The Definition of a definition

How is Transgender defined?  The WPATH Standards of Care of transgender people says transgender is an adjective to describe a diverse group of individuals who cross or transcend culturally defined categories of gender.  Yep, sounds like legal speak to me.  The most blanket definition I've heard is transgender is someone who perceives and expresses themselves, to any degree, as a gender other than their gender at birth.  And yet another definition I've heard is that transgender indicates a person in the process of changing their expression of gender, outwardly, from male to female or vice-verse, meaning  that once the transition is over, they aren't really transgender anymore.  OK, that one makes my head hurt.

I can’t validate or refute any of these definitions despite a rather intimate perspective, though I realize those striving for equal treatment and respect for transgender people are trying very hard for consensus and common definitions among our community. 

Notice that none of the definitions above refer to Transgender as a condition, illness, emotional disorder, or being broken.  I’m not going to go deeper on that, but unfortunately there is a lot of insistence from some that we are sick.  My answer is hold your head high and don’t be ashamed of what you are (just be careful) because there’s nothing wrong with you.

Let’s take a tangent approach.  How is cisgender defined?  I like the online definition:  an individual's self-perception of their gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth.  Simple right?  Ok, how is female defined?  The dictionary, very helpfully provides two definitions:  1. of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes.  2. a person bearing two X chromosomes in the cell nuclei and normally having a vagina, a uterus and ovaries, and developing at puberty a relatively rounded body and enlarged breasts, and retaining a beardless face; a girl or woman.  Hmm, I know a lot of cisgender women who don’t match either of those definitions.  Lastly, the dictionary definition of woman is, an adult female human being (see the definition of female above…I’m hoping we don’t need to go into the definition of human being!).

Right now you are wondering, Ok, so what Wren, what the heck are you bothering with all of this for?  Well really, who has time for dusty tomes of the English language and, unless they've lived under a rock, everyone should pretty much know what a female is.  Thank you, that’s exactly my point!  I was sitting with my therapist, discussing the future (specifically mine), and I made the comment, “Do I want to become an extraordinary Trans-woman or an ordinary woman?”  Well honey (yes I have pet names for myself.  It comes from spending a lot of time single…shush!), based on the definitions so far I can’t be a cisgender female.  It sounds like I’m transgender no matter what I do.  Am I missing something??

Oh but wait, often our meaning for a term or how we define something focuses on what we think it is or should be, and isn't “Webster-approved” at all!  It kinda reminds me of watching a lesson on logic in my mom’s grade school classroom. 

Toby likes football.  All men like football.  Therefore Toby is a man.   If you passed grade school logic you’ll realize this is not a true statement.  But kids will argue for hours that their dads and uncles sit in front of the TV every weekend and watch football so it must be true!!

So perception and education play a role.  What about interpretation?  Would a cross dresser be transgender?  How about a castrated man?  What about a cisgender female who has had a hysterectomy?  In other words it can be difficult to promote a single definition when someone may or may not choose to use that term to describe themselves or may not fall under that definition and use it to describe themselves anyway. 

Alright, moving forward and keeping in mind definitions can be fluid and vary by perception.  What did I mean by my statement of being transgender versus being a woman?  I was referring to a social classification, a category to fit into based on outward and inward appearance and expression.  It sounds simple, but one of the benefits of being transgender is nothing is ever simple.  For example, if I still have male genitals then I am obviously not a woman by most definitions.  But, I live life as a woman and, thankfully modesty is still in-fashion, nobody sees my erroneous genitalia.  So the uninformed person will perceive me as a woman. 

Cool, so I can ignore classical definitions and be female?  Probably, but there are still some gray areas (Not on top of my head!  Shame on you for insinuating I am old).  I do have male parts very much connected to my body.  I have a historical record which repeatedly points out my birth gender as male.  And I went through puberty pumped up on testosterone, leaving me with a masculine heritage in appearance.  All of which hearkens to my being transgender and not a cisgender female.  If I were to transition further with GRS (Gender Reassignment Surgery) and do my best to blend into society as a woman (blending means to be indistinguishable in public as anything but female), I can’t picture making it into any beauty competition finals, talking about my past would be very awkward, and there would probably always be that worry about how well I am blending.  On the other hand if I choose to remain openly Transgender (or Transsexual or whatever term you prefer) I enjoy the freedom to recognize my past, be proud of my genetics and ability to blend as a woman, and maybe or maybe not keep that extra, male bit.  In that latter situation, however, I will continue to be an outcast to much of society, probably have a lot smaller list of compatible dating options, and experience employment and social discrimination (yes, this is extremely real and current).

I’m not seeing the scales tipping enormously one way or the other.  As is so often the case when I just want an answer, there is none (see rule 1 of being transgender – nothing is ever simple).  Or maybe there never comes a point when I will need or want to choose.  I’m interested how I will define myself in the coming year as I go through cosmetic surgery.  I hesitate to call it corrective surgery, but shouldn't it be?  I’m putting right a cosmic accident, after all, becoming the gender I was meant to be.  Unless… gender isn't a binary system and definitions are only a way for us to communicate like ideas.  Hmmm.