Hi, I'm confused about these terms... if masculinity/femininity are not linked to gender identity then why would you say transmasculine or feminine? Wouldn't that just make you NB/GNC, or maybe demi?
Trans masculine/feminine are umbrella terms for anyone who is trans and falls under the masculine or feminine side. NB/GQ identifies fall with in it as well.
Ohhhhh okay thanks! ---------- Post added 18th Feb 2016 at 01:32 PM ---------- I think I was just confused because I only usually see AMAB using trans feminine and AFAB using trans masculine so I thought it was an identity itself
It can be used as an identity as well. Just like some identify as non-binary, some will identify as transmasculine or transfeminine. So, it's one of those sets of terms that can be used as a catch-all or an identity.
Ok, so could someone be transmasculine and not ftm, would this mean they don't want to physically transition but still identify as trans and masculine?
Gender identity has nothing really to do with a person's choice to transition. Many people identify as non binary but suffer from gender dysphoria and consequently feel a need to change their bodies often in the exact same way that trans women and men do. The various identities that are included within the boundaries of gender identity help people understand themselves better and that give them schemata to navigate the world. They are constructed identities and often have subjective meanings unique to every person. There is an innate quality to any gender identity but it has little to do with the socially constructed meanings of the labels we choose to adopt, this is true also for trans women and men who choose to identify as trans to others. When they do so, the response that they receive takes into consideration the identity and is often guided by socially constructed schemata. (Whch sadly also includes prejudicial responses) You might suffer from gender dysphoria and technically be considered trans according to the medical community, however, that does not mean that you can't also choose to identify as any existing gender identity or even create a new label that feels closer to who you are inside and that choice will have a huge amount of meaning and will heavily influence how you perceive your own behavior and actions and who you are as a person. Accordingly, it also influences the perception of those that you are talking to and each gender identity will lead to different responses by the people you come out to. In other words, I would suggest to stop feeling that if you adopt a gender identity you will be forced to act in a certain way to prove to others that the identity is valid. The only thing that matters is who you are inside, what feels natural to you and your inner needs. The identities are only there to help us put into words what we already feel inside and they have a very personal meaning. That's at least how I see it. I hope it makes sense. (*hug*)
For me it goes like this: I'm nb as far as identity is concerned, but my presentation, how I wish to be percieved in a world that mostly knows of two genders, is the transmasculine part. I also use it to specify the direction of my transition, in order to not always have to use a word that goes back to "female" to describe myself, such as AFAB or socialized female or female-bodied. So, yeah, I'm transmasculine but not FtM. Might transition or not, that does not have to do much with it. I don't know if anybody else uses it like that.
Transmasculine = afab and identifies as a gender between neutral and male Transfeminine = amab and identifies as a gender between neutral and female The words have nothing to do with transition. A person who IDs as ftm might not physically transition and a person who uses IDs specifically as transmasculine might choose to physically transition. The main point of the words is to group together parts of the community that tend to have similar experiences. A lot of transmasculine people bind, so it's useful to be able to just talk about transmasculine people binding without having to specify every gender that might bind. A lot of transfeminine people might want to take estrogen, so it's useful to be able to list resources about estrogen as resources for transfeminine people instead of having to specify every gender that might want to take estrogen.
@Eveline I was not asking for myslef just curious about these terms and trying to understand it right @genderscifi interesting, thanks for sharing! @darkcomesoon sorry yeah I guess this was what I'm confused about, do the masculine/feminine parts mean masculinity and femininity or male-identity-ish and female-identity-ish? For example, do some transmasculine people consider themselves femme or some transfeminine ppl cinsider themselves masc? Sorry, confusing lol
It refers to a male-ish identity or a female-ish identity. I am transmasculine (because I am dfab and a trans guy), but I can still be pretty fem sometimes.
I usually call my myself a trans woman, but because I'm under the transfeminine umbrella, and transfeminine is just a really cool sounding word, I also often call myself transfeminine. I consider myself pretty neutral in gender expression, a little bit feminine and a little bit masculine. I don't see transfeminine as implying I'm particularly feminine. I see it as an umbrella term for AMAB trans people who identify as women or something similar.
