Third or Other Gender Butch

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Metropolis

I don't have a lot of time either Dapper, but you've brought up a good point.

For me being third gender, I don't think of myself as transgender so much, mostly because I feel myself as being of both sexes/genders... and that to me feels quite different than what I understand to be most TG experiences of feeling like the "opposite gender/sex in mind than in one is in body".

Third gender to me is difficult to explain, b/c in it like you, I'm not a woman and I'm not a man (gender)... but find my myself both male and female... and though I acknowledge my body as female and that's fine, I do tweak my body (bind etc. though I'm small chested already) to better fit my gender.

Anyway, to me that's a fairly big distinction, and why I (personally) separate transgender and third gender personally for myself... though I do know a couple peeps who do like you ID as TG as well in it.

So I go with the "similar, yet different" option... with overlap...

As far as genderqueer I think of it kind of an umbrella term and works for many TG and Third G peeps, but I don't use it myself because of that vagueness.



Right, genderless or gender neutral generally means being of an indifferential gender, and may feel gender "empty" and wear ambiguous, or gender vague clothing... think the gender neutral lesbian feminist type that emerged in the 70's and 80's.

That's not the same thing I've seen at all with most modern third gender (or pangender's Androgyne's) peeps or especially of the butch variety who consider themselves Third G or Other.

I know I feel quite the opposite of genderless, more like genderfull, having strong gender traits of both sexes psychologically and outwardly very strong gender markers (male) in my clothing and mannerisms.

Ok, have to run... pls forgive the loose exchanges of sex with gender but it's hard to navigate the subject with a language not set up to accommodate additional gender/s.

So much of what you and Dapper are saying rings true for me. identifying as TG, however (as you point out), does not fit as I understand it. Transition is the operative term that just doesn't work for me. But, transcending the binary or even transforming it sure would work! And I do know TG folks that actually feel these to be more representative of who they are.

Hummmmm.... trans has been a term that has caused painful division among butches, I believe. I would really like for us to bring an end to this. I know that before I ever identified as butch or even became actively involved in the B-F community, I did not have the kinds of negative interactions that I have within it. This seems so weird to me and been painful. I honestly have not come to any conclusions about this that really answer my internal questions of why this has been my experience after knowing TG people since I was a kid. Sometimes, I do feel that it is essentially about competition, which I don't like accepting.... at all!