Trans woman
A transwoman (also spelled trans woman or trans-woman, slang t-girl) is a transsexual or transgender person who was naturally born or physically assigned as male at birth but feels that this is not an accurate or complete description of herself and identifies as a woman.
Overview
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"Transition" refers to the process of adopting a social and personal identity that corresponds to one's own sense of their gendered self, and may or may not include medical intervention (hormone treatment, surgery, etc.), changes in legal documents (name and/or sex indicated on identification, birth certificate, etc.), and personal expression (clothing, accessories, voice, body language).
Transwomen who feel that their gender transition is complete often prefer to be called simply "women", considering "transwoman" or "male-to-female transsexual" to be terms that should only used for people who are still transitioning. However, even after transitioning, transwomen have biological differences from cisgender women. For example, most have XY chromosomes. However, women does not necessarily refer to biological sex, it can also refer to cultural gender role distinctions. Some who still identify as transwomen after transitioning may describe themselves as "post-op" (post-operative; as distinguished from "pre-op") transwomen. Many transgender people consider that the shape of their genitalia are not relevant to how they interact with most people. Transwomen who do not want, cannot afford, or have medical reasons for not having sex reassignment surgery are sometimes described as "non-op". Many transwomen consider genital surgery as only a small part of a complete transition and some argue that transwomen should not be defined by their surgical status. Others dislike the term "transsexual" and prefer to call themselves transgender women, but further more some women with this condition prefer to use the word intergendered or intersexed.
Sexual orientation
Research on the sexual orientation of transwomen (male-to-female transsexuals) is sparse. Many studies on this issue have suffered from reporting bias, since many transsexuals feel they must give the "correct" answers to such questions in order to increase their chances of obtaining hormone replacement therapy. Patrick Califia, author of Sex Changes and Public Sex, has indicated that this group has a clear awareness of what answers to give to survey questions in order to be considered eligible for hormone replacement therapy and/or sex reassignment surgery:
None of the gender scientists seem to realize that they, themselves, are responsible for creating a situation where transsexual people must describe a fixed set of symptoms and recite a history that has been edited in clearly prescribed ways in order to get a doctor's approval for what should be their inalienable right.[1]
Therefore, there is a considerable difference between what most of the few scientific papers dealing with the subject claim and what most support groups, help lines etc. report. Both however report that the number of transwomen who consider themselves lesbians or bisexual or asexual is higher than it is in the general female population (at least in studies done from the 1980s on). Most sources from within the transgender community report that the number of lesbian transwomen roughly equals that of transwomen who prefer male partners, and many also consider themselves bisexual or asexual. Scientific papers on the other hand usually report a higher number of heterosexual-identified transwomen.[1]
A few transsexual activists claim the orientation of transsexual women corresponds to that of the cisgendered female population; however, these claims so far have not been substantiated and appear to be politically motivated rather than based on facts. Others point to evidence that same-sex attraction may be common within the cisgendered female population, so perhaps a large proportion of lesbian and bisexual transwomen is nothing that should evoke surprise.
A number of transwomen have reported that their sexual interest shifted from one gender to the other during the course of their transition. Effectively, their sexual orientation remained unaltered: they had the same sexual orientation both before and after transition. There appears to be little or no research either on the prevalence or the cause of this phenomenon. See this link for a detailed report on this experience by one transwoman.
Most recent scientific studies and reports by support groups, help lines, etc. indicate that, amongst transwomen, the percentage of those who consider themselves lesbian, bisexual or asexual is higher than that in the general female population. The details, however, differ; scientific papers usually report a higher number of heterosexual-identified transwomen than support groups report, perhaps influenced by demographic factors: what kind of people have access to support groups, as well as methodologies used for individual studies. [citation needed]
Famous Transwomen
Calpernia Addams, actress, author, autobiographer, entrepreneur, activist, fiddle player
Estelle Asmodelle, actress, author, dancer & Australia's First Legal Transsexual
Nadia Almada, Big Brother UK 2004 winner, transsexual
April Ashley, Model
Alexis Arquette, Actor, Musician, member of the Arquette family of actors
Georgina Beyer, the first trans person in New Zealand's (and the world) to become a mayor (1995) and a member of Parliament (1999)
Wendy Carlos, American composer and Electronic Musician
Molly Cutpurse, English Author
Lauren Foster, Vogue Model
See also
Transition-related
- Facial Feminization Surgery
- Genital reassignment surgery for transwomen
- Hair removal
- Hormone replacement therapy for transwomen
- Voice feminization
General transgendered topics
References
- ^ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_7_31/ai_57815505/pg_7 From Donald to Deirdre - Donald N. McCloskey sex change to Deirdre N. McCloskey}
External links
- Australian WOMAN Network - The Australian WOMAN Network, a group which lobbies for the rights of Australian women living with transsexualism or of transsexual background.
- Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS). This site is dedicated to enlightening people to the indicative research that suggests transsexualism may be an intersex condition. It also shows a suggested Standards of Care document.
- Lynn Conway - Her goal is to "illuminate and normalize the issues of gender identity and the process of transitioning."
- Mom, I Need to Be a Girl - a book by the mother of a young transwoman.
- Transsexual Women's Resources - run by Anne Lawrence, a controversial figure due to her support for the autogynephilia theory.
- Transsexual Women's Successes
- TS Roadmap - resource guide for transsexual women and those aspiring to transition.