...In the pants... (f) labels

I think that I understand what you're saying, Kr.... and I think that's what I'm saying.


I asked sk. to define what she means by "transsexual"... but I think that maybe I should have asked her to define "Intersex" instead.


I often have trouble putting my thoughts into words, because I do not understand the language of others enough to put my thoughts into their words.

Another problem is that, unlike sk., I see a lot of crossover with things. I can't keep things "strictly scientific", or "strictly spiritual", and often while attempting to explain a thought or theory, I trip over words which are supposed to be used only for one or the other.


I'll try, once more, to explain the way I see things/people.

On one level, everyone, with the exception of maybe one or two people whom I've never met, is transgendered and Intersexed. I don't see sex as polar, and gender is transient and subjective. There is no other way for me to explain the way people appear to me. I just cannot make my brain polarize the way it obviously should be able to, unless I sit and spend a long time forcing it to. My immediate reaction to people is to see them as people. Sex and gender take time for me to determine. However... respect is also something that is automatic for me. No matter how I see someone, I respect them in a way they would want me to. If I see a person, and that person identifies as "he", I call him "he". If I don't know, then I use clues. Most people express their preference in style of dress and modes of action. If people are naked, even body language can assist in this. Penis does not mean "he", and breasts do not mean "she". They're just body parts. I won't use gendered language if I have no clues.


Basically, when I affix labels to people in a situation where none have been offered to me for use by the person I'm talking about, but where one is necessary, I try to use the label I think the person would most want. Whether or not I see someone as Transgendered or Intersexed or anything else... I attempt to respect the person's wishes and refer to them in a manner which shows that respect.


If we're talking strictly science, I think that, because the brain is an organ, if a person feels that their body is the "wrong" sex, I would see that person as Intersexed. In the realm of science, sex is defined, as opposed to being seen as a continuum. If I attempt to see it that way, I include the brain as an organ, where as most do not, while determining a person's sex. Purely scientifically, if I had to determine what makes one a male, female, or intersexed person, I would include a person's "sex identity" as one of the factors, as well as using whatever research there is about size, shape, etc. of the brain. If a person has always felt that they were an "X" in the body of a "Y", I count that "X" as the "brain's sex".

Still scientifically,

I think that those transsexuals who have always felt that they were, for example, female, but something went horribly wrong with their body and they ended up looking male, are indeed Intersexed, even without HRT or surgeries, and even after HRT or surgery.

I think that those people who are Intersexed who have had the same experience (feeling that their body was "wrong") and have had to transition, are Transsexual.

Not scientifically,

We're all just people who pick the labels that best tell our own story, and we pick labels for others based on our own definitions and our own level of respect for that person, when none are given to us.

Me? I'm Intersexed, Transsexual, and I prefer masculine pronouns.


(11:27pm) addendum:

The reason why I tell people I'm Intersexed, and leave the "Transsexual" part out of it for a while is because in telling people who I am, I have to tell people I'm Intersexed in order to protect myself. (I really don't think that it's anyone's business, but unfortunately, I know the results of not saying anything) That little tidbit of information, if left unsaid, would have people accusing me of being a liar, and might potentially endanger my life if it came out at the wrong time. Telling people my life history is something else entirely. "Transsexual" has a history... it's an action along with a state of being. "Intersexed" is the current "condition" of my body, and not frequently interpreted as anything more.

Transsexual = I changed
Intersexed = I'm different

Hope this makes some sort of sense.