Transgendered & passable
» Ambiguously Gendered
When I turned on the TV the Maury show was on. They were having some sort of is he a she or he contest. The audience was supposed to vote I think. Having a DVD to watch there was no reason to linger.
Don’t even know if they were transsexuals or transvestites or if the producers or audience considered the distinction.
Probably there are exceptions – people who intentionally remain pre-op perhaps - but the goal of mtf transsexuals is to become a woman. In a sense the idea of passing as a woman is irrelevant: he has become a woman. But to be perceived as anything other than a ‘real’ woman is damning: failure.
Transvestites can’t help but enjoy passing. It is a triumph of skill (and genes) and who wouldn’t get a kick out of such a wry deception. But for many a crossdresser not being passable is a failure. Maybe younger crossdressers will more able to enjoy being a little bit of both, neither, someone inconclusive.
Comments
One of my best friends, a few months post-op, said that she was learning to make peace with the sense that she would always be living in between. Transitioning in her 30s, too late to reverse the tricks that biology had played on her during puberty, she was comfortable with her feminine soul and surgical overhaul. She was passing in most environments, and yet adapting to the fact that she’d probably never pass in all.
For her, it seemed that other folks’ perceptions of her were somewhat relevant, yet inconsequential in the big picture.
Posted by: Steve | October 6, 2003 6:00 PM
I’m glad she was able to overcome the issue of others’ perceptions. Possibly one of the greatest obstacle for some transgendered persons.
Posted by: Richard | October 8, 2003 5:12 PM