Well, here's why this relatively new usage confuses me. I live full-time, have taken steps to feminize my appearance, but I am no-ho non-op and relatively okay with that, so under the "old" terminology of 5-10 years ago I would be called "transgender" and not "transsexual."
But under the "new" usage, I am not transgender at all because as a woman I am consistently femme and not androgynous or butch or genderqueer.
Thinking this through, I suppose the benefit of the "new" terminology is to de-center away from "social-norm-conforming performance of gender" as a marker of "success" in gender transition. IOW -- under the old paradigm, a male-to-female transsexual was judged on the thoroughness of her performance of femme femininity. I have heard horror stories of therapists ensuring that patients always wore skirts and high heels and talked only about dating men before being authorized to move further in their transition. Under the new paradigm, the "sincerity" of a MTF's transition is not doubted if her performance of gender is on the butch end of the spectrum. Does that sound accurate?
no subject
But under the "new" usage, I am not transgender at all because as a woman I am consistently femme and not androgynous or butch or genderqueer.
Thinking this through, I suppose the benefit of the "new" terminology is to de-center away from "social-norm-conforming performance of gender" as a marker of "success" in gender transition. IOW -- under the old paradigm, a male-to-female transsexual was judged on the thoroughness of her performance of femme femininity. I have heard horror stories of therapists ensuring that patients always wore skirts and high heels and talked only about dating men before being authorized to move further in their transition. Under the new paradigm, the "sincerity" of a MTF's transition is not doubted if her performance of gender is on the butch end of the spectrum. Does that sound accurate?