Transsexual Road Map Notes

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The basic facts of transsexuality?

A reader notes:

I am a 68 year old male who is really ignorant of the basic facts of transsexuality.  I researched this topic on the net but I did not find any simple graphic information.
Am I correct that there are two basic types of situations: 1st - some people who appear and believe themselves to be males except they do not have a penis?  2nd - some people who appear and believe they are female are actually born with a penis?
I can pretty well understand transitionning involving the removal of a penis, but I am guessing that creating sexually functioning vagina probably cannot be totally accomplished.
Transitioning involving replacing a vagina with a penis seems to me to be an almost impossibly physical process with the exception of inclusion of the ability to urinate.
Am I close on any of this?

My reply:

Thanks for the note-- your summary is a little too simplified and focuses a bit too much on genitalia as the defining difference that divides people into two groups. Most of the ways people express gendered differences are social customs, so gender identity and expression are usually considered distinct from sexual anatomy and orientation. For instance, many people live in their chosen gender full-time without opting for hormones or surgery. People who are traditionally defined as transsexuals usually employ many if not all available medical and social options to transition, including genital surgery.
Transsexual people are usually divided based on the prevailing binary into two groups: male-to-female (MTF) people like myself. We were assigned as males at birth but felt that this was in error and take steps to live in what we feel is the correct gender. Female-to-male (FTM) people were assigned as females at birth but felt that this was in error and take steps to live in what we feel is the correct gender. You can see a video of my MTF business partner interviewing an FTM activist here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPBLYBIo0uw
Calpernia (on left) was assigned as a male at birth but is now socially and legally female. Jamison Green (on right) was assigned female at birth but is now socially and legally male.
Creating a sexually functioning vagina and penis is possible thanks to advances in plastic surgery. Intact nerves and tissue are rearranged, and many people remain able to have orgasms after surgery. Surgery to create a vagina (vaginoplasty) is less expensive than surgery to create a penis (phalloplasty) because it is less complicated. For more information on the surgical options, see the links below.
I hope this clarifies matters a little!

Related resources
Vaginoplaty resources
Phalloplasty resources (offsite)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Welcome to Transsexual Road Map notes!

Transsexual Road Map was conceived of and designed as a web 1.0 “information silo.” Though I am involved in a number of web 2.0 type projects, such as our GenderLife Forum and YouTube, I feel it’s important to have focused resources like this which reflect the voice and viewpoint of the author.

One difficulty when a site gets to a certain size is maintenance. I’ve gotten over 70,000 emails since I started writing about consumer issues for trans people. Many of my responses ended up getting incorporated into the site itself. As other projects take more of my time, I have become concerned about the frequency with which I can update information here.

This section of the site seeks to remedy some of that. I am going to go through my files and share edited excerpts of the responses I have sent to readers. I am also going to share occasional questions and comments from readers as time permits, as well as comments on news items related to the practical and political aspects of transition. With luck, this will reduce the lag between the time I answer an email and the time I can update the site. So check back often or use the search feature to find information via these notes!