Ask a trans person!

[Nadeest]

The way that I understand and use the term 'transgender' is that it is someone who is gendervariant in some way. It is an all inclusive term including, but not limited to: transsexuals, drag queens, drag kings, tranvestites, and genderqueer people. Transsexual, on the other hand, is a much more restricted term, whose meaning is limited to people whose gender identity is different then what is presumed, when looking at their body. However, not everyone in the transgender world agrees with these useages/meanings. Yep, things get kinda confusing around transfolk, sometime. :P

[agape]

I would like to ask a question if anyone would like to give your thoughts about this: I wonder how you view "masculinity" as in clothes, behavior, energy etc in regards to someone identifying as male (I realize that what is considered "masculine" is relative but still...).
For example: how would you view a person identifying as male but still behaving/dressing in feminine ways, would you consider that confusing? The reason I ask is because I have encountered this issue when discussing transgender-issues, that gender and gender expression seem to be viewed by many ppl as almost one and the same. So when someone id's as male they are expected to dress, behave in a masculine way. (The same when someone id's as female...)
Personally, after both my own inner journey and also after doing some research/reading, I feel that gender and gender expression are two separate things... Meaning that it's possible for someone to id as male and still be very feminine.
I also feel that masculinity and femininity are more of a sort of energy/personality and don't have much to do with clothes, haircut and so on (but it could of course be expressed through those things).
I'm very curious to hear what others think about this!

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by agape

I would like to ask a question if anyone would like to give your thoughts about this: I wonder how you view "masculinity" as in clothes, behavior, energy etc in regards to someone identifying as male (I realize that what is considered "masculine" is relative but still...).
For example: how would you view a person identifying as male but still behaving/dressing in feminine ways, would you consider that confusing? The reason I ask is because I have encountered this issue when discussing transgender-issues, that gender and gender expression seem to be viewed by many ppl as almost one and the same. So when someone id's as male they are expected to dress, behave in a masculine way. (The same when someone id's as female...)
Personally, after both my own inner journey and also after doing some research/reading, I feel that gender and gender expression are two separate things... Meaning that it's possible for someone to id as male and still be very feminine.
I also feel that masculinity and femininity are more of a sort of energy/personality and don't have much to do with clothes, haircut and so on (but it could of course be expressed through those things).
I'm very curious to hear what others think about this!

Cloths don't make the person. One can be male ID'd and still wear whatever the hell one wants. When we as a society make cloths more important than people we fail at being humans. Labels are just a way of putting people into boxes. I don't fit nicely into boxes. Many here sure don't fit well into boxes, but how one self identifies is their business. I'll respect however one ID's, that's my responsibility as a human being.
Self discovery means that gender is fluid, and being fluid ones gender can not be boxed. Be who you are, however that expression develops, you are the master of your life. I obviously don't pay much attention to what other people think when it comes to how I express myself. That comes with being comfortable in my own skin, your milage may vary.