Define transgendered?

Question

What is transgendered, and what makes it different from being gay?

There is a special on TV right now about a 13 year old who was born as a girl and now lives as a male. I don't get it.. does (s)he have male organs or female?

Answer 1

You want a definition in SIMPLE terms? ok..then ME..I am transgendered. I am also transsexual, but I am pre-op not post-op. Confused yet? lol...let me try to straighten some things out, because it's obvious that after reading these answers, most people don't have a clue.

The word "transgendered" actually is an umbrella term that encompasses anyone who defies traditional "gender roles" of a society. This could be people who are actually transsexual, crossdressers, drag queens, drag kings, butch lesbians, tomboys, transvestites, ect. These people do not necessarily have to "dress" as the opposite gender nor do they feel they ARE the opposite gender, they just defy traditional gender roles of what "males" should do and look like and what "females" should do and act like.

Transsexual on the other hand is someone who often is diagnosed also with gender dysphoria. This is where there is an incongruency between the physical birth sex and the "brain sex" of the person. And the transsexual will go through steps to correct the physical problem, because that's the way they see it. They feel strongly that they should have been born the opposite sex from which their external genetalia displays. There are "pre-op" and "post-op" transsexuals. Pre-ops are people who are either at the beginning processes of their sex change, like with just therapy or just hormones or both, or some choose NEVER to get surgery or hormones at all, and just live as the opposite sex(which would actually be more along the definitions of transvestite, but not completely, because there's no sexual thrill coming out of it) Post-op transsexuals are those who are not living full time in the sex from which they were born, through sexual resassignment surgery and have had permanent modification of their genetials to resemble as closely as possible that of the opposite sex from which they were born.

NOW...where a LOT of people get confused is that being GAY has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with being transgendered or transsexual. Homosexuality is a SAME SEX attraction, not necessarily a SAME GENDER attraction. Confused at the difference? Think of it this way...
gender is between the ears, sex is between the legs. Our gender is WHO we are, and our sex is WHAT we are. So, two gay men are attracted to male genetalia, which is usually accompanied by male gender as well. Two lesbian women are attracted to female genitals, with female gender usually. However...not all transsexuals are "gay" before they begin their transition process. Sexual attraction has nothing to do with gender. For example..I myself, am a female to male transsexual. My entire life, I have been attracted to women sexually. So, to many people, before my transition, I would have been labeled as a "lesbian" or a "butch lesbian" more specifically. But this is not accurate because I do not see MYSELF as a woman. I see myself as a man, and see my own sexual orientation as that of a straight male. Since my transition, I still am attracted to women. But, to society NOW, since I look MALE and I like WOMEN, then in non trans people's eyes, 'man + woman = straight man and straight woman'...even though MY OWN sexual orientation hasn't changed, I've ALWAYS liked women, both as a "female" and as a male...however, *I* have always seen myself as male, so in MY mind, I've ALWAYS been a straight man, but to SOCIETY..I went from "butch lesbian" to "straight man"..but as soon as someone finds out that I was born a girl..the first thing they say is "oh, so you're a lesbian?"..no..I'm NOT a lesbian..I am a MALE who was just born in a FEMALE body..get it?

Answer 2

Transgendered person is basically someone that lives as the opposite sex or has had or going through a sex change (transsexual) or does not identify themselves as male or female or a person that does not fit the stereotypical gender role. It is a blanket term for all gender identity issues.

To answer your question about the show. The 13 year old has female sex organs but lives as a boy because he feels he was meant to be born a boy. We all start out as the same sex and then develop into male or female while in the womb. So it is more than logical to assume that sometimes the development might not happen in the typical fashion. One might develop male genitalia but have the brain of a female or vice verse or sometimes one might have both male and female genitalia. Humanity! Fascinating and wonderful!

