I can’t help but watch the news out of the US. I know, stupid me. Being an American citizen, and a transwoman, I can’t believe the amount of time wasted discussing the Trans Movement. It’s repeatedly on the news networks and on the minds of politicians in the US.
Does the existence of transgender people really eat at you? Then you need more help than I do. Mentally. You cannot look me in the eye and tell me that the amount of time spent discussing trans folk couldn’t be better utilized.” Like global warming, women’s rights (or lack thereof), poverty, healthcare or the price of eggs maybe?
Trans has been the key issue for the last year, based on the diatribe or garbage that comes out of the media and politics alike. People that have little to no knowledge have jumped on the bandwagon that being trans is a travesty.
They are trying to boil it down to a simple question of “Can a man become a woman?” when that question is irrelevant to 99.999% of trans issues.
Let me answer the question. Biologically, at least up to the year 2025, it is impossible for a cis male or cis female to fully transition every cell from one biologically assigned gender to the other. You can’t replace a thing called DNA, which is in every cell throughout the body. When in the form of hormones, there is a lot that takes place above a cellular level. Bone growth and density, weight distribution, body hair. More than pure cosmetic, less than cellular.
Psychologically? That’s a different answer entirely.
When it comes to a purely psychological standpoint, then it is entirely possible for someone to transition fully from one gender to another. In my long layman experience, I’m allowed to talk the talk, so I will. I fully believe, psychologically, there is a nature of human sexuality that plays a role in sexual preference and identity. The “born” this way component of our natural being.
Face it, no one resembles another person physically, down to the last little scar. The beauty of our species is this uniqueness we all have. Then why do we impose or presume all our minds are wired alike? The lines and parameters are so set in stone that denies this uniqueness from a mental perspective.
As a side note, I find it amusing that the discussion is always about transwomen, and very little to none on transmen. Couldn’t the question be just as easily stated as “can a woman become a man?” Maybe it’s because we’re plagued by some teacher wearing 42DD falsies to class under the pretense of being trans. Not the sort of publicity to help the cause.
But without the news, politicians, and social media this would be such a trivial matter, the existence of trans folk, that it wouldn’t exist at all.
I’ve always stated the whole Queer Movement has been blown out of proportion, like we waved the rainbow flag in people’s faces just once too many. Demanding this, that and the other. A full month of celebration.
Read more about my thoughts on this topic in my previous blog Transmania, here.
Being in a very very small minority might make us a bit more unique, but I for one am certainly not claiming I’m “special” and should be adored. Like the majority of other trans people I talk to (not those in the media) all we are asking for is to be treated just the same as others, with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We want the right to marry and raise kids, the right to earn a living, vote and have the same social benefits that are extended to everyone else. I know that’s simplistic, but it’s true. To be treated equally and the desire to go unnoticed in the world. We want to exist, yes, but desire to be so mainstream that no one cares.
If you write down the 100 people you are closest to, family, friends, coworkers or your local grocer, how many trans folks do you have in that group? Do you know any truly trans people, either transman or transwoman? Personally. Don’t claim you know Caitlin Jenner because you saw her twice on Hollywood Squares.
So you do know somebody? That means your other 99 friends aren’t transexual. It’s estimated that upward of 30% of trans people commit suicide, so consider yourself lucky to have found a survivor amongst the people you know.
Then ask yourself the bigger question, how have they negatively impacted your life simply because they are trans? Let’s be honest, they’ve probably only enriched a life here and there. Opened some minds to wider thinking.
By definition I’m talking about transsexuals, and not the entire Queer Nation. I’ve always stated the LGB community should stand alone. Sexual preference, or who you have sex with should not be lumped in with the rest of the alphabet. Meaning the TQ2S part of the equation. We are alike only in our desire for equality.
Granted there are gay and lesbian trans people, but let’s not muddy the waters here.
Have we also gotten to the point of using the word trans for people who simply want to be different or outside the standards society imposes? Remember when tattoos were considered too wild and bold and risque? You were considered a rebel and then labelled. Not in my family, or my workers, or my children. A tattoo? Over my dead body.
A man wants to wear a dress? Who really gives a damn? Makeup? It was once a sign of wealth and power. Makeup was expensive 400 years ago and only the aristocrats could afford to wear it. Similar to a good handbag now that I come to think of it.
Personally, only a handful of people in my life know that I’m a transwoman. Hundreds of family members, friends and lovers past, co-workers or customers have no idea. Why? I don’t wear my gender preference on my sleeve, I don’t need to “pass” to be comfortable with myself. The main reason is the opinion of everyone else, outside that handful, isn’t important.
I have this internal debate, fight really, about coming out more. Maybe I should let people around me know that I’m transexual, and have nothing in the world to be ashamed of. Just perfectly normal, all screwed up.
We are good people, now let’s move on.