Ditto.....

Thank you for speaking up and stating what is true for you. I sincerely mean this. I would like to hear more of what you have to say. I am aware that "transitioning" may have similarities for many but there too are many varied experiences and identities.

Thank you for this. I am proud to be a butch, proud to be a woman and proud to be a lesbian.

see this is where is get irrationally annoyed and confused. it's totally my own issue.

But growing up with biology and anthropology being spoon fed at an early age, it's

masculine/feminine = characteristics
man/woman = (two of many) genders
male/female = (two of *many*) sexes

so when people say "male ID'd butch", I go "huh?? but Male is a sex, not a gender. I don't understand what you are saying. If you said you were transsexual, rather than transgender, I'd get it. It's why there are male horses, not man horses."

So it's a massive stumbling block I can't seem to get past in comprehending. I went away from the web for six-8 months and came back and everyone was using it, where as before, they called themselves TG butches. Which I understood.

It's not really anyone else's problem, granted, it seems to be only me that doesn't understand. I have tried. People have tried explaining. But I keep ramming up against "but... but... that's transgender... not transsexual..."

And it's not my place to tell people who they are. But the word means something entirely different to me and sometimes it rubs me the wrong way :confused:

Not in any majour way, mind you. I think it's just something my brain won't switch on. TG butch = what some other people call male ID'd butch. It's a Dictionary problem I can't seem to change. I still see them as who they are, mind you.

I suppose it's like inki and I arguing "that's green" "no it's turquoise"
this can go on for hours. she means pale green with a smidgen of blue in it (thus green) I see turquoise. To her, Turquoise has more blue in it. I'm also suspecting since people see colours differently, that perhaps I see more blue in things than she does.

we are saying practically the same thing but our perceptual semantics get in the way.

what if a person is transgender but disputes the term FTM?
because to this person they were never female, always male...
so transitioning away from something they never were to something
they've always been seems to be a sticking point

I get and respect what you are saying. However, even with transitioning can one become "biologically" male? Following that logic could put transmen in great peril with a false safety net maybe? Because if one is "biologically" male then they wouldn't need to make sure to get pap smears and mammograms would they? Which saves lives.

I think at the end of the day, people have their own personal truths, and those truths may not align with with the next guys....

I am not trying to argue, I am just taking into account some things I've discussed with transguys at our local meetings...because it is super important to me to actively listen to other humans truths.

thanks for yours. (f)

Although there are many FTMs who have had both top surgery and the full removal of all reproductive organs and so yearly mammograms and pap smears are no longer needed.

But to the larger point, I think we are getting into the territory of what constitutes male and female. Texas has followed this logic to its end point and recognizes no form of transition whatsover. Texas states that you are what you are born as. A very rigid way of thinking. When we try to put everything back into the box, so to speak, we end up with Texas' law. They take it to the chromosome level. Their argument is that chromosomes can't be changed and therefore "biology" = chromosomes. So none of us can ever be "biologically" male under this definition. Texas being Texas they also throw "God" in there somewhere, too.

Rufus

I've read the thread here with great interest and intrigue and wonder about
the labels we are trying to a fix to one another...while I understand that labels
do have a place in life (labels and definitions bring understanding and through
understanding it can lead towards a path of acceptance), how a person identifies is going to be defined by their personal experiences and their own individual responses to those experiences.

For me personally...before I came out (almost seems like a whole other life I lead before this one), I was straight, married and had a kid. I wouldn't change that experience for any reason because of the child I have now.
Parts of me will forever be female and I am ok with that.

I don't identify as butch...more of a boi. I don't identify as male, don't wish to be a man, although I am predominantly masculine. I've considered top surgery not because I want to be manly but more because I don't associate with that part of my female anatomy. It would be the only thing I would want
to change (as a child when my breasts started to grow I was markedly upset...you can't catch footballs quite the same way ever again...on the flip side...I have great hands now :P ).

So I think the gender identity is evolving...particularly due to boards like this
and open discussions...I know I don't fit into the female...I don't fit into
the male either....I am just simply....me.

I understand. Thank you for talking w/me about it. :)

it's not personal :|. more than just you uses male = gender instead of sex. it's like how some people get irrationally annoyed from the misuse of punctuation. Like I said, it's my problem.

ETA: I'm not saying sexual transitioning isn't "real" - as far as I'm concerned it's "real" before it occurs anyway. my only stumbling block is pedantic: male is sex, man is gender. It's why I can have multiple gender (woman, femme, gender neutral) that I inhabit in my female (sex) body.

sexual transitioning, is not gender transitioning in my brain. I know that sounds weird. But someone who sexually transition is a man turning into a male. if that makes sense. Or like some of my friends a _____ (however they classify their gender) gender transitioning to male.

Perhaps my brain works differently.

that said I do know transgender and transsexual individuals. to be more confusing.

I am by NO MEANS speaking for anyone. I am only talking about why the confusion between sex and gender drives me a bit bonkers and I get very confused as to how people use them.

Ditto................