The Transgender Education Thread

I'm not exactly sure where I fit in on this spectrum, but then I've just recently awakened to all this. This is an educational thread and I really don't want to sidetrack it, so if anyone wants to PM me, I would love to chat!

 

I did post some thoughts here. You can comment there or here. Thanks!

 

You are forgetting two that I often figured I would be:
Agendered and Bigendered.

While genderqueer does cover the basis of being more fluid in gender, it is not anywhere near neatly defined. It is the catch-all category when people identify with a third gender.

Agendered - When an individual identifies with no gender role nor title. There is a high likelihood that someone who is agendered will also be asexual, and prefer not to have any sexual intercourse.

Bigendered - Similar in use to 'binary genders', bigendered refers to someone who is both male and female, but does not fit into an 'other' category. They identify with both genders and fulfill both gender roles.

I figure not many people are familiar with the terms, but I didn't see them listed and so I wanted to share.

 

That's interesting, I'd never heard of that one. That could be me, actually. I'm all about allowing myself to explore my femininity at the moment but, at the same time, I don't have the sense that I'm not male. If that makes any sense....

 

I feel like both, or neither. Sometimes I picture myself fully female, while other times I feel I would be happy just being androgynous or a cute male. Though since I'm currently the latter and I'm feeling I want more I'm leaning towards the androgyny part and still iffy about making about transition (I'm paranoid and freak out about anything permanent in life, which is also why I only get piercings and not tattoos and junk, I'm VERY cautious; overly so).

I skipped a lot of the topic but I know for myself I find the words transvestite, tranny, shemale, to be rather offensive. I prefer the terms crossdresser, girl, or heck prettyboy.

 

I don't know. Part of my problem with all this is that the bases that are being used are the cultural norms which, even if a boy doesn't want to be a girl, etc, are all messed up to begin with. A straight boy can't enjoy having his gf strap it on without worrying about being a homo and he can't paint his toes without worrying about having gender issues.

At the same time, during the 60s, if a boy had long hair or an earring, he was a girl or a fag. When I was growing up, a boy could have an earring in his left ear, but not in his right or in both ears. Now, I see straight boys in their 20s with earrings in both ears. And as long as you're from Scotland, a straight boy can wear a skirt so long as he calls it a kilt and is playing bagpipes! It's all messed up if you ask me. And we haven't even talked about emotions that are considered proper to women and those considered proper to men, etc.

So the $64,000 rhetorical question is, how much of this is simply relative to whatever the cultural norms are?

 

When I was 5 I wanted earrings, was to shy/scared.

I think when I was 18 I got my ears pierced, currently with 3 in my left and 1 in my right.

I've only ever gotten compliments, and now I have the bug. I want to get a nose stud, thinking of maybe a few more on my ears (Without it looking obsessive or idstasteful), and even a bellybutton piercing.

If I was braver I'd paint my nails, but I'm happy to just have long nails as is.

Idk, while I do understand there's a whole pre-concieved preception of how things 'should be', I've never felt that.

Like, boys clothes or girls clothes, idc what I wear it just feels like clothes (Though I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt sexier in girl's overall). Same for jewelry, I once wanted a specific earring and my father and sister said "Those are for girls".

I HAD NO IDEA, I just saw them as earrings I liked ;_; I couldn't physically associate them as a 'gender type'.

 

Similar to Agender, there's Neutrois. From a website about it: "Neutrois is an identity used by individuals who feel they fall outside the gender binary. Many feel Neutrois is a gender, like a third gender while others feel agendered"
I do use agender sometimes though because it is easier to pronounce

I was wondering, about how long does the process take, from the first visit to the therapist to the final operation?

I wanted to mention that in Ontario, SRS is covered under universal healthcare. Naturally, there's a program you have to go through first. You need to have 3 months Real Life Experience before you can go on hormones, and 1 year before you can get SRS (those numbers were doubled until recently)
However, I've heard that the centre that does them tries to drag the process out longer than that. The process is also very strict about conforming to traditional gender roles of the sex you're transitioning to.

 

The problem is that as far as stereotypes go, those based on gender are pretty deep-rooted in one's culture.

It might be hard to convince someone you're a girl if you'd rather play soccer than bake cookies, for instance.

This, of course, is a problem, I'm sure. If you're the tomboyish type, you might have to pretend to be someone you're not in order to be who you are. A paradox, and very frustrating one, it sounds like.

 

I new a guy who had to hide the fact he was into boys so that they'd accept them. I guess their reasoning is "If you already like boys, why not stay a girl!".

I was going to pretend to be FTM for them, but I would've had to take hormones.
I think their centre still has a long way to go.

 

I've been trying to find more information about the system in Canada for GRS, so if anyone can help me with some info or point me in the right direction, I'd be really happy. I found a therapist that I want to talk with to start counselling (have to wait until Oct tho), but have no idea really where to get more info on HRT or GRS so I can discuss these things & not sound like an idiot (or someone just saying over & over that i hate my body & need to fix it, I feel much more than just that). All I do know at this point is that CAMH is the people who handle the GRS stuff (not really understanding how tho). I really need to get some more info if anyone can help...

 

With the removel of the adams apple does that alter your voice?

I only have 2 concerns for myself not counting friends/family relations; voice, and future family.

 

I've also really been worried about my voice issues as well. I know there are ways to train your voice, but I'm still really concerned about how I may sound even after training it as I have kind of a deep voice at times...

 

I'm just curious here, does estrogen raise a woman's voice the same/similar as testosterone does for a man's?