by Evelyn Bailey
Over the next several months Shoulders to Stand On will look at the history of Transgender people.
Transgender is a blanket term used to describe all people who are not cisgender. And what you may ask is cisgender? Cisgender is the description for a person whose gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex all align (e.g., man, masculine, and male also woman, feminine, and female).
“Sex” refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women (people often use it to refer to sexual intercourse itself). “Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. “Male” and “female” are sex categories, while “masculine” and “feminine” are gender categories.
Aspects of sex will not vary substantially between different human societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly. There is much confusion around these two terms, and cisgendered people often become confused and leery of anyone who does not conform to the binary image of masculine or feminine regardless of the actual sex of the individual. To most cisgender Americans, humans are defined by their genitalia and nothing more!
We need to understand the vocabularies of transgender and homosexuality before we can look at the history.
LGBPTTQQIIAA+: any combination of letters attempting to represent all the labels that identify people as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Pansexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Intergender, Asexual, Ally, etc.
Androgyny is a gender expression that has elements of both masculinity and femininity.
Homosexual is a medical definition for a person who is attracted to someone of the same sex.
A lesbian is a woman who is sexually and emotionally attracted to other women; a female homosexual. The words dyke, butch, femme, lipstick lesbian, Sapphic sister, woman-loving woman are among the many labels that have been used to describe the gender expression of lesbians.
Gay describes a man who is attracted to men, but is often used and embraced by women to describe their same-sex relationships as well. Faggot is a derogatory slang term for gay men, which should never be used.
Bisexual is a person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction to people of their own gender as well as another gender.
A transsexual is a person whose gender identity is the opposite of their biological sex, who may undergo medical treatments to change their biological sex, often times to align it with their gender identity, or they may live their lives as the opposite sex. FTM/MTF is a person who has undergone medical treatments to change their biological sex (Female To Male, or Male To Female), often times to align it with their gender identity.
Transvestite is a person who dresses as the opposite traditional gender expression of their sex and gender identity (“cross-dresses”) for any one of many reasons, including relaxation, fun, and sexual gratification.
A Drag Queen is a person who consciously performs “femininity,” usually in a show business or theatre setting, presenting an exaggerated form of feminine expression, usually done by a man who identifies as cisgender or transgender.
A Drag King is a person who consciously performs “masculinity,” usually in a show or theatre setting, presenting an exaggerated form of masculine expression, usually done by a cisgender woman or transman.
Gender identity is the internal perception of an individual’s gender, and how they name themselves.
Gender expression is the external display of gender, through a combination of dress, demeanor, social behavior, and other factors, generally measured on a scale of masculinity and femininity.
Gender variant is another term for trans, as is genderqueer. These terms do not imply surgery or any kind of transition from one gender or to another, but rather an identity encompassing both genders – a third gender if you will.
Intersex is a person born with both kinds of genitalia. Often doctors and/or parents make the decision for these infants as to what their gender will be, instead of permitting the individual to decide when they are old enough.
Two-Spirit is a term traditionally used by some Native American people to recognize individuals who possess qualities or fulfill roles of both genders. (This writer apologizes for using the offensive term berdache in a previous article about the Native American roots of homosexuality.)
Queer was a derogatory slang term used to identify LGBTQ+ people. Today “queer” is a term that has been embraced and reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community as a symbol of pride, representing all individuals who fall out of the gender and sexuality “norms”.
Transgender men and women make explicit what the rest of us take for granted concerning our gender identities and gender presentations. Most cisgendered people feel comparatively comfortable with our bodies; we might complain about particular physical attributes and we may be uncomfortable with various social and economic restraints encountered because of our sex, but the majority does not question the fundamental issue of whether we are female or male. Transgendered people do not have this luxury because they feel at odds with their birth assignments. Some might want to alter the body and gender they grew up with to the opposite body and gender presentation. In order to do that, they have to define more explicitly for themselves what their gender identity is and what their gender expression will be.
Shoulders To Stand On will continue this historical presentation in the August and September issues of the Empty Closet.