Trans Visibility

Understanding "Transgender"

When embarking on a new journey, it is important to have a basic understanding of the topic. Like everything else we are interested in we run to our technological devices. As you can see on this page, Googling the term transgender yields tons of information. You can scroll on the image LEFT to see basic terminology. It is very important to understand appropriate terms to be uses. A great place to start is on the Wikipedia page to further understand the concept of transgender. The word "transgender" was coined and defined (as above) by Psychiatrist John F. Oliven in the 1960's. The word transgender, in his professional opinion, which I agree, differed from the widely used term "transexualism" because gender and sexual identity are two completely different ways in which a person may identify with. Complicated, yes, I will agree; however, I hope to provide useful insight to unpack what it means when a person identifies as a transgender female. Helpful hint, gender is a state of mind-- you cannot see your gender between your legs-- the genitalia a person is born with does not always match their mental state of gender identity. This concept is extremely difficult to understand and unpack if you identify as cis gender. We have had a gender binary system embedded deep into our psychology since the rise of Christianity. So it is not our fault for initially going, "huh"? Let me ask you this? Do you identify as cis gender? Do not know? That is ok, let's see. People who identify as cis gender feel that their gender assigned to them at birth, based on the anatomy between your legs, (take a peek if you need to) matches perfectly their gender state of mind. Do you? If yes, you are cis gender, and if no, they you are transgender. It is worth noting that gender identity is not that cut and dry; however, this is a perfect start.

Now that you have a macro level understanding of transgender identity, it is important to understand gender privilege. A person who identifies as cis gender is the soul beneficiary of gender privilege. It is ok, you do not have to apologizes, you only have to recognize! You deserve credit for looking at gender identity from a new lens. The simplest fact that you never have questioned if your gender state of mind matches the gender you were assigned at birth is a privilege because you benefit from the binary system that, yes, was designed from cis gender mind frame. My page is not to shame anyone for taking advantage of their cis gender privileges, rather, I aim to introduce you to four amazing transgender females and their stories. The motto, "knowledge is power" comes to mind, and if you are equipped with powerful information, then you have the ability to approach the topic confidently and without trepidation.

Before we do, I would like to share one of my favorite quotes with you by Margaret J. Wheatley. She said, "You can't hate someone whose story you know!" I truly believe this and I would love to introduce you to four incredible trans women. First up is Christine Jorgenson.
 

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