Back To the Main SiteLanguage Wars: Whats in a name?
I have a great love of movies, books and other media that is aimed at children. Not long ago I went and saw The Tale of Despereaux at the cinema. I quite enjoyed it, although it had a heavy dose of body fascism, and sexism, I felt that its attempt to discuss quite serious political themes in language that a 5 year old can understand was quite impressive. Towards the end of the film the narrator talks about how names can become swear words. She asks us how we would feel if our name was a terrible insult, if our name was a very bad word.
Unfortunately most people who are part of the sex and gender diverse community know only too well what it feels like to have our names and identities be a very bad word, to have our identity thrown at us as if its a grave insult. I’ve had emails get caught up in my spam filter, I’ve had Google Mail step in and refuse to send an email because it was suspected of being offensive. Just because my identity is also a dirty, filthy, spam-trap-triggering keyword.
I think that this is one of the key reasons that identity labels are so hotly contested in the sex and gender diverse community.
The Gender Centre defines Transgender as:
Transgender means anyone who lives, has lived, or wants to live as a member of the opposite gender (sex) to their birth gender.
In the past, the common term for transgender has been transsexual. However, in general, people who are transgender prefer to use the term transgender as this is a more accurate reflection of their identity or behaviour – that is, that they want to live and behave as a member of the opposite gender to their birth gender, not the opposite sexuality, sexual preference or sexual orientation. A transgender, just like anyone else, may be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.
However, under the Discrimination Act 1991, a “transsexual” is defined as meaning:
a person of one sex who—
(a) assumes the bodily characteristics of the other sex, whether by means of medical intervention or otherwise; or
(b) identifies himself or herself as a member of the other sex or lives, or seeks to live, as a member of that other sex.
That to me sounds like a very similar definition. Sometimes even when someone is asked what the difference is, its still not clear. FTM Australia says that the difference is quite easy to understand:
“A transgender individual takes hormones to appear as one gender or another; a transsexual person takes hormones and undergoes surgery as rehabilitation for a physical condition.”
I still don’t get it though.
Even the psychiatrists can’t decide who is transsexual, who is transgender, who is a transvestite, and who is just a filthy pervert with a fetish for ladies lingerie. The medical industry also draws lines between ‘primary’ transsexuals and ’secondary’ transsexuals. Harry Benjamin himself had a scale of transsexuals, TRUE transsexuals, and everyone else.
I find the idea of categorising someone elses identity extremely problematic, and it is often used as a way of privileging one identity over another. Doctors like to withhold treatment from those people they suspect aren’t ‘trans*whatever enough’ and because its thrown as us constantly by everyone else, sometimes we end up turning on each other and saying “So and so had surgery, but she’s really a ‘post-operative transvestite’ not a TRUE transsexual/real woman/whatever”. Its just not cool.
You wont see the words transsexual and transgender used as much as would probably be expected by A Gender Agenda. We prefer to cut off the end, and refer to people being ‘trans’ or someone being a ‘trans person’. It helps us stay clear of the debate, and be inclusive, without having to define terms that no one can agree on anyway.
What is most important, is how you define yourself. If you define as a woman, or woman of transsexual history, then you are a woman to us. If you define as third gendered, intersex, or genderqueer? No worries. We’ll respect that too. If you define as a ‘trans identified FTM’, we can respect that. Respect is important, and there is no place for being judgemental about other peoples identities within A Gender Agenda, or at any of our events. We want to be warm and welcoming, you need not worry about not passing, or not being ‘trans enough’ to join. We even welcome woman-identified women, and man-identified men, if they respect our cause, and want to work for change along side us. Its not only people that transgress gender boundaries as radically as those who transition that experience discrimination for expressing their gender differently.
Names are important, they help us communicate. In the end though, its the communication thats important, not the name itself. Labels are only useful when we are free to apply them without judgement, and express ourselves freely no matter what label we have claimed for ourselves.
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AWESOME post! There’s a lot of important points in there. I should pass on the first paragraphs to straight, cisgender people; you were great at explaining how it feels to have an insulting identity.
