Transwoman

A transwoman (also spelled trans woman or trans-woman) is a male-to-female transsexual and the term "transwoman" is preferred by many such individuals over various medical terms. Other non-medical terms include t-girl and ts-girl.cite web
last=Kenagy
first=Gretchen P.
title=Transgender Health: Findings from Two Needs Assessment Studies in Philadelphia.
publisher=Health and Social Work, Vol. 30
date=2005
url=http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=HnmVQy25D6Zqw2JGwMTw67vQQlR1cj6m641WLV1TKJXkcJ6DHCLC!-2108353609?docId=5009236504
accessdate=2008-03-29] cite web
last=Novic
first=Richard
title=Alice In Genderland: A Crossdresser Comes Of Age
publisher=iUniverse, page 77, ISBN 0595315623
date=2005
url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XHm9s79izEEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP10&dq=%22t-girl%22+transgender&ots=-hf-7xDOEz&sig=AlXE1Rdq9TNA8p3BaJMCZWOKw7A
accessdate=2008-03-29] Some individuals have been labeled and assigned as males, but feel that is not an accurate and complete description of themselves. They may desire to transition towards a gender identity as a woman to varying degrees.

Overview

"Transition" refers to the process of adopting a social and personal identity that corresponds to one's own sense of their gendered self, and may or may not include medical intervention (hormone treatment, surgery, etc.), changes in legal documents (name and/or sex indicated on identification, birth certificate, etc.), and personal expression (clothing, accessories, voice, body language).

Transitioning

Similar to transmen, transwomen have a multitude of decisions and choices depending on what culture(s) they are presently in and what gender roles they and their supporters feel they should attain. Every case is unique and what options are available greatly depend on one's access to medical care providers and on financial support. Some people will want and need hair removal and voice feminization although hormone replacement therapy for transwomen can mitigate those concerns. Likewise facial feminization surgery is not always required but can be seen as advantageous for providing a psychological basis of seeing oneself transform either in conjunction or as a step of genital reassignment surgery for transwomen.

Terminology

Some transwomen who feel that their gender transition is complete prefer to be called simply "women", considering "transwoman" or "male-to-female transsexual" to be terms that should only used for people who are not fully transitioned. Even after transitioning, transwomen have biological differences from cisgender women. For example, most have XY chromosomes. However, "woman" does not necessarily refer to biological sex; it can also refer to cultural gender role distinctions or, most importantly for many transpeople, a personal gender-identification choice. Some who still identify as transwomen after transitioning may describe themselves as "post-op" (post-operative; as distinguished from "pre-op") transwomen. Many transgender people consider that the shape of their genitalia is not relevant to how they interact with most people. Transwomen who do not want, cannot afford, or have medical reasons for not having sex reassignment surgery are sometimes described as "non-op". Many transwomen consider genital surgery as only a small part of a complete transition and some argue that transwomen should not be defined by their surgical status. Others dislike the term "transsexual" and prefer to call themselves "transgender" women, but furthermore some women with this condition prefer to use the word "intergendered" or "intersexed". "Shemale",citation |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/she-male |title=She-male |periodical=Dictionary.com |accessdate=2007-10-26 "Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English" ] citation |periodical=WordWebOnline |url=http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SHEMALE |title=Shemale |accessdate=2007-10-26
"(sometimes offensive) a form of transsexual, esp. one in the sex industry" "WordWeb Online"] along with "tranny",citation |url=http://etransgender.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=188 |title=Transgender Terms & Definitions |periodical=eTransgender.com |accessdate=2007-10-26
Term comes from the pornography industry] citation |url=http://www.tsroadmap.com/start/tgterms.html |title=Glossary of Transgendered Terms |periodical=Transsexual Road Map |accessdate=2007-10-26] "ladyboy" and similar terms, are often used in a derogatory manner to indicate a pre-op transwoman possessing both breasts and male genitalia.cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/trans/TGterminology.pdf |title=Trans@MIT: Allies Toolkit |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-10-26] Like many potentially derogatory labels, some have adopted the term as an endearment or as a form of self-empowerment, for example San Francisco's club Trannyshack.citation |last=Herbst |first=Philip H. |title=Wimmin, Wimps & Wallflowers: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Gender and Sexual orientation Bias in The United States |publisher=Intercultural Press |year=2001 |isbn=1877864803 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8rgUeEpWfbsC&pg=PA38&dq=shemale+empowerment&sig=heIoin691HMnIucKQBuK1_4mbWE#PPA253,M1 |accessdate=2007-10-25 |pages=252–3]

