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Dec. 17th, 2006 11:39 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
serenefish.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
transhi there.
I've been musing lately over something that flared up in a comments thread about a week ago about the Wikipedia entry for the term 'tranny chaser.'
I'm not sure how to formulate the question, but it's regarding a certain general divide that seems to exist among trans people, on the question of how we perceive our identities in the context of society/gender in general
It seems like some people put very little meaning, identity-wise, in their being trans - as in, they see it as an obstacle to overcome, and a big part of their lives, but not as part of their identity, and not something that informs how they interact with people in gendered ways. They more or less seem to view themselves as otherwise-identical members of their gender, and their being trans is often described as a birth defect.
Other people consider being trans as a large part of their identity; even though they may fully identify with their gender in a fairly binary way (or not), they consider the process of growing up trans and transitioning to have had such an impact, that it fundamentally informs who they are. They may actively identify as trans, just as strongly as (if not more than) they identify as a guy/girl/man/woman/whatever, without seeing that as contradictory
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zoethrace suggested that it may be related to queer identification - as in, those who identify as queer (and perhaps radical) are more likely to embrace their trans identity as something positive, and those who view it as a birth defect/obstacle may be more likely to not identify as queer, and prefer to blend into society. As she acknowledged, there is plenty of overlap between these groups, but does anyone think this is part of the answer?
Do you identify as queer? Trans(gender/sexual/etc)? Both, or neither? How does your queerness, or lack thereof, interact with your trans identity?
Are these two general schools of thought reconcilable? Other than ignoring each other, how can we all interact with each other, without one group offending the other (as seems to happen often)? Is there a common ground? Is there even a real, significant, non-linguistic difference between these two groups?
As a disclaimer, I must admit that I fall into the queer-identified, trans-identified, kind of crazy identifying-with-my-transness type, so I am biased... and I'm sure I've framed this whole discussion in a biased and offensive way - please call me out on it if I have
I've seen this issue come up a lot, but it never seems to get a whole lot of attention, and I think it's kinda important. I could be wrong, though
Thoughts, anyone?
I've been musing lately over something that flared up in a comments thread about a week ago about the Wikipedia entry for the term 'tranny chaser.'
I'm not sure how to formulate the question, but it's regarding a certain general divide that seems to exist among trans people, on the question of how we perceive our identities in the context of society/gender in general
It seems like some people put very little meaning, identity-wise, in their being trans - as in, they see it as an obstacle to overcome, and a big part of their lives, but not as part of their identity, and not something that informs how they interact with people in gendered ways. They more or less seem to view themselves as otherwise-identical members of their gender, and their being trans is often described as a birth defect.
Other people consider being trans as a large part of their identity; even though they may fully identify with their gender in a fairly binary way (or not), they consider the process of growing up trans and transitioning to have had such an impact, that it fundamentally informs who they are. They may actively identify as trans, just as strongly as (if not more than) they identify as a guy/girl/man/woman/whatever, without seeing that as contradictory
zoethrace suggested that it may be related to queer identification - as in, those who identify as queer (and perhaps radical) are more likely to embrace their trans identity as something positive, and those who view it as a birth defect/obstacle may be more likely to not identify as queer, and prefer to blend into society. As she acknowledged, there is plenty of overlap between these groups, but does anyone think this is part of the answer?Do you identify as queer? Trans(gender/sexual/etc)? Both, or neither? How does your queerness, or lack thereof, interact with your trans identity?
Are these two general schools of thought reconcilable? Other than ignoring each other, how can we all interact with each other, without one group offending the other (as seems to happen often)? Is there a common ground? Is there even a real, significant, non-linguistic difference between these two groups?
As a disclaimer, I must admit that I fall into the queer-identified, trans-identified, kind of crazy identifying-with-my-transness type, so I am biased... and I'm sure I've framed this whole discussion in a biased and offensive way - please call me out on it if I have
I've seen this issue come up a lot, but it never seems to get a whole lot of attention, and I think it's kinda important. I could be wrong, though
Thoughts, anyone?