I always get confused between the two hahaha I'm not sure whether a transgender is when someone identifies as the opposite sex and goes through surgery or not or is it the other way around?? I didn't explain that well sorry. Can someone explain please? I feel stupid for not knowing this hahaha :help:
Where I am from the term transsexual is considered old fashioned and rude. It's never used by people who know what they are talking about and who don't want to offend anyone. If someone uses the term transsexual it sounds like they think being trans has something to do with sexual orientation or is a sexual thing. I am always a little confused when that term comes up in discussions in English but I guess it's different. I think in English it describes a person who has gone through surgeries and/or is on HRT. Since in Eglish there are terms gender and sex that mean different things although some think they are the same. Sex is physical and gender is more mental thing. Transgender is someone identifies as something else than they were assigned at birth.
Transgender is an umbrella term: http://transaustin.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/transumbrella.jpg Definition of Terms | Gender Equity Resource Center Transsexual refers to a person who experiences a mismatch of the sex they were born as and the sex they identify as. A transsexual person sometimes undergoes medical treatment to change his/her physical sex to match his/her sex identity through hormone treatments and/or surgically. Not all transsexual persons can have or desire surgery. To better understand you might have a look here: http://www.gires.org.uk/assets/DOH-Assets/pdf/doh-transgender-experiences.pdf
I aslo had questions like that and started a thread about it. People gave great answers, and I leraned so much thanks to them http://emptyclosets.com/forum/gender-identity-expression/168431-gender-identity-taboo.html And I just noticed that the title doesn't really go with the actual thread. Oh well, whatever. Hope it helps
Don't worry, I get confused as well. As I've been told, Transsexual is where a person wants to transition to female to male or male to female where as Transgender is basically where you're a a gender bender but personally, I just don't like the word Transsexual. I never have and probably never will. I prefer Trans or Transman if anything. Sometimes I'll use Transgender when I refer to myself because it's a nicer term than Transsexual.
Okay thank you all Now I don't feel so ignorant haha, I didn't realise the term transsexual could possibly cause offence to some, I feel bad now ahhh! (sorry) I better stop using it. Once again thanks
I prefer transsexual for myself. These days, "transgender" is used for all kinds of people, Genderqueers, fluid... Which is why I call myself, transsexual. Not transgender.
AFAIK Transgender is currently an umbrella term for all things trans* or related with so called gender dysphoria Transsexual is a lot narrower, it was used to define people with a gender dysphoria so strong that they have a big need of fully transforming. However the term got outdated as we have discovered tha trans* personalities are different, sometimes evolving from a slight dysphoria to a stronger one. So transgender is now used much more.
I get confused about this a lot so I kinda just made my own definitions. Transgender: someone who is trans but has not transitioned Transsexual: someone who is trans and has transitioned It's easier for me to remember things and whatnot with these even tho the definitions may not be correct.
