Most of us take
sex and gender for granted: We are either male or
female, are raised as such, and although we might
challenge certain role expectations associated with
the male or female sex-we do not question our basic
maleness or femaleness which seems to be a natural
fact of life.
When we listen
to the experience of transgender persons, however, a
different picture emerges. Transgender people are a
diverse group of individuals who cross or transcend
culturally defined categories of gender. They
include MTF and FTM transgenders - transexuals
(those who desire or have had hormone therapy or sex
reassignment surgery), cross dressers or
transvestites (those who desire to wear clothing
associated with another sex), transgenderists (those
who live in the gender role associated with another
sex without desiring sex reassignment surgery),
bi-gender persons (those who identify as both man
and woman), drag queens and kings (usually gay men
and lesbian women who "do drag" and dress up in,
respectively, women's and men's clothes), and female
and male impersonators (males who impersonate women
and females who impersonate men, usually for
entertainment). Within today's transgender coming
out and liberation movement, even more alternative
identities have emerged, such as gender blender,
gender bender, gender outlaw, and gender free.
How can we make
sense out of this great diversity of identities? And
what can we learn fiom the unique experience of
transgender persons? First and foremost, we can come
to realize that gender is far more complex and
diverse than many of us think. Gender identity is
one of four distinct components of sexual identity,
along with natal sex, social sex role, and sexual
orientation. These four components can be combined
in a multitude of ways, creating a spectrum of
sexual identities and a myriad of associated
expressions.^sup 4^
It is by
thoughtful examination of the transgender
experience, in all of its unique forms of
expression, that we can acquire a deeper
understanding of gender in the context of sexual
identity-and more fully appreciate our potential as
human beings. This article begins that process of
examination by first outlining a multi component
model of sexual identity and then describing six of
the ways in which transgender identities challenge
conventional notions about gender and sexual
identity. To conclude, implications for social
change are discussed.
COMPONENTS OF SEXUAL IDENTITY
Components of
Sexual Identity is a descriptive model originally
developed by Michael Shively and John DeCecco and
adapted by Eli Coleman^sup 6^ and Walter Bockting
and Eli Coleman.^sup 7^ This descriptive model
illuminates sexual identity by distinguishing among
four of its components: natal sex, gender identity,
social sex role, and sexual orientation.
Natal sex refers
to one's sex as it appears to be at birth. Usually,
natal sex is determined as male or female by the
external genitalia. If these genitalia are
ambiguous, natal sex may be both male and female, a
form of intersex, or another sex in its own
right.^sup 8^
Gender identity
refers to one's basic conviction of being a man, a
woman, or another gender such as transgender.^sup 9^
People vary in the intensity of their gender
identification and in the permanence and
completeness of this feeling. One's feelings of
being a man and/or woman may fluctuate, both of
these identities may coexist, or one can feel
neither man nor woman.10 For many of us, it is
difficult to recognize our gender identity as
separate from our natal sex because the two are
congruent. Transexuals, however, experience a
profound discrepancy between gender identity and
natal sex.
Gender-role
refers to one's outward gender presentation, whereas
so" sex role refers to culturally defined masculine
or feminine characteristics (personality,
appearance, behavior) commonly known as sex role
stereotypes. A person's overall social sex role can
be masculine and/or feminine to varying degrees, and
can manifest itself as masculine in one context and
feminine in another. Persons who are equally
masculine and feminine are referred to as
androgynous; those who are neither masculine nor
feminine are referred to as neutral or indifferent.
Finally, sexual
orientation refers to sexual attraction to others
(to men, women, and/or transgender persons). At
least three aspects of sexual orientation can be
distinguished: behavior, fantasies, and emotional
attachments. These aspects are not necessarily
congruent. For example, one can be sexual with women
only, fantasize about both women and men, and
experience emotional attachment to a transgender
person.
LESSONS FROM THE TRANSGENDERED
The identities
of transgender persons are illustrative of the
unique ways in which the four components of sexual
identity can manifest themselves. As such, they can
teach us many lessons about sex, gender, social sex
role, and sexual orientation, six of which are
presented here.
Transgender
identities transcend binary conceptualizations of
sex and gender. While some transgender persons
attempt to conform to conventional gender roles,
others define and affirm their unique transgender
identity "from outside the boundaries of gender,
beyond the constructed oppositional nodes" of male
versus female." A generation of postoperative
transexuals coming of age recognized that their
transexual identity continues beyond the
transitioning phase. Attempts to "pass" as a
nontransgender member of the other sex often failed,
becoming a source of shame and leading to isolation.
More important, such attempts are principally
inconsistent with the goal of self-actualization: to
be true to oneself and to take responsibility for
that truth in relationships with others.
Authenticity requires a deeper level of acceptance
of one's transgender identity and experience, and an
integration of one's maleness and femaleness,
manhood and womanhood, masculinity and femininity,
into one's self-concept. As Susan Kimberly, deputy
mayor of the City of St. Paul who went through sex
reassignment from male to female, explains:
I can make a
pretty solid case that I am a woman. However, over
time, I have noticed that I differ-in some fairly
significant ways-from most of the other women I
know. I have never had a menstrual cycle. I have
never experienced the discovery that I am
pregnant-nor the fear that I might be. I have become
a very feminine person, but I still speak a
decidedly masculine language.... I lived for some 40
years as a man and, if for no other reason, I will
never really know what it is like to be a woman.
Genitals no
longer define gender. In 1987-88, Virginia Prince
coined the term "transgenderist" to refer to those
who live fulltime as women without undergoing sex
reassignment surgery: "There had to be some name for
people like myself who trans the gender
barrier-meaning somebody who lives fulltime in the
gender role opposite to their anatomy. I have not
transed the sex barrier."13 Indeed, Prince is not
alone. A growing number of transexual women
(male-to-female transexuals or MTFs) have breasts
and a penis, and transexual men (female-to-male
transgender or FTMs) maintain their vagina. Some do
not desire genital reconstructive surgery, others
lack the financial means to pay for it, and
some---in particular FTM transgender forego genital
surgery because of the less than ideal surgical
outcome.
Moreover, as
greater numbers of transgender persons come out and
affirm their unique identity and the visibility of
the transgender community grows, more individuals
are recognizing that they can live as transgender
men or women without altering their genitals. The
motivation to undergo genital reconstructive surgery
is no longer limited to "sex reassignment" to
confirm gender identity. Rather, other factors such
as personal preference for a particular genital type
(vagina, penis, or phalloclit, for example) and the
impact of surgery on genital and sexual functioning
are given due consideration in the decision process.
Transgender
identities are not always static but may fluctuate.
Transgender persons may change their identification
and the labels they use to describe themselves over
time and depending on the situation in which they
find themselves. Many MTF transexuals at some point
in their lives have identified as crossdressers or
drag queens,14 and many FTM transgender -
transexuals once identified as lesbian.15 Some
transgender sex workers may identify as a queen with
one paying partner, as a woman with another, and as
a gay man with their nonpaying lover.16
