LadyAngelika
Posts: 8070
Joined: 7/4/2004
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ORIGINAL: dark~angel
Transgendered
Transexual
Transvestite
I find it interesting that None of the above are listed in any mainline Dictionaires Of Kink or BDSM. I would be grateful and interested in hearing how y'all out there who relate to the above words in any way(be it good or bad) feel about such?
Well that is because it is more a gender issue then a bdsm issue. But since some people might like definitions... <weg> I'm always up to sharing knowledge.
Some Transgender Definitions
There is still a lack of standardization of the language used to talk about issues of transgenderism, with advocates of one word or another often heatedly sparring in print over which is a more "correct" word or meaning. The discussions are almost always informed by personal logic and preference. This list includes words and phrases as I use (or not use) them in my presentations. Your future clients may or may not be familiar with these terms or may use them with a somewhat different meaning.
Benjamin Standards
A set of standards established by committee to guide therapists and surgeons in the process of male-to-female sexual reassignment. The standards are named after Dr. Harry Benjamin, who worked with Christine Jorgensen, the first American to receive sexual reassignment surgery. The standards are often modified or not applied to female-to-male transsexuals. The standards set minimum therapeutic and hormonal pre-requisites to surgery and are currently (1997) under revision. Copies of the current standards are available from Ingersoll Gender Center and can be found on the Internet.
Cross living
Living, working, playing full-time in the gender one feels oneself to be, in opposition to gender assigned at birth; often refers to the transition time prior to surgery.
Gender dysphoria
Clinical literature on transsexualism once spoke of transsexuals having "gender confusion." The term now used is "gender dysphoria," a fancy way of saying "extreme discomfort." Transsexuals, once given an understanding and a vocabulary for who they are, are confused mostly by society's reluctance to give them validity. The best science we currently have indicates that biological gender dysphoria is caused by hormonal fluctuations at a crucial time in fetal development.
Gender and Sexuality
For lack of its being an issue, people generally ignore the distinctions between gender and sexuality. Gender is about what kind of body one has, and gender identity is about whether one's core identity corresponds to the body or not. Sex roles are about what cultural role one plays in life--as a male or a female or somewhere in between. Sexual orientation is about whom one is sexually attracted to or has sex with--as a gay/lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual. Non-heterosexual orientation was removed from the DSM (Diagnostic Standards Manual) as mental illness in 1973.
Sexual Reassignment Surgery (Sex Change)
The term used for the set of surgeries to alter the gender of an individual. For male-to-female transsexuals, it usually involves amputation of testicles and most of the penis, inversion of the penis skin into a vagina, and optional breast implants, tracheal shaves, and labiaplasty. For female-to-male transsexuals, it involves mastectomy, hysterectomy, and optional attempts at creating a penis and scrotum. Preparatory and follow-up hormonal treatment is almost always given, and M to Fs often undergo long, expensive, painful electrolysis.
Transgenderal
A term used by therapists and generally a sign of someone who has been through an academic professional program. Seldom used by anyone else.
Transgenderism
A much debated term. It can be an umbrella term to refer to all forms of thinking and behavior across gender lines. Transgendered is also a catch phrase for people who don't quite fall into transvestite or transsexual categories.
Transsexual
A person who wishes and seriously acts upon the sense of having the wrong gender body, often-- though not always--culminating in sexual reassignment surgery. Pre-operative transsexuals include those not yet undergoing surgery; post-operative transsexuals are those who have received surgery; non-operative transsexuals are those who, for whatever reason, cannot or choose not to have surgery. NOTE ON PRONOUNS: All transsexuals are referred to by the pronouns of the gender they see themselves as being, whether they are pre-operative, non-operative, or post-operative. If in doubt, ask the individual.
Transvestitism/Crossdressing
Since our current society sees little or nothing wrong with women dressing as men and even insists on its fashionability at times, transvestism is generally not a issue for women in much of the world. Male transvestites differ from transsexuals in that they desire to dress and occasionally act as women, but do not consider themselves women or even want to be. Transvestites never seek sexual reassignment surgery, and most are heterosexual, often married. Clinicians recognize transvestism as a tranquilizer against the rigors of manliness. The usual forms of transvestism were removed from the list of mental illnesses in 1995. Many societies, including our own, have ritualized transvestism in religious ceremonies or in secular party times, like Halloween or Mardi Gras. Support groups and private events exist in most major cities in the U.S. for men who want to dress as women but feel unsafe in doing so publicly. "Crossdresser" is often the preferred term of those who participate in this behavior.
Gender Bender
A term used to refer to anyone who acts outside the generally accepted norms of gender behavior, usually by the way she or he dresses, without care about "what people think."
Intersexed
The term preferred by people born with both female and male characteristics; the more commonly used term in history is hermaphrodite. Children born with obvious intersexed characteristics are often operated on as an infant to remove whichever characteristics the family or surgeon decides should disappear. This may or may not coincide with which gender the child considers him/herself to be.
Drag Queens
A term used to refer to gay men (usually) who dress in a feminine manner, often exaggeratedly so. If they do it on stage as well, they also are impersonators and the terms are sometimes interchangable. The female form of this is the drag king. Most commonly found in bars, parties, and parades, as well on television.
Female/Male Impersonators
Though once used as a term to refer to anyone wearing the opposite gender's clothing, it is now used to refer to those who do so for theatrical reasons. Off stage, they seldom even think of wearing such clothing. Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, Julie Andrews and many other well-known actors and actresses have done impersonations. In countries/times when women were not allowed on stage, all female parts were played by men or boys.
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Source: http://www.sexuality.org/l/incoming/trbasic.html
- LA
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Une main de fer dans un gant de velours ~ An iron hand in a velvet glove
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