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trans2008-01-07 07:45 am
changelingjane.livejournal.com) wrote in trans2008-01-07 07:45 am
Entry tags:
Something I had to write down
* It was asked if I was ok with sharing this. I'm fine with that as long as it's credited to me as shown below:
by Jamie Roberts (changelingjane@gmail.com)
For a long time now I've been trying to find the best way to explain what being transgender means to me. I've heard other people's explanations of what it means to them--some of which were simply beautiful--but there was always something that didn't click with me like it did with them. It wasn't until I took an English course in college that I figured it out.
One day I walked into class, and our teacher asked us to pull out paper and a pen; it was time to do some free-writing on a specific subject. Up until this point, we had been doing all our writing at home, which we would then pass around to the other students in class to proof-read and give feedback. As soon as I set my paper and pen down, I realized I was sitting in a right-handed desk. And I'm very much left-handed.
I'd always just sat in any old desk, usually whichever was closest to my friends. I'd never even noticed that our desks were specifically right- or left-handed; I go to an art school, where most of the time our "desks" are big drawing tables. Of course, that was not the case in English class.
It struck me then that our society is mostly designed for right-handed people. In a practical sense it's sort of inevitable; right-handed people are far more common. But still, it left me with the feeling that the world is one way, while I am the other. Which, as you can probably imagine, is also the feeling I get from being transgendered. But that's not all the two have in common.
Being left-handed doesn't mean anything to me beyond the fact that my left hand is my dominant one. I don't identify as left-handed, but I still am left-handed, and I will always be left-handed. It's a part of me--inseparable from the rest--but it is only what it is, and nothing more. I'm not a "left-handed woman", I'm just a woman. Who is also left-handed.
The fact that I'm left-handed is only an issue in specific situations; otherwise I'm just like everybody else. You couldn't tell just by looking at me that I'm left-handed, unless you were watching me while I was writing. When somebody notices and brings it up, it makes me a little self-conscious, because it's not something I normally think about. But it's not really a big deal when somebody does that, unless they're being rude.
Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end--at least, in the society I live in. Even though most things are designed for right-handed people, there are still options available for those who are left-handed, even if sometimes it's kind of a hassle (anybody who plays left-handed guitar knows what I mean).
People who are left-handed, despite being far less common, aren't seen as freaks, weirdos, or deviants. They aren't disowned, invalidated, or ridiculed for it. There are a few stereotypes about left-handed people--like that they're more creative, or more likely to be gay--but it would be unthinkable to discriminate against somebody because they are left-handed. And it would be crazier still to force them to use their right hand.
It hasn't always been like that, though. During the Dark Ages in Europe, left-handed people were believed to be evil, immoral, or possessed by the devil. In those days the church would try to "correct" left-handed people--forcing them to use their other hand--because being left-handed was "unnatural". There are even small traces of those beliefs left in the English language: the word "sinister" originally meant "left-handed", for example.
It took a long time to convince people back then that there was nothing wrong with being left-handed. But times have changed. To people in those days, being left-handed was a religious issue; these days it's just a fact of life. There aren't major news stories about the lives of left-handed people, debates over who might be left-handed, or sensationalized talk shows about the "left-handed lifestyle". There isn't a need for left-handed support groups, because nobody who is left-handed has to "come out" as such. It's basically a non-issue.
It wouldn't be too hard to imagine people back in the Dark Ages, though, who were right-handed in their public lives, but used their left hand in private whenever they could. And why wouldn't they? It just makes sense to write that way when you're left-handed.
Anybody who's tried writing with their off-hand knows how hard it is. With practice an average person can achieve something legible, but it's done at a major disadvantage. We know now that forcing a left-handed child to write with her right hand can cause serious long-term damage, psychologically as well as functionally. It's tantamount to abuse.
Unfortunately, few recognize that forcing a child into a gender role that doesn't fit him or her is just as wrong. It has been shown that transgender people who are able to live in the role that comes naturally to them tend to thrive when previously they had suffered; those who continue to suffer typically do so at the hands of a cruel world that doesn't understand them (or even want to).
If you know people who are left-handed--and trust me, you do--imagine them being disowned by their families and turned away from their church for being that way. Sound silly? Not too long ago, it was serious business.
