Preconceptions of Transgenderism

  • meansomething

    meansomething (100)

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    To start, I am a transgender male (transitioned from female). Before realizing that I needed to transition, I could never relate to the notions society hinted to me about why people do so. I found that on television, transgender people were rarely brought up other than to be the butt of jokes, and I never heard about anyone who was trans mentioned in mainstream articles except when it was intended for shock value to get more hits on a news website or something. No one had ever let me in on how transgender people actually felt, or that they lived like anyone else, coexisting often without anyone really realizing their history.

    Many things are unfair in this world, and much of it can be attributed to widespread stereotypes. Based on your experiences, what is the stereotype the society you live in pushes about people who transition to a gender other than what they were believed to be at birth? Do you think that the image of transgender persons is getting better or staying the same as far as you can remember?

    Any input on this is appreciated, as I'm very interested in this topic.
    April 25th, 2014 at 09:50am
  • AmorarEsDeVivir

    AmorarEsDeVivir (100)

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    It took me a long time to get rid of the notion that a transgender person is "a man trapped in a woman's body" or vice versa. That overly simplistic explanation leads to the kinds of mindsets that make people think it's okay to ask a transgender person what kind of genitals they have--you start to think that if a transgender person is a man trapped in a woman's body, then the goal is to get him into a man's body.

    It took...oddly enough, an amazing piece of spoken word poetry: "Boobs" by Ollie Renee Schminkey. "I am not trapped in my body. I am trapped in other peoples' perceptions of my body." [...] "My body is not wrong. The way people talk about my body is wrong. But my body is the only thing I can change." [...] "I was not born into the wrong body. I was born into a world that doesn't know what my body means."

    (The whole poem is fantastic and I learned so much from it.)

    I still have a hard time finding the vocabulary to put into words my understanding of what this poet meant, but it really was the first thing that made me understand why thinking of a transgender person as "a [insert gender] trapped in a [insert opposite gender]'s body." And it wasn't until I finally got rid of that way of thinking that I could start to understand what it might mean to be genderqueer, or nonbinary, or one of many, many other gender identities as well. Not to say, of course, that those are the same thing as being transgender. But learning this new way of looking at what it might mean to be transgender was also a gateway for me in understanding the breakdown of the gender binary, which was a big deal for me.
    September 5th, 2014 at 08:16am
  • solo sunrise

    solo sunrise (260)

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    It seems like you have to fit into gender stereotypes really well (ex. trans women must be super feminine) in order to be considered "really" trans. The moment you do something that's expected of your assigned gender (versus your identified gender) people come from all directions to say, "are you sure you're not really x gender?" (female, in my case).
    AmorarEsDeVivir:
    It took me a long time to get rid of the notion that a transgender person is "a man trapped in a woman's body" or vice versa. That overly simplistic explanation leads to the kinds of mindsets that make people think it's okay to ask a transgender person what kind of genitals they have--you start to think that if a transgender person is a man trapped in a woman's body, then the goal is to get him into a man's body.
    This too. Also, "what bathroom do you use?", "what about dating?" and the notion that if you don't disclose that you're trans (called going stealth, often for safety reasons), you're somehow lying to everyone.
    February 7th, 2015 at 07:30am
  • FuckNo

    FuckNo (100)

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    I confess to being still very ignorant when it comes to all issues concerning trans. I still even recently started figuring out pronouns when it comes to trans individuals, because I just hadn't learned it before and it just hadn't really been discussed. Even in college in my area, the trans part of the LBGTQI+ community was one of the least talked about aspects. I do know that it came up sort of in my abnormal psychology class, but that's because it's still at least somewhat listed in the DSM IV listing of other mental health issues. It's listed in there alongside transvestites and some of my classmates didn't really see a difference in a transvestite and a transgendered individual. That resulted in a lengthy argument.

    I think the discussion is slowly moving along and it is getting more attention lately. That is a good thing, but in some areas, especially the midwest and the south, we're still more than a little behind. I think that it's getting better, but at a snail's pace. I also do know that I'm really curious about what the situations entail and wanting more information, but a lot of the time I feel really stupid about some of the questions I have. I also really, really don't want to offend anyone so I'm just not sure how to even approach the topic a lot of the time. I don't want to be that CIS person that comes across as an asshole when they open their mouth.

    So as stupid as this sounds, I'd love, love, love to see more representation of trans individuals in the media. Partially for just exposure but also to just kind of educate people on everything that's going on and maybe help people approach the situation/learn how to talk about it. Although then I feel weird about telling the trans community to educate everyone on how to treat people decently, because it's not fair, but...I just ;alskdaf;lsdkjf I don't want to say or do the wrong thing and sometimes I just don't know.
    February 7th, 2015 at 08:31pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    My biggest confusion was how to tell old stories about a person pre-transition. It was actually an agony aunt column that reminded me a trans person is born trans. Therefore, even before transitioning, they are trans. And that made things so much simpler to understand.

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    I would really love to see trans actors playing trans characters.
    February 10th, 2015 at 03:21pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    I have a close family member who is trans. I was writing about trans characters a few years before they came out so my biggest issue was I had glamorized this trans issue for literature. I didn't truly understand it and I was the family's resident expert. As a cis person, it isn't my place to dictate that conversation. A lot of my experience was recognizing my privilege and stepping back.

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    Most common misconceptions are that it relates to sexual orientation. "Well, why don't you just be gay?" Like trans gay people don't exist. Rolling Eyes

    Young people are more accepting but not entirely.
    February 10th, 2015 at 03:24pm