transgendered people?

Question

i dont know what that means exactly, but i think i have the idea down. i was just curious per say, if a guy wanted to change his gender and he changed and added body parts to look like a girl, would he consider himself male or female? is it legal to change your gender? just wondering, its been bothering me since ever b/c its confusing.

Answer 1

Well, there's actually some various terms we should get down first.

Transgendered: individuals who feel that they are not one of the two dichotomous genders (male or female). They may feel they are a mixture of male and female, neither, or a 'third gender' that is totally different. Transgenders often include masculine women, feminine men, and so on, although there are some people who look 'normal' (whatever that means), but can still identify as transgender in their minds. They, like transvestites, are completely happy in their bodies- they do not want to change them at all, just acknolwedge that they aren't entirely men or women in the way we currently define men and women.

Transsexual: a person who has gender dysphoria (feels they have been born in the wrong body) and takes hormones and undergoes surgery to change their sex. Sometimes transgendered people may later become transsexuals, and transsexuals may, after surgery, be transgender (i.e. if a man transitioned to a woman, she may be happier as a woman, but still know that she's not quite right as a female, either- look up Kate Bornstein for a good example of this). Some transsexuals never do get on hormones or have surgery, and they are called non-operative, and while they may seem no different than transgenders, they are, because they feel trapped in the wrong body, but choose not to rectify it for any number of reasons, often including the high cost.

So, speaking of transsexuals (and not transgenders), they almost unanimously consider themselves to be the sex they transitioned to, but it's going to depend on the individual. Most transsexuals (both female-to-male and male-to-female), it seems, consider themselves as the sex that they are transitioning to, whether pre-op or not. Pre-op transwomen merely think of themselves as women that have a pesky penis, waiting for the surgery to get rid of it. I know that some transsexuals do feel that they are a 'third sex', if you will. For example, female-to-male transsexual Matt Kailey wrote in his book that he was having difficulty identifying as a man- he knew he was different. His therapist suggested perhaps that he wasn't just a man, but a man with a past as a woman, and they termed him not a man, but a transman- a word that encompassed the whole of his identity. This might be true of male-to-female transsexuals as well. Look up Kate Bornstein, an MtF who is completely happy living her life as a woman and absolutely adores her new female body, but acknowledges that she identifies as transgender (someone who is like a 'third sex'). Of course, these are only some transpeople who identify this way. You'll find some transsexuals who openly tell everyone they are trans- they consider that to be their gender/sex. And then you'll have ones who refuse to even refer to their transsexual status- in their eyes, they are whatever sex they transitioned to, period, not transsexual women, but just women. The one thing that is guaranteed is that they don't think of themselves as the sex they were born as, at all.

And yes, in most states, it is legal to change your gender. You have to prove through licensed medical professionals that you are gender dysphoric (born in the wrong body) and that you are taking steps to transition to the opposite sex, but if you are, you can petition the courts to allow you to legally change your sex. Many transsexuals do so with no problem, so that all their official documents (except birth certificate and a few others) proclaim them to be the new sex.

Hope that helps you!

Answer 2

Ok. The first concept to graps is the difference between "sex" and "gender". "Sex" is physical. The exact definition STILL gets hazy. Legally, it varies from state to state. I think some still just always use the letter on your birth certificate. Others literally specify that if you urinate through a penis, you're male. Otherwise, you're female. (Imagine what this means if a male who identifies as male gets into a maiming car accident or somesuch....). Biologically speaking, there are actually FIVE variations of genetic sex, not to mention other syndromes that can lead to ambiguous sex. In NO definition does there actually exist the perfect dichotomy that we've all been raised with. That's all just about the physical.

GENDER refers to the internal gender identity. How someone identifies. And it's also heavily related to how they interact with society (gender traits, gender roles, gender scripts...society has a LOT of arbitrarily assigned expectations of someone that directly correlate to their gender). If the physical sex is hazy at best, you can imagine how complex gender actually gets.

To answer the questions you directly asked: most people who have physical "work" done are born one sex, but identify as the opposite gender. They are trying to physically change their sex to correspond to the gender they feel they always have been. A male-bodied transperson who alters their body USUALLY identifies as a woman. And the gender change is USUALLY legal depending on what happens physically (in the US, again, it varies from state to state), though I understand there can be a lot of hassle to go through to get that done. And in the States, they usually only LET certain people get the surgery done; namely those who qualify for Gender Identity Dysphoria in the DSM IV. In essence, you pretty much need a "doctor's note" to get your gender / sex legally changed. Unless you meant "is it illegal to change your gender" in which case no, it's not.

Answer 3

Allie...
You have the wrong term....We are called Transsexuals....The term Transgendered is a blanket term covering everyone outside the gender norm.
A male-to- female transsexual would consider herself female...And this would be evident by her Birth certificate, Drivers License,social security and all other legal documents would read female.
The same holds true for the female-to-male...

Answer 4

Hello darling,
The word at it's root means gender in transition.
Yes, someone who has had the surgery would consider themselves as being the gender they now outwardly reflect. And it is common courtesy to do the same by recognizing that change.
Just as someone named Joanne might prefer to be called Joe, it is common courtesy for us to refer to that person by the name they prefer for themselves.
The legalities of the matter vary from place to place.
Generally legal matters are guided by one legal documentation such as driver's license, birth certificate etc.
I have heard that people who have made the change have been able to alter their documentation to correctly reflect their renewed state of being and I believe this to be the only proper coarse of action.