trlr:
Great illustration of the transgender umbrella.
And yes, the common use of the word transgender is as a broad term encompassing all types of gender variance. If anyone says otherwise, lead him, her, they or hir to this blog post!
(Image by Mel Reiff Hill borrowed from a blogpost by Zierota Slingen)
Drag queens and kings are trans now?
COOL, everyone gets the trans sticker!Dude apparently transvestites are trans now. Just because you get off by crossdressing, that doesn’t make you trans.
Masculine women and feminine men too. How long does this bullshit have to continue?
Shit I didn’t even notice that. Apparently half of my friends fall under the trans umbrella now.
Wow I guess my cisgender boyfriend is actual trans. I better break the news to him that only masculine men and feminine women who wear completely gender appropriate clothes and fit the social normative of what is supposed to be considered male/female are actual cis wowowowow this is super exciting! EVERYONE is trans :o
No one has ever said that everyone is trans. The fact is that the great majority of people feel comfortable in their sex identity and gender roles. They are definitely cisgender.
The term “feminine men” and “masculine women” above refers to people whose sex identity fits their assigned sex, but whose personality profile and gender expressions are more in line with what is considered appropriate for the opposite sex (think stone butch, masculine girlfag, feminine MTF crossdresser). These people struggle hard to find their place in a world that do not take those kinds of gender violations lightly.
The term transgender has for the last 30 years or so been defined as an umbrella term embracing all types of gender variance, that is people who do not fit into the neat and easy package of traditional “normal” gender identification (and please do notice the quotation marks). You have no right to redefine it.
The term transgender is a culturally fluid term. It is relative to norms defined by a sexually oppressive society. In this respect it is different from the term transsexual, which requires a clear identification with ones target sex, and some type of gender dysphoria.
I have included the UK National Health Service definition of transgender below. The manual of the American Psychiatric Association also distinguishes clearly between transsexual and transgender. For more documentation of the dominant usage of the word transgender, see this blog post.
The fact that you do not like the common understanding of the term transgender, give you no right to change it. It is the end product of a long cultural struggle for transgender rights.
UK NHS definition:
“Trans and transgender are terms that are used to describe people who don’t conform to the traditional division of male and female.
Trans embraces many different types of people and lifestyles, including
People who cross-dress (transvestite people). These people sometimes wear the clothing of the opposite sex, but don’t want to live full-time as a member of the opposite sex.
People who feel that they’re both male and female, or neither male nor female.
Drag queens, drag kings and other people who don’t appear conventionally masculine or feminine.
Transsexual people. These are people who have a strong and constant desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex. Many transsexual people have gender reassignment treatment to make their appearance more consistent with their preferred gender. This often involves hormone therapy and surgery.”
(via maldorian)