exual orientation

The stereotype of the effeminate boy who would grow up to live as an adult woman has a very long history.cite web
last=Julia
first=Dudek
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=Playing with Barbies:The Role of Female Stereotypes in the Male-to-Female Transition
work=
publisher=Transgender Tapestry
date=April 20, 2003
url=http://www.ifge.org/Article231.phtml
format=HTML
doi=
accessdate=January 2008 ] Due to this history there is a deep seated notion that transwomen who are attracted to males are more genuine.Fact|date=July 2008 This motivates many lesbian, bisexual, and asexual transsexuals to exaggerate any feminine qualities they have.Blanchard, R., Clemmensen, L. H., & Steiner, B. (1985). Social desirability response set and systematic distortion in the self-report of adult male gender patients. "Archives of Sexual Behavior, 14."] Research on the sexual orientation of transwomen is compromised by this phenomenon. Many studies on this issue have suffered from reporting bias, since many transsexuals feel they must give the "correct" answers to such questions in order to increase their chances of obtaining hormone replacement therapy. Patrick Califia, author of "Sex Changes" and "Public Sex", has indicated that this group has a clear awareness of what answers to give to survey questions in order to be considered eligible for hormone replacement therapy and/or sex reassignment surgery:

Some researchers (see BBL controversy) ignore the evidence of self-identification as women and continue to view transsexual women as men, labeling trans women who feel sexual attraction to men as "homosexual transsexuals" and to women as "nonhomosexual". Some of the same researchers (such as J. Michael Bailey) are also involved in the process of bisexual erasure. This is seen as disrespectful to the women whom they are supposing to study; developmental biologist and trans-feminist writer Julia Serano labels this as part of a process of "trans-objectification," the reduction of transsexual persons to research specimens and sexual fantasies.

Notable transwomen

* Calpernia Addams, actress, author, autobiographer, entrepreneur, activist, fiddle player
* Allenina, model, actress, dancer and director
* Nadia Almada, Big Brother UK 2004 winner, transsexual
* Alexis Arquette, Actor, Musician, member of the Arquette family of actors
* April Ashley, model
* Estelle Asmodelle, actress, author, dancer and Australia's first legal transsexual
* Georgina Beyer, the first trans person in New Zealand (and the world) to become a mayor (1995) and a member of Parliament (1999)
* Alexandra Billings, American actress
* Kate Bornstein activist, author, performance artist, playwright
* Jennifer Finney Boylan, American author and activist
* Wendy Carlos, American composer and electronic musician
* Caroline Cossey (a.k.a. Tula), English model
* Candis Cayne, American actress and entertainer
* Jayne County, American rock singer
* Roberta Cowell, First male to female trans person in the UK (1951)
* Molly Cutpurse, English author
* Lili Elbe first surgically reassigned person, Denmark (1930)
* Bülent Ersoy, Turkish singer
* Bibiana Fernández, Spanish presenter and actress
* Lauren Foster, Vogue model
* Harisu, South Korean entertainer, actress and singer
* Dana International, Israeli pop singer
* Christine Jorgensen, first male-to-female trans person in the US (1953)
* Deirdre McCloskey, American economist
* Jan Morris, British writer
* Ataru Nakamura, Japanese singer
* Judiel Nieva, alleged witness of a Marian apparition
* Renée Richards, American tennis player
* Isis Tsunami, American designer and finalist on "America's Next Top Model"

ee also

* List of transgender-related topics

References

External links

* [http://www.w-o-m-a-n.net Australian WOMAN Network] - The Australian WOMAN Network, a group which lobbies for the rights of Australian women living with transsexualism or of transsexual background.
* [http://www.lynnconway.com Lynn Conway] - Her goal is to "illuminate and normalize the issues of gender identity and the process of transitioning."
* [http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Evelyn/Evelyn.html "Mom, I Need to Be a Girl"] - a book by the mother of a young transwoman.
* [http://www.annelawrence.com Transsexual Women's Resources] - run by Anne Lawrence, a controversial figure due to her support for the autogynephilia theory.
* [http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/TSsuccesses.html Transsexual Women's Successes]
* [http://www.tsroadmap.com/ TS Road Map] - a resource guide for those who are aspiring to transition.