RE: Do Transsexual Persons Have An Opposite-Sex Brain?
It did at times feel that the term might be somewhat anachronistic. Is the term transgender preferred?
I thought, one could change his gender without changing his genitals, however, and this article was strictly about operations on genitals and hormone therapies that aim to change the externals, since the internals are just fine the way they are. A person isn't switching their gender identity, they're switching (or trying to switch) sex.
I had interactions with people from the community online, but not to any great depth. It's quite possible I'm wrong about how I approach certain things or in my definitions. But it's all based on solid research (see Nature article) and the individuals were referred to as transsexuals in the literature. But those articles, though of historical significance, are a bit old now.
At any rate, this is what the comment section is for, to correct and enlighten me!
"Transsexual person" is the medically correct term, but has recently fallen out of favour so that gender identity can be more easily distinguished from sexual orientation by laymen. Heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual, skoliosexual, and homosexual all refer to sexual orientations so the term "transsexual" can be all too easily misconstrued. The term transgender is meant to fix this issue.
Please note that all of the above terms are adjectival rather than nominal. That is, "transgender person," "transgender individual," "transgender man" (FtM), "transgender woman" (MtF), or "person who is transgender" are grammatically correct. Just as you wouldn't say "a black" you wouldn't say "a transgender," nor is "transgendered" a word.
To be clear, I'm not accusing you of making these mistakes, just putting information out there for all to see. For me it's about proper use of language and not concerns of political correctness.
Lastly, I wanted to let you know I would have upvoted this article had I seen it within the first few days of posting. Admittedly I didn't read it in its entirety, but it was obviously well researched. Being active in the LGBTQ+ community I thought I was well versed, but I certainly learned a few things. I sure wish payout periods were longer here because this article deserves five times the rewards it earned.
By the by, I'd like for the "academic" tag to get more use. My intention is for it to be used on articles of high enough quality they could be submitted at the university level—or, in my case, actually are papers I've submitted with some images added. This to distinguish it from other "education" posts.
Let me know what you think.
I love the 'academic' tag! Never thought of it. I'll make use of it, though I definitely don't think my articles are ready to be published as essays at university level, but it wouldn't take many alterations for some of them!
Great recommendation.
(And I'll visit your blog tmr; out of time today.)
Your comment is very welcome and appreciated and I would've upvoted it to be the first comment people see if I could, but my 100% vote is still tiny.
The term transsexual was used in all the studies I read, so it would be a bit odd (condescending?) to change or update their term for them, or to vacillate depending on when I was using it as opposed to when I was elaborating on the studies.
You gave a very detailed reply and I will certainly refer to it (maybe even reference it) in the future. I'll most probably be using the more accepted terms from now on.
I hope a writer is still allowed some leeway for purposes of flow or joking. I wouldn't mind someone saying 'a white' to make content somehow more snappy or to make a subtle reference to something cultural or a kind of joke.
Thanks for reading an 'old' article. I often do that - since an article's worth doesn't depend on whether its payout period is over - but not many others do.
It's fine if you refer to people as "transsexual". Some will choose to be offended no matter what you say.
Noted )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexual
Wikipedia is bigoted!
Transsexual
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with, or not culturally associated with, their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including hormone replacement therapy and other sex reassignment therapies) to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.
Transsexual is generally considered a subset of transgender, but some transsexual people reject the label of transgender. A medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria can be made if a person expresses a desire to live and be accepted as a member of their identified sex and if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress as a result of their gender identity.