05-05-20, 21:31 | #1 |
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Can someone give me a better understanding of people who are Transgender?
Until recently, I didn't have much of an understanding as to what was meant by the term "Transgender." However, I have crossed paths with a few Transgender people, and this has led to me having what I think is a basic understanding.
My understanding is as follows: Some people believe that they were born in the wrong body; they feel like a man trapped in a woman's body or a woman trapped in a man's body. They feel that gender is not determined by the bodies that we're in but who we feel that we are in our heads and hearts. People who are Transgender will identify as one gender despite having the body of the other gender. Some Transgender people undergo Sex Changes so that they will then have the body of the gender that they are identifying as. Is my understanding correct? Is there more that I need to know? I'm aware that I could probably just use Google in order to find answers, but I wanted to hear your thoughts. Is anyone on TRF Transgender? Does anybody on TRF know people who are Transgender? Talk away. |
05-05-20, 21:40 | #2 |
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You have a pretty good understanding on what it means to be Transgender, you’re born in the wrong body. People view your sex and gender as two different things, that’s something I don’t fully understand, so perhaps someone could educate me on that.
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05-05-20, 22:33 | #3 |
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Your sex is determined by the sexual organs you have, while gender is more of an emotional state of how we feel that we are. Gender is also a social concept devised to distinguish the differences between each sex. The two are often interchangeable,being considered the same, or used to be. IE, on an application form, you might have been asked your sex, male or female, while on another form you may have been asked for your gender, male or female. I was brought up with that understanding. These days though, with better understanding of transgender issues, the two are understood to be separate. With sex being the body you're born into.
That's my understanding of it. Last edited by Rai; 05-05-20 at 22:35. |
05-05-20, 22:59 | #4 |
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From a scientific and medical standpoint, someone who is transgender has a condition called gender dysphoria. This is a disconnect where the individual feels immense discomfort at their natural sex characteristics. This might possibly be caused by atypical brain structure that is closer to that of the opposite sex, some studies have found.
Physically transitioning to the opposite sex through hormone therapy and/or gender reassignment surgeries can be a corrective treatment, that helps some people alleviate their gender dysphoria. While the identity aspect of being trans is obviously important, and gives us easy language to talk about being trans in an everyday context, I think it's important not to lose that there is a lot of medical stuff that goes into it. It's more than just a political statement or about clothing or about "redefining gender" or whatever else people on all sides of politics try to frame it as. I like to look at it as apolitically as possible and not reduce it down to that stuff. I do think gender and sex are intrinsically linked and overlap. Personally, I view gender as common observations of the general differences in behaviour between the sexes, as influenced by our physicality and our hormones. We then assign gendered things onto the sexes, some of which are based in discernible reality and some of which are totally pulled from thin air (such as "pink is a feminine colour"). There will always be some inherent "genderedness" to things because biology has made us a distinct sexual dichotomy. I think it only becomes oppressive when a society beats "this is what should be normal for your sex" over an anomalous, naturally non-conforming person's head, such as a trans person. Last edited by Yeauxleaux; 05-05-20 at 23:26. |
06-05-20, 21:44 | #5 |
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Yes, many of them.
Last edited by Ashnod; 06-05-20 at 21:48. |
06-05-20, 23:37 | #6 |
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Awwwww a thread about me!
So for the most part your understanding is fairly accurate, Transgender individuals are born physically one way and then "assigned X at birth" based on their sex. Gender however is based on an emotional and internal state of being, how you feel and how you represent yourself. For me growing up, I was assigned male at birth, and until 22 I identified as a male. However when I was younger I always felt like a female, I would identify with woman more than men, I played and interacted with more female toys and had more female friends than male friends growing up, I always wished I was a female on every birthday growing up. It was in my mind that I was female. Now studies have shown that Transgender individuals do have unique brains, in regards to their gender identity. However from the above post, actually not all Transgender individuals suffer from Gender Dysphoria. I myself have never had an extreme discomfort or hate for my body, I just simply knew that it was wrong. From who I envisioned myself in my head, and what I saw were contradictory, but there was not major hate or discomfort, or uncomfortable-ness. However some individuals due suffer from it quite a bit. Now some Transgender individuals undergo Hormone Replacement Therapy, HRT for short. Before this however one does need to speak with a professional to get the okay to go forward with that, and they determine whether or not what you describe is that of someone who is Trans. From there, you seek out an Endocrinologist who supplies hormones etc for you to take to counteract what is already in your body. Thus going through another puberty etc. After a year or several years, you would have to speak with another professional if wanting to undergo Gender Affirmation Surgery, which is the process of aligning your physical sex with your gender. Now not everyone is interested in this, as it can be very expensive and very daunting. Those are just a few notes while I am on my break at work, but any add. questions I would be more than happy to answer. Also; Google is our friend. https://www.glaad.org/transgender/transfaq https://transequality.org/issues/res...sgender-people https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/848356...ity-expression THE GENDER UNICORN IS ADORABLE. Last edited by Tsarina; 07-05-20 at 00:09. |
07-05-20, 16:49 | #7 |
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Thank you for the posts; it's given me more of an insight.
I was oblivious to this whole idea that sex and gender can be viewed as two different things; I've always thought of them as being the same. I wonder if gender stereotypes are partially to blame for people being transgender; I can imagine people feeling that they're trapped in the wrong body as a result of the idea that women are meant to think and behave one way, whereas men are meant to think and behave another way. There's also stereotypes surrounding what hobbies and interests men generally have VS the hobbies and interests that women generally have. @Tsarina You've said that you're transgender. This makes me think that either you're a man stuck in a woman's body or a woman stuck in a man's body. Are you comfortable commenting on this or is it a personal matter? I will obviously respect your wishes if you'd rather not say. |
07-05-20, 16:54 | #8 | ||
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07-05-20, 18:10 | #9 |
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It's probably worth mentioning that the transgender community is anything but united on several issues (especially these days). Many will say that if you do not suffer from gender dysphoria you are a trender who is stealing valuable, desperately needed resources and care from those who actually need them, for who it is literally a matter if life and death.
Some consider those people to be gatekeepers and call them transphobic for holding that opinion. People within the community viciously attack eachother issues surrounding things like dysphoria, personal responsibility regarding making an effort to pass, self identifying etc. And as well as dealing with their own community, no secret that a lot of people within the lesbian community have a problem with trans people being in the LGB community because of various issues. |
07-05-20, 18:19 | #10 |
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They're trash. We wouldn't have a notion of LGB with no T. Pretty hypocritical in some cases when those lesbians have had similar treatments.
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