Hi Virginia.
Glad to see your thinking.
I was curious about the same kinds of definitions when I first started therapy, and we went into in some depth since I was. We finally agreed that the following was generally accurate, if the labels are important--and they are or you wouldn't be asking, huh.
Ok,
Transgender and
transgendered is the new politically correct umbrella for all people who are called TV, CD, TS, and maybe even drag queens who live pretty much full time (usually TS and doing performances to save money for surgery). She suggested it was started by activists trying to bring the larger group as a whole into a political umbrella to join GLBA and try to have some clout for T-rights. Remember, there are damn few states that protect transsexuals (or crossdressers) from hate crimes and protect their jobs, and there is no protection under the federal govt. either. There was a recent case where four men premeditatedly beat, raped, tortured and murdered a 16 years old TS, hauled her body out in the country and buried her, and these creeps were only convicted of 2nd degree murder. If you think this is unusal, go to the web site, Remembering our Dead.
Transsexual-- A person suffering from GID. Gender Identiy Disorder is not itself so much a medical condition, but the depression and it's attendant side effects, disorganisation in your personal and workplace life and including self mutilation and suicide, are disorders that need to be treated. Often the only treatment is transition, but there can be levels of transition. For some of those who for a variety of reason, do not want to go to GRS, then lesser degrees including hormone treatment, and change to a 24/7 feminine lifestyle, to low level hormone treatments--enough to remove the conflicts effects along with therapy, to those who decide for a plethora of reasons to maintain the male facade until a later time or for good, with therapy to help them cope.
Which brings us to the
pre-op question. One of the first things any therapist will tell you, is that you have to do what feels right for you. For some, becoming preop and not having SRS may be a financial decision, that might change if the financial picture changes. Many long term preops at least have an orchiotomy so they don't have to keep taking T-blockers, and most are, hmmm, impotent or chemically castrated well before that. (If that thought made you cringe, you are unlikely to be TS!!
) Essentially, these preops can be preops forever if that is what they have or need to do, but they will be living as and working as women.
There are self described Shemales out there, some of whom use cosmetic procedures to enhance their fem features, but are just real happy with their born gender equipment, and wouldn't use hormones or lose their pride for anything. Most non-ops are not She-Males, (though some TSs may slip into porno and perform as such for a time for subsistence or try to get money for surgery) and use the super viagra (delivered by needle I'm told) to achieve the rectitude desired for the shows. I do not know how many, there are, but the true shemale kinda likes the extra "toys" she can bring to bed. The basic difference here is that a TS doesn't like what they were born with, feel its just wrong, and want it off, and they want the life they were cheated of by some accident of nature. They regard themselves as having a birth defect needing correction.
Then there is the
"do crossdressers suffer from GID"? Sometimes, and they may be in denial, or trying to cope with the GID by crossdressing. Remember what I wrote a couple of paragraphs ago. However, the term
GD or Gender Dysphoria covers everyone who finds a level of discomfort with their gender, and is more accurate in describing the average CDer. CDing is a coping mechanism to the extent that CDing give us all a release from the stress and strains of our everyday life. As has been noted on this site several times, as CDs get older, they become more comfortable as their other selves, and find sex is no longer a driving force or the objective when they CD, as it MIGHT have been in the younger years. That's still different from TS. Remember, the TS doesn't want her or his born gender and its appurtenances.
Can someone with GID be considered a crossdresser? At any one point in time, most TS have been crossdressers versus their born gender usually as a way to cope and maybe not knowing enough about themselves and the alternatives to do much else. In another sense most TS have been CD in their "everyday life", presenting as the gender they were designated as versus how they self identify. It's when they can be themselves, and this applies equally well to m2f and f2ms, that they are happiest, and versus their born gender, that would make them crossdressers again at that time. So I think you could say they are the most constant of crossdressers. Hmmm, hope that came out right!!
Me, I see a continuum ranging from the occasional somewhat fetishistic TV, through the CD, through the TS, and maybe ending up with some of the intersex folks where the surgeon made a mistake while playing god and made some woman a guy, and vice versa. These latter folks that I have met are kind of a special case of TS, but they usually have to jump throught the same hoops, which doesn't seem all that fair considering medicine created them in the first place.
Well, food for thought.
Love Carolynn
