Gender and Life's Paths: Mar 18, 2009

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Kelly on growing up transgender

Peorian Kelly Shore talks about the challenges of growing up transgender in Central Illinois.

Tick a box: male, female, unspecified

Katrina Fox | March 18, 2009

Are you male or female? For most of us, answering that question is no problem, although whether we want to is another matter. But for some people, these categories simply don't fit. They consider themselves neither male nor female - essentially, genderless.

Take Norrie May-Welby, an activist and performer in Sydney, who says: "Some of us have found it better to identify in non-gender-specific ways; it's not our life and those roles don't fit us."

May-Welby uses pronouns such as "zie" in place of "he" or "she", and "hir" in place of "him" and "her", and says: "Some people get angry with the idea that I'm not a man or woman. It's fair to say there's sexual anxiety underneath it: they're thinking, 'If I'm attracted to this person who is neither male nor female, they've shattered my idea of myself as straight or gay.' "

Rejecting such deeply entrenched cultural norms has its challenges. Aside from being branded a freak and suffering the occasional physical attack, genderless people claim they are forced to lie every time they fill out a form. Whether it's a job application or government document, they, like the rest of us, are required to tick the "M" or "F" box, with no other options. . . .Read More

Transsexual gamers fight for their rights

SXSW 2009 PMS meets World of Warcraft

By Sylvie Barak

17 March 2009

SXSW INTERACTIVE is certainly dealing with the most pressing of issues this year. Case in point: an hour-long session on girl gaming where, amongst other things, it was unanimously agreed that transsexuals could also use the coveted title 'girl gamer', if they felt the urge.

Yes, that's right boys, no need to sweat it. You can be a girl gamer even if you channel Lara Croft more than you fantasise about her. Good to know. . . .Read More

TV Review: True Stories: Tears, Tiaras and Transsexuals, More4, Tuesday, 17 March, 10pm

by mofgimmers on March 18, 2009

Once, in an article, I said I was going to dump my girlfriend for Ching-He Huang of Chinese Food Made Easy. Of course, I didn't because that would be silly of me. However, not as hare-brained as my new scheme to run off to America to hound the lovely ladies featured in True Stories: Tears, Tiaras and Transsexuals (More4, Tuesday, 17 March, 10pm). Hot diggity dawg! The post and pre-op gals featured in this marvellous film were seriously stunning. Better than their obviously fine looks, was their even more impressive stories. . . .Read More

Gender variance or nonconformity is found wherever one finds people.

A closer view reveals many variations in gender expression. Note “sex” refers to biology, genes, hormones, body development, whereas “gender” is social role, cultural expectations for appearance and behavior. Gender expression varies over time and throughout cultures and may vary in the lifetimes of individuals. We sometimes hear “male or female”, “masculine or feminine”, as defining “the binary”. Typically, many want males masculine and females feminine, in a world where being androgenous or a hybrid may actually work better. Yet many individuals, for example, parents, teachers, and friends, including some with gender issues, crave the binary. In the case of a significantly gender variant person, gender expression often does not match the social or binary gender role assigned at birth. Nevertheless, the person's expressed gender may feel correct or natural. Thus a gender nonconforming person, maybe someone who even sees themselves as “non-binary”, may feel very uncomfortable with the gender expression expected by parents and significant others. Fortunately, there are a growing number of resources to help those interested understand gender, development, change and adaptation. And there are creative paths one may explore to hopefully find comfort, experience a measure of peace and happiness, and in the process find the gender expression that works best. Here I offer some news, information, resources, opinions and POVs to help you learn more about gender expression and life situations. We now know there are a variety of paths individuals discover that may contribute to positive life changes.

Books you may find interesting:

Benjamin, Harry. (1966). The Transsexual Phenomenon. New York: The Julian Press, Inc. Full text and photographs available as an electronic book: http://www.symposium.com/ijt/benjamin/

Blanchard, Ray and Steiner, Betty W. (1990). Clinical Management of Gender Identity Disorders in Children and Adults. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc.

Bolin, Anne. (1988). In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rites of Passage. South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey.

Boenke, Mary, (Ed). (2003). Trans Forming Families. Hardy, VA: Oak Knoll Press.

Bornstein, Kate. (1994). Gender Outlaw: On men, women and the rest of us. Routledge: New York & London.

Brill, Stephanie & Pepper, Rachel. (2008). The Transgender Child. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Brown, Mildred L. & Rounsley, Chloe Ann. (1996). True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brownmiller, Susan. (1984). Femininity. New York: Linden / Simon Schuster.

Buss, David M. (1994). The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating. New York: Basic Books.

Califia, Pat. (1997). Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Cameron, Loren. (1996). Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Colapinto, John. (2000). As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl. New York: HarperCollins.

Cromwell, Jason. (1999). Transmen and FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders and Sexualities. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Devor, Holly. (1989). Gender Blending: Confronting The Limits of Duality. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Devor, Holly. (1997). Female to Male Transsexuals in Society. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Docter, Richard F. (1988). Transvestites and Transsexuals: Toward a Theory of Cross-Gender Behavior. New York: Plenum Press.

Ehrensaft, Diane. (2011). Gender Born, Gender Made. New York: The Experiment, LLC.

Green, Jamison. (2004). Becoming a Visible Man. Nashville:Vanderbilt Univerrsity Press.

Griggs, Claudine. (1996). Passage through Trinidad: Journal of a Surgical Sex Change. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co.

Griggs, Claudine. (1998). S/He: Changing Sex and Changing Clothes. Oxford: Berg.

HBIGDA, Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders, Sixth Version. (2001). http://www.hbigda.org/socv6.html#top

Kessler, Suzanne and McKenna, Wendy. (1978). Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Serano, Julia. (2007). Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Women on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. San Francisco: Seal Press.

Stuart, Kim Elizabeth. (1983). The Uninvited Dilemma: A Question of Gender. Portland, Oregon: Metamorphous Press, Inc.

Available from Metamorphous Press, Inc. P.O. Box 10616, Portland, Oregon 97210-0616. Fax (503) 223-9117 or Toll Free 1-800-937-7771

Sullivan, Lou. (1990). Information for the Female to Male Cross Dresser and Transsexual. Seattle, Washington: Ingersoll Gender Center.

Available from Ingersoll Gender Center. 1812 E. Madison Seattle, Washington 98122-2843. (206) 329-665

Williams, Walter L. (1986). The Spirit and The Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture. Boston: Beacon Press.

Zucker, Kenneth J. and Bradley, Susan J. (1995). Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford.

Gender and Life's Paths

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Kelly on growing up transgender

Tick a box: male, female, unspecified

Transsexual gamers fight for their rights

TV Review: True Stories: Tears, Tiaras and Transsexuals, More4, Tuesday, 17 March, 10pm

Gender variance or nonconformity is found wherever one finds people.

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