Reply To: Meeting Other Transgender Women

[DeeAnn Hopings]

Bobbie:

From my experience, typically the meaning of the terms has not changed, but in many cases what has happened is that the terms are now considered to be derogatory or offensive. In any case, something associated with a term has changed.

For example, think of the word transgendered. Originally it was thought to be OK, but here is the current passage from Merriam-Webster:

now usually offensive

TRANSGENDER

“Our language about transgender people has changed,” Tanis [Dr. Justin Tanis] continued. “For example, my original editors felt “transgendered people” was more grammatically correct than “transgender people”. Now, people consider transgendered to be a negative word.”

Jason A Michael

With transgendered there is the implication that we become transgender people, but that is not how it works. Whether we realize it or not, we are what we are, likely from birth, but we do NOT become. There have been brain scan studies that show a degree of commonality between transgender women and cisgender women. The suggestion is that the points of commonality developed in utero. Unfortunately the study is considered to be inconclusive at this point because the researchers lacked the funds to do a study with a sufficiently large sample size.

In order to understand what’s going on, I suggest a trip across the internet with your favorite search engine. There are descriptions out there. Often you will find them on the web sites of national LGBT or trans organizations.

From what I know, a number of terms were derogatory and continue to be so. This includes terms like she-male, tranny, etc. But, also what has happened is the introduction of new terms as we learn more. For example, transgender is a very broad term. However, in more recent times, additional terms now reside under that umbrella, such as non-binary, gender fluid, gender queer, etc. As we know more, we are able to more closely describe how things sit for any given person.

Using this shorthand of descriptions, I define myself as a transgender non-binary woman. My perspective, likes/dislikes are neither strictly male nor female. I consider myself to be an amalgam of genders who presents as female. For me, the concept of non-binary if key to how I view myself.