Answer 3

A person of transgender is a female born in a male body or a male born in a female body. Studies show it happen in the womb and is not a choice. It is scary and confusing. Some repress it for a time but their soul, heart and mind make it hard to continue and then they are free to be who they were meant to be. They are courageous and misunderstood. It is like being born with a birth defect and should be corrected with health care funds.

Answer 4

Transgendered means to identify with a sex different than with the genital equipment you were born with. Someone that is transgendered can have male genitals but identify as either a male or female and vice versa. Transgendered does not necessarily mean gay or straight. Sounds confusing and is - if you really want to research, go to google and type in transgendered and there will be a ton of info.

Answer 5

Here are some general terms to help you out:

Transvestite: someone who dresses as the opposite sex. There are various reasons why someone does so- sometimes it is sexually arousing, and sometimes it simply just feels right. Some transvestites only do so in the privacy of their home, possibly shared with their family, and others are happy to go outside in this 'drag'. The defining characteristic is that transvestites, or cross-dressers, as they are known, do not want to be the sex that they sometimes dress as- they are happy in their bodies, but sometimes like to wear those clothes.

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.

Hermaphrodite: a somewhat antiquated term for what we now call 'intersexuals', somebody who is born with any number of mixes of sex. These can include chromosomal mixtures not typically seen in men and women (instead of XX or XY, there are some X's, XXY, etc.), in hormones (some people have no indication that they are intersexed but for a lack of or insensitivity to certain hormones), or in secondary sex characteristics like breasts and genitals (some people have a mixture of genitals, with testicles and a clitoris, no penis, a vagina and undescended testicles, etc., etc.), voice, body hair, skin texture, bone structure, fat distribution, height, etc.. There are MANY different types of intersexuality, and not just a 'both girl and boy parts' kind.

Hope that helps!

Answer 6

I asked this same question a while back and here is the answer I chose as the best.

Best Answer - Chosen By You

A transgendered person is none of the other answers. There is no requirement for surgery, and cross dressing does not qualify.

A transgendered person is usually diagnosed with gender disphoria: they feel inside like they are the opposite gender and that their exterior physical characteristics (especially genitalia) do not match their interior feelings.

Many transgendered people do go through surgery, but not all. Surgery is actually very expensive. Those that do opt for surgery have expressed relief that they can finally live the life externally that they felt internally, however they must constantly take hormones in order to keep from regressing.

People who cross dress are transvestites. They enjoy wearing the opposite gender's clothing but do not necessarily wish to become the opposite gender through surgery. Some straight men cross dress, and some gay men perform as drag queens but neither condition means for certain that they wish to live their lives as women.

Answer 7

transgender: someone who is born into one gender but feels that they should have been born into the other gender. (for example, a man who feels he should have been born as a woman.)
The 13-year-old transgender officially has female sex organs until she undergoes a sex change operation.
Transgender men and women can love the same sex or the opposite sex, respectively. Gay men and women, by contrast, only romantically love the same sex but do not feel that they have been born into the wrong gender.

Answer 8

Being gay means that one is attracted to the same gender. A ‘transgendered’ person is someone who exhibits appearances or behaviors opposite their birth sex. Their gender identity differs from their physical sex. Transgendered people are born this way and have no choice in who they are.

Answer 9

Well, this is partially what I found on Wikipedia: "Non-identification with, or non-presentation as, the gender one was assigned at birth."

So, I take it to mean that a person born as a girl may dress and/or act like a boy simply because she doesn't identify w/being female. How that occurs is beyond me, though.

Answer 10

my understanding is that some very few people are born with undefined sex organs. In early developement of the human fetus, we are all the same with no sex organs, a small stem cell begins to take on the process of sex differentiation. The penis and the clitoris start as the same basic thing in a fetus. You kind of get an inny or an outy depending on which sex your going to be. Some peoples developement goes awry and they are left with a hole for vagina and a very large clitoris that is like a small penis. Breast developement and presence of egg sacs as well as the size of thier clito/penis depends on how much more man or woman they are. This is certainly the case for hermaphrodites, and i assume TG as well.