by Keely Savoie
Translated by Susan Petit, 02/10/2002
If you are a tomboy, that is, who likes to play like the boys, is a transgender then you?
When the boys have surgery to change sex will they remove the penis and a vagina install them?
What does being homosexual, or gay? Roses are red and violets are blue ... but it is always the case? Many people think that physical sex is the same gender, but not necessarily so. For many, the physical sex and gender differs from conventional expectations. What does being transgender?
physical sex and gender are not the same
As we grow we discover that the world is not exactly as we thought, and gradually discard many of the old myths that our parents told us. Gone are the stories of the mouse that we put money under the pillow when we drop a tooth and the bogeyman. And now we discover that women can be mechanical and men can stay at home raising children. We know that you feel attracted to boys or girls or boys and girls.
The more you discover, the more you realize that not everything is black and white. Many people assume that their physical sex is the same gender. Think again. Your sex is biological, a combination of physical parts with which you were born, such as your genitals, and hormonal differences that start long before birth.
Gender refers to societal expectations about what to think and how to perform the boys and girls and men and women. For example, in many cultures women are expected to be passive and aggressive emotional and rational men. Sexual identity is how you feel about your gender. Or in the words of Mary Boenke, president of the Transgender Network of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), "sex is what you have between your legs, and gender is what's on your mind."
But what happens if you were born with female genitalia, but you feel and act more like a man? What if you were born with a penis but think you should be born a woman? So a transgender person feels, and that's what it means to be transgender individuals often choose to live as the opposite gender because their gender is in conflict with their sexual anatomy.
The term "transgender" (or "trans") is also used informally to include many different people, from those that are simply not satisfied with the narrow role that society assigns to each gender, to those who opt for surgery to alter your body to match what they feel. The
crosdeseros / as (or transvestites) are people who dress and act like the opposite sex. (The "drag kings" and "drag queens" are crosdeseros / as they usually exaggerate the stereotypical roles of each gender for entertainment purposes or entertainment).
Transsexuals are people found to live according to their preferred gender all the time, sometimes taking hormones to alter their secondary sex characteristics - such as voice, hair and muscle development. Some transgender people undergo surgery to change their genitals to match their preferred gender. Transsexuals may be female to male (FTM) or male to female (MTF).
Intersex people are born with "ambiguous genitalia (sexual organs are not completely female or male) and may have hormonal or chromosomal differences that are not strictly male or female. Many intersex people do not identify as "trans" if you want more information visit ISNA.
Nobody knows how many trans people there, but something is certain: there are many transgender people. Many recognize at an early age that they feel does not meet the expectations of society. For others, it takes years or decades to understand their sexual identity. While still not easily be transported, there are now more resources for information and support for trans people and their friends and family. Find information and other people who know what it means to be transgender are the first steps for the trans receive understanding and acceptance.
For more information, visit these Web sites:
www.ambientejoven.org
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