I’m finishing a Trans 101 pamphlet for my fellow students; the only part that’s giving me trouble is trying to explain why there are two terms (transgender and transsexual). I think I’ll just say that there’s no clear distinction.
Thanks Genderkid!
I think that historically transgender was an umbrella term invented to try to reunite the sex and gender diverse community when the transsexuals and crossdressers split. However, these days the two words are practically identical in definition, although people get terribly offended if you call them the wrong one.
Its all very silly really, but I can understand why people only want the ‘correct’ swear word applied to their person. :)
Ryan, Sociological Images, and Trans Narratives « genderkid posted on February 2, 2009:
[...] his new personal one, and the one he keeps for A Gender Agenda. I love his post called Language Wars, about “…what it feels like to have our names and identities be a very bad [...]
Labels, that’s what the world loves to have and use, the world is overly descriptive of things, and the government is good at it too. See all those names for Departments of this and that, what did we have in Australia for a while, DOPIE, depart of primary industry and energy, yeah right, a whole department full of DOPES, very funny somebody!!!
Seriously though, we all find it difficult to evade the labels and categories, its about having or giving identity. BUT its the way they are applied that can be the most damaging.
Trans is a good place to have everybody under the one umbrella…. and yes I still think there is a level of better than thou even in the Trans community.
Sometimes you have to label yourself to get respect and to display a form of assertion towards the str8 community who within their own limited capacities understand nothing but their own lives via their own experiences.
Simply, use the word TRANS to describe yourself, and really that’s all you need to do. Tack on other bits if you wish, gender/sexual Man/ Woman/ Child etc, but remember that when it comes to the general populace, they are un-educated about it all and its not all their fault either. So try to not expect them to rush about and embrace it all overnight. Trans acceptance goes multi-way, us and them if you want to give it the bi-nary term. Education is important to the community and if the community doesn’t know, how can we expect them to accept if they have no or ill-informed knowledge to start with. Think about it!!!!
I totally agree Abbey.
I think that its very important for us to communicate at a level that our audiences understand. For example, when I’m at work, the information I give about my identity is that I am a transsexual man, and to be referred to with respect, and correct male pronouns.
However, when I hang out with my queer friends, who I expect to have a greater understanding of gender, I am upfront about how I am genderqueer, bigendered a trans boi, but not a man, and don’t mind if people use gender neutral pronouns, instead of male ones.
Tailoring ones communication to the audience is very important, because we can’t expect people to understand us unless we speak a language they understand.
I guess you see why it can be confusing for people… with somany ways to be known as it is very difficult to remember it all. I see that you don’t mind many labels etc whereas I prefer just the one and an infraction out of that is a hurt as I struggle for recognition considering I have yet to complete my transition and present much of the time as still male. I think there is also an assertion hassle, people expect you to buckle under to the conformity thang, when I don’t actually see why I need nor should I conform to your expectations! I mean, I don’t get all distressed if individual people wanna be know as male or female, but please, I ask of them… Try to not push that upon me. I think its a form of respect I want from them, I don’t classify you so don’t classify me is what I’m asking for, and we will all get along fine! Yeah, maybe my haed is in the Skycity of Utopia, but its my need and its just as important as the next person’s need!
I think it comes down to R E S P E C T! And the varying degrees there-of.
We have got to get out there and help people, starting in schools and inthe homes etc to learn to respect people and show that. I don’t reckon its a difficult concept.
I think too that the advertising industry could do with a slight wake-up call and start to think very carefully about the messages it gives when it starts to and does cross the boundaries as it insinuates. It is very powerful and yet can be very dangerous. So perhaps we could have a round of training aimed at the advertising industry and they can help us with the messages? Just food for thought when it comes to changing the language and insinuations! What does anybody else think to this?
Thanks for this great post.
The constant attempts to define groups in ways to exclude some people or other only harms our community.
Instead finding commonality as well as embracing our diversity is essential.
And this post is a great example of whats needed.