, but advocates argue that it's often a visual impression of gender variance that leads to unwanted reactions -- cause face it, most folk don't know exactly who you're sleeping with.  Enter the new word transphobia.  Some have gone further too, skipping the fear-based words and instead labeling the systematic oppression of people who do not meet societal gender roles as genderism.

Glossary

The following definitions are commonly used in the transgender community.  For one of the terms, “transition”, the common definition has been expanded for this study.  Many of these definitions come from Goodrum's Gender Identity 101: A Transgender Primer.

“Transgender (or TG) refers to people whose appearance and behavior do not conform to the cultural "norm" for the gender into which they were born.” ¹

“Crossdressers (previously known as transvestites) identify as, and are completely comfortable with, their physical gender at birth, but will occasionally dress and take on the mannerisms of the opposite gender.   Most crossdressers are heterosexual men.” ¹

“Drag Performers dress and act like the ‘opposite’ sex for the entertainment of an audience. For them, drag is a job - not an identity.” ¹

FTM stands for female-to-male, it is applied to people who were assigned female at birth and are moving towards the male end of the gender continuum.

Gender dysphoria is “the state, as subjectively experienced, of incongruity between the genital anatomy and gender identity. Transexualism is its extreme end.” ¹¹

Gender expression – “External manifestation of one's gender identity, usually expressed through "masculine" or "feminine" behavior, clothing, haircut, voice or body characteristics. Typically, transgender people seek to make their gender expression match their gender identity, rather than their birth-assigned sex.” ¹²

Gender identity is the sense of where you belong on the spectrum of male to female.

Gender oppression is the class of behaviors that serve to reinforce societal norms about appropriate gender behavior. 

Gender variant refers to behavior or self-identity that does not conform to the cultural "norm" for the sex assignment at birth. 

Genderqueer, genderblenders, bi-gendered, androgynes and others “Not all transgender people fit neatly into the above categories. For some, such characterizations of gender and gender identity are more constraining than liberating. Gender blenders may or may not identify as one or the other in a binary gender system (i.e. either/or, male/female) and many times will assume a mixture of male and female dress and characteristics, combining elements of both.” ¹

Johns refers to the clients of sex workers.

MTF stands for male-to-female.  It is applied to people who were assigned male at birth and are moving towards the female end of the gender continuum.

Non-conformist gender identity is one that does not conform to a person’s birth sex.

Passing refers to the state of being unidentifiable as gender variant or transgender. 

“Sexual orientation refers to whom you love or have sex with.” ¹

Stealth refers to being unidentifiable as gender variant or transgender.  This word is usually associated with longer term immersion in a gender normative community.

“Transexual is “a person who has a deep, core identity of the gender opposite to their born sex.” ¹³

Transition is commonly used to refer to a transexual person’s change from presenting as one sex to the opposite one (e.g. a natal female transitions into being male).  In this study, I deliberately expand this definition to include the broader transgender phenomena of reconciling ones public and private gender identity.  (e.g. a natal female transitions into being genderqueer).

Transphobia literally means fear of transgender people, but is most commonly used to refer to actions or behaviors that are negative towards transgender people.