I've increasingly been seeing and hearing the word "transgendered," and I have cringed every time. What's wrong with the seemingly subtle difference between saying "transgendered" and "transgender?" Actually, a lot.
Readers of my age and older will remember a sad time when this country labeled African-Americans as "colored people." One problem with this label was that it implied something happened to make the person "of color," which denied the person's dignity of being born that way. Today, we are somewhat more enlightened and say "people of color" instead.
Most transgender people I know have felt a gender incongruity for as long as they remember, and evolving science says we were probably born feeling like this. The only thing that changed along the way has been our awareness that there are others like us. We didn't "decide" to be transgender.
If hearing "transgendered people" is a problem for me, you can imagine how I felt when two different non-transgender friends recently told me independently that they knew a "person who had transgendered." These friends were assuming that all transgender people transition from living in one gender to living in another, just as I did. In reality, only part of the transgender population does this.
Other transgender people feel that their gender is part male and part female, or perhaps they feel gender-less. For them, a transition from one gender to another would be pointless.
I have found that whenever "transgendered" is being used, it is usually by a person who is not transgender, or by an organization wanting to be inclusive of transgender people, but not yet having a transgender person involved. I'm guessing one or both were true in the case of the Des Moines Register article that I cited in my prior post "Can One be Transgender and Catholic"?
Note to journalists: In the Associated Press Stylebook, transgender is listed but "transgendered" is not.
I find that the Media Reference Guide of GLAAD, the nonprofit organization that watches over how lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people (LGBT) are portrayed in the media, says it best.
"The word transgender never needs the extraneous "ed" at the end of the word. In fact, such a construction is grammatically incorrect. Only verbs can be transformed into participles by adding "-ed" to the end of the word, and transgender is an adjective, not a verb."
Another problematic extension of the word occurs when people refer to transgender individuals as "transgenders." Here the Media Guide advises:
"Transgender should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Do not say, 'Tony is a transgender,' or 'The parade included many transgenders.' Instead say, 'Tony is a transgender person,' or 'The parade included many transgender people.'"
Of course, terminology does evolve in everyday usage, in spite of what any media guide, dictionary, or blogger says. Perhaps "transgendered" and "transgenders" will become accepted usage one day. I hope not.
That said, I wrote this post out of a strongly held belief that people should be able to call themselves whatever they want. So while I think the Media Guide's position reflects the desire of most in the transgender population, if a particular transgender person chooses to refer to themselves as "transgendered," I have to accept that.
Yet if that person is using "transgendered" because of a reluctant belief that they must accept whatever box society wants to put them in, feeling fortunate to have any recognition at all, I have to object. We are humans; we can and should be able to speak for ourselves.
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Personally, I'd like to see the words 'transgender' and 'transsexual' gotten rid of entirely, as they primarily focus on what the person WAS and not what the person IS.
As a friend of mine stated:
"is it also a bit bad that we don't acknowledge the shit you've been through anymore? I think not, as I don't get any benefit from discussing my past, only other people do when they're trying to understand me."
So really, there's no point in adopting any trans label unless you want to other yourself deliberately.
Also, saying that marginalized people "other" themselves deliberately is just another oppressive tactic used to silence people (yes, this silencing can come even from other marginalized people!). Saying that I marginalize myself deliberately is a tactic that's been used by straight and cisgendered people to discount the experiences of gay and trans people for years. You may not identify as trans, but that doesn't give you the right to oppress those who do.
I believe the real meaning of the word is to go from one gender to another gender, It has been distorted to be an umbrella term covering a far more diverse group. Intersex, drag queens and cross dressers, have not changed thier gender. This is why many like myself, a sexchange, refuse to be included in the term 'trangender.'
The current use of the term is detrimental to stopping discrimination. It just allows society to dump all in a barrel and not bother to understand the differences. Society now can say 'oh so your a transgender' or 'oh so your transgendered'. Just chuck a label on it and shove it in the barrel with all the other apples.