Maybe eventually it will be just as silly to treat transgender people like that. Until then, whether we want to be or not, people like me are still transgendered. Or maybe I should say, left-gendered?
by Jamie Roberts (changelingjane@gmail.com)
For a long time now I've been trying to find the best way to explain what being transgender means to me. I've heard other people's explanations of what it means to them--some of which were simply beautiful--but there was always something that didn't click with me like it did with them. It wasn't until I took an English course in college that I figured it out.
One day I walked into class, and our teacher asked us to pull out paper and a pen; it was time to do some free-writing on a specific subject. Up until this point, we had been doing all our writing at home, which we would then pass around to the other students in class to proof-read and give feedback. As soon as I set my paper and pen down, I realized I was sitting in a right-handed desk. And I'm very much left-handed.
I'd always just sat in any old desk, usually whichever was closest to my friends. I'd never even noticed that our desks were specifically right- or left-handed; I go to an art school, where most of the time our "desks" are big drawing tables. Of course, that was not the case in English class.
It struck me then that our society is mostly designed for right-handed people. In a practical sense it's sort of inevitable; right-handed people are far more common. But still, it left me with the feeling that the world is one way, while I am the other. Which, as you can probably imagine, is also the feeling I get from being transgendered. But that's not all the two have in common.
Being left-handed doesn't mean anything to me beyond the fact that my left hand is my dominant one. I don't identify as left-handed, but I still am left-handed, and I will always be left-handed. It's a part of me--inseparable from the rest--but it is only what it is, and nothing more. I'm not a "left-handed woman", I'm just a woman. Who is also left-handed.
The fact that I'm left-handed is only an issue in specific situations; otherwise I'm just like everybody else. You couldn't tell just by looking at me that I'm left-handed, unless you were watching me while I was writing. When somebody notices and brings it up, it makes me a little self-conscious, because it's not something I normally think about. But it's not really a big deal when somebody does that, unless they're being rude.
Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end--at least, in the society I live in. Even though most things are designed for right-handed people, there are still options available for those who are left-handed, even if sometimes it's kind of a hassle (anybody who plays left-handed guitar knows what I mean).
People who are left-handed, despite being far less common, aren't seen as freaks, weirdos, or deviants. They aren't disowned, invalidated, or ridiculed for it. There are a few stereotypes about left-handed people--like that they're more creative, or more likely to be gay--but it would be unthinkable to discriminate against somebody because they are left-handed. And it would be crazier still to force them to use their right hand.
It hasn't always been like that, though. During the Dark Ages in Europe, left-handed people were believed to be evil, immoral, or possessed by the devil. In those days the church would try to "correct" left-handed people--forcing them to use their other hand--because being left-handed was "unnatural". There are even small traces of those beliefs left in the English language: the word "sinister" originally meant "left-handed", for example.
It took a long time to convince people back then that there was nothing wrong with being left-handed. But times have changed. To people in those days, being left-handed was a religious issue; these days it's just a fact of life. There aren't major news stories about the lives of left-handed people, debates over who might be left-handed, or sensationalized talk shows about the "left-handed lifestyle". There isn't a need for left-handed support groups, because nobody who is left-handed has to "come out" as such. It's basically a non-issue.
It wouldn't be too hard to imagine people back in the Dark Ages, though, who were right-handed in their public lives, but used their left hand in private whenever they could. And why wouldn't they? It just makes sense to write that way when you're left-handed.
Anybody who's tried writing with their off-hand knows how hard it is. With practice an average person can achieve something legible, but it's done at a major disadvantage. We know now that forcing a left-handed child to write with her right hand can cause serious long-term damage, psychologically as well as functionally. It's tantamount to abuse.
Unfortunately, few recognize that forcing a child into a gender role that doesn't fit him or her is just as wrong. It has been shown that transgender people who are able to live in the role that comes naturally to them tend to thrive when previously they had suffered; those who continue to suffer typically do so at the hands of a cruel world that doesn't understand them (or even want to).
If you know people who are left-handed--and trust me, you do--imagine them being disowned by their families and turned away from their church for being that way. Sound silly? Not too long ago, it was serious business.
Maybe eventually it will be just as silly to treat transgender people like that. Until then, whether we want to be or not, people like me are still transgendered. Or maybe I should say, left-gendered?