10:04 a.m. - Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003
A Short Glossary

I was working a few days ago on a handout I can make and bring when I go to the panel discussion on the tenth. Since I don�t have anything interesting to say today, I think I�ll just paste here what I�ve done on the handout so far.

It�s just a few definitions. I might do some more if I can think of them, and I�d like to write a few answers to the most common questions about transsexualism. And then there are a couple of points I�d like to write down in case they don�t come up. Like my favorite point about how being transsexual is NOT a choice or a lifestyle. So many well meaning people don�t understand this unless someone patiently points it out to them. Personally, I think that does more damage to understanding and accepting gender-variance than anything else. People seem to think that a person can just decide not to be transsexual, and that makes it easier to assume it�s a sin or immorality if a TS doesn�t just stop being a TS.

Ah well� I can work on that later. Here�s what I have so far; a light-hearted look at some terms. I�d love to know if you can think of any terms that need to be included, and what your overall impression is of the ones I already have.

Sex

1. The ultimate reason most men will sit through dinner and a chick-flick. The lucky ones will have a willing partner at the end of the night. The boorish and insensitive will fly solo.

2. The physical attributes of a person�s reproductive system by which that person is classified into one of two rigidly defined categories.

Gender

1. A very ancient criteria for determining who should clean the oven.

2. A more modern criteria for determining who should be paid a living wage.

3. The emotional and behavioral traits usually associated with physical sex�.. Usually.

Intersexed

1. The enviable position of having had sexual relations on several continents.

2. Neither oversexed nor undersexed. Just the right amount of sex. (Is that possible?)

3. The condition in which a person�s genitalia do not match rigidly defined criteria for either male or female. Intersexed individuals may have a wide variety of combinations of genetic arrangements as well as a variety of genital structures.

Transgendered

1. Alright, no fooling around with this one, because it�s important and I�d very much like to see you use the term correctly. �Transgendered� is a global term used to refer to a large and diverse group of people, all of whom exhibit some sort of behavior or thought that crosses the traditional lines of sex and gender. Transsexuals are Transgendered people. So are Crossdressers, Drag Queens, Androgynes, and the intersexed. The transgendered community is varied and diverse.

Transvestite

1. A beautiful mineral formation found in limestone caves which grows horizontally, unlike stalagmites and stalactites. Very rare.

2. An archaic term, now considered derogatory, for a male (almost exclusively) who occasionally dresses and acts as a female, usually for fetishistic reasons. Much more common than you think. (see Crossdresser)

Crossdresser

1. What a woman will become if her husband pushes and nags her to hurry while she is getting ready to go out with him.

2. The modern term for a person (almost always a heterosexual male) who dresses intermittently in the clothing of the opposite sex. Note that a biological female who wears men�s clothing is not guilty of crossdressing and is not considered to be a crossdresser unless she wears the clothing in pursuit of sexual excitement or gratification.

Drag Queen

1. The infamous �Little Old Lady from Pasadena� immortalized by The Beach Boys in a popular song that�s most likely older than you are.

2. Typically a homosexual biological male who occasionally dresses and presents as female either as entertainment or to attract admiring gay men. Drag Queens, whether on stage or not, are generally homosexual, while female impersonators may or may not be heterosexual and usually present as female for entertainment purposes only.

Transsexual

1. A person of any sex (physical sex) whose emotional and/or behavioral traits (gender) do not correlate with his or her assigned sex.

2. Ms. Leslie

�

�

previous - next