Many sex change here in NZ refuse now to be called 'transgender'. We aren't elitist or special but we are different than CD, DQ and intersex people. We have different outlooks, needs and likely sexualities.
The word transgender covers too broadly and so Im just a female, a transsexual female or a sex change but I still believe I am part of the trans community.
Its all just words and as someone said "Labels aren't really the problem (althought they certainly can be used to create one) - discrimination, bigotry and irrational fear are the problem."
There is more to worry about and fight than if transgender should have an -ed on it.
Like what?
As for the term "male-gendered", I've never heard the term "gendered" used in any vernacular or conversation with the exception of this exact topic.
Transsexual isn't an appropriate term for everyone. Transsexualed even less so. Hmmmm, let's extrapolate this out to its logical usage: cross dressered, gayed, lesbianed, bisexualed, Christianed, Muslimed, Republicaned, Democrated, and Independented.
In my mind, "transgender person" is grammatically incorrect. I am a left-handed person, not a left-hand person. I am a gendered human being, not a gender human being. I'm divorced, not divorce. I'm mixed race, not mix race, and so on.
One of my concerns with "transgender person" is that the media has already begun to shorten it, dropping off the "person" and making us "transgenders," as you say. I'm not "a transgender." But with a grammatically incorrect adjective, that's going to be the result.
However, because I am in the minority (in a great many ways), I bow to the majority and use the term "transgender person," even though I hate it. I think that most transgender people prefer it and many feel that "transgendered" is disrespectful, so why intentionally be disrespectful? I would rather respect others and let it slide for myself.
If I just let it go and not get work up about it or bother by it, I feel emancipate, free up, and not tie down to language that just serves to make me irritate and tire.
That said, I appreciate your positive representation of our community.
My only fear is that if we don't find a good umbrella term and then be flexible with how it's used, straight/narrow-mind(ed) people won't ever take us seriously. My mother, for instance, has been very supportive, and never questioning. But when I transitioned 12 years ago, she told people I was transgendering. LOL! I thought it was creative. I would correct with 'transitioning', but she had her mind set on transgendering. So, fine, you know. She was being respectful in her attempts. THAT'S what matters.
The more variations that come, though, the more I say 'Sticks and Stones...' Seems I can't get it right even WITHIN the 'community'. I never know who's going to be sensitive about what, and ultimately end up offending someone unintentionally.
Honestly, I don't care what people call me. I'm tired of defending any of it. I'm going to just be comfortable with who I am, know it's sometimes hard for others to understand or know, and try to remember to ask others before assuming preferred labels.
It's my hope that as more transpeople and our stories are featured in the media, proper usage of the T-word will become commonplace in mainstream media, just as it has with words and phrases relating to gays and lesbians.
Rebecca Juro
Contributor
The Bilerico Project
http://www.bilerico.com
so, how about we drop these labels all together?
Second, while it would lovely if we could live in a world where "we could all just get along" or where labels don't matter, we don't live in that world. For that matter labels can be a very constructive way of understanding oneself and one's identity. (would YOU happily stop labeling yourself "male" or "female"? Is "Lib" part of your real name, or is THAT part of a label?)
Labels aren't really the problem (althought they certainly can be used to create one) - discrimination, bigotry and irrational fear are the problem.
For a good book on the history and the situation of transgender get a copy of "The Politics of Transgender, Changing Sexes," I cannot recall the author's name.
A cross-dresser can't wait to get home to put a bra on and a transsexual can't wait to get home to take her bra off.
I stand corrected, based on the obvious "people should be called what they want to be called" principle.
But it still feels very linguistically unnatural to me. I think of the word as referring to how people are gendered. I'm not male gender -- I'm male gendered; I'm not gay orientation -- I'm gay oriented. (Just as I wouldn't be pink skin, or brown eye, or Jew.)
OTOH, calling someone "a transgender" or saying that someone "transgendered" is pretty disgusting and I agree completely with the OP's assessment of them.
I can relate, but don't get your hopes up too much. I hate when people say "gays". I always say "gay people". There's entirely too much dehumanization that goes on and I think it's important to add the word "people".