I was surfing through my facebook wall and I came across some of the posts that where from an LGBTQ+ grope I've been following for some time. The posts in general where fine but the comments confused me completely. I came here because I felt that if I asked on the FB posts, people would either get mad at me or they wouldn't respond at all. So here it goes. Someone commented saying that gender is what's in your mind and that sexuality is whatever's between your legs then goes on to explain that a transexual is someone who's transitioning and that a transgender is someone who's fluid in gender, kind of like a drag queen. Isn't it the other way around or am I missing something? I always thought that gender is what you where assigned at birth and sexuality is how you feel towards others such as gay, straight, lesbian etc. Can someone please explain this to me?
Gender is, like you said, what you're assigned at birth and more to do with identity and societal grouping and sexuality is your orientation, also like you said. However, I think that when they said "sexuality" they meant "sex" in which case they'd be correct. A transexual is somebody who already has transitioned, if I'm not mistaken, while a transgender is somebody who identifies as the gender most commonly associated with those of the opposite sex, regardless of whether the plan to transition or not.
For clarification of a few terms, you might have look here: http://everydayfeminism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Genderbread-2.1.jpg Transgender is an umbrella term. http://transaustin.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/transumbrella.jpg hugs
As I understand it. Gender is how you identify. Gender itself can be extremely nuanced and varies greatly from person to person. Sex is biological, what chromosomes you have, and what reproductive organs one possesses. Transgender individuals feel conflicted with their gender and their assigned gender. Transsexual individuals feel conflicted with their sex and their assigned sex. Gender expression does not necessarily equal gender, so people who cross dress, do not necessarily have a gender or sex conflict. Here's a good link I found describing the differences in a chart: Transgender vs Transsexual - Differences Explained (with video) | Diffen Here's another good article I stumbled across: http://www.askthegay.com/2010/10/what%E2%80%99s-the-difference-between-transsexual-transgender-transvestite-and-cross-dresser/
From what I have understood so far, transgender is an umbrella term for everyone, who doesn't identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, which includes identities like genderqueer, androgyne, agender, genderfluid, etc. And transgender also includes transsexual, which is somebody who identifies as the opposite gender of what they were assigned at birth and wants to transition(FtM and MtF). Correct me if I'm wrong.
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 sometimes undergoes medical treatment to change his/her physical sex to match his/her sex identity through hormone treatments and/or surgically. Not all transsexuals can have or desire surgery. Gender A socially constructed system of classification that ascribes qualities of masculinity and femininity to people. Gender characteristics can change over time and are different between cultures. See "Gender Identity" and "Gender Expression" for more on gender.
Just wanted to add that transgender/transsexual aren't really supposed to be used as nouns. You'd say "transsexual person/people." Using it as a noun is like saying "A gay sometimes experiences..."
I agree. Well, they put it in their book this way. But it sounds really odd, I personally use it connected with person, too (&&&)
A person is not a fat, they are fat. A person is not a gay, they are gay. A person is not a black, they are black. A person is not a cold, they are cold. Et cetera. Please be very careful with this =\
