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Reading Mike: The Annotated Bailey: Chapter 8, page 144
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[144]
8 Terese and Cher
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Terminology is an important source of confusion.
"Transsexualism" has many connotations, including "sex change,"
"trapped in the wrong body," "femininity" (in genetic
males) or "masculinity" (in genetic females), and "cross-dressing."
Try to forget the connotations. All I mean by "transsexualism"
is the desire to become a member of the opposite sex. An adult with transsexualism
is a "transsexual." These definitions say nothing about the motivation,
appearance, or subsequent actions of the transsexual. They do not imply
that the transsexual feels trapped in the wrong body, or that the transsexual
even ultimately seeks sex reassignment.
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The definitions also allow different degrees
of transsexualism. I have no desire of which I am aware to become a woman,
and so I am not at all transsexual. But there is a range of transsexualism
among people who do have such desire. There are people who would like to
change sex if they could try it out for a while and change back if they
chose. (I do not mean to include men and women who have whimsical thoughts
about this. Only serious thoughts.) Some would change sex permanently if
they did not have to give up important aspects of their lives (for example,
their children) to do so. Others have no ambivalence, and may dedicate their
lives to changing their sex to the point of apparent obsession, losing families,
friends, and jobs in the process. All of these people I have described are
at least a little transsexual, but the latter are more transsexual than
the former. "Transsexual" is not an either-or label. Even if we
were to restrict the use of that word to those who take medical steps to
change their sex, there would still be considerable variability. Some transsexuals
merely undergo electrolysis; others take hormones; others get breast implants;
and of course, others get an operation to simulate the genitalia of the
other sex. Although there are genetic women who become men, their story
must await another
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| Despite this variability, it is possible to get a handle on
the psychology of male-to-female transsexualism. You just have to meet the
right people--starting with some transsexuals, themselves. |
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