What's in a Word?: Transsexual
As I worked to develop a greater and more connected transgender community, I quickly recognized the need for stronger understanding of the language that has been used to define us, and the need to develop new words that reflect our history, experiences and identities. In several posts I delve into the history of some of the language used to define transgender people and will attempt to develop definitions for words crafted within the transgender community.
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While David O. Cauldwell is credited for coining the word transsexual in 1949 (Cauldwell 274), Dr. Harry Benjamin, a leading pioneer in “transsexualism” was instrumental is making the term a standard diagnosis (HBIGDA). Following the successful gender confirming surgery of Christine Jorgensen in 1951 the word was popularized by the increased attention of transsexuals (usually male-to-female) in the media (Califa 28).The definition of transsexual supplied by Miriam-Webster OnLine references the medical history of the word:
“a person who strongly identifies with the opposite sex and may seek to live as a member of this sex especially by undergoing surgery and hormone therapy to obtain the necessary physical appearance (as by changing the external sex organs).”
This definition does show a great shift in moving past a sole description of behavior and includes a very crucial term: identifies. This is the first time we see the identity of the trans person as valid. It is this piece that will shape future language.But there are still many problems with the term. As with transvestite, this definition utilizes the term "opposite sex," which is used out of biological determinism and essentialism. Opposite is a relational term, and exists only in relation to another sex which does not require a modifier. The usage implies that while transsexual people have a true, essential sex, they identify with something that opposes this true sex. Usage of "opposite sex" relegates transgender identity to identifying with what one is not. It insinuates that transsexual people identify with their gender simply because it opposes the gender they were assigned at birth, as if trans women (MTF of male-to-female transsexuals as referenced in the definition) have a desire to cross gender bounds and only identify as women because they were assigned male at birth.References to surgery and hormone therapy continue the focus on behavior and actions of the transsexual rather than beliefs, identity and experience. Defining transsexual people as those who receive surgery and hormone therapy reeks of medical diagnosis, and reinforces the stigma that trans people must seek doctor care to be fixed or cured. The definition also states that these medical procedures are to obtain the "necessary physical appearance," because it is essential to have the sex characteristics of the gender you identify with (society won't accept anything less). It's also important to note that when transsexual was coined it was one of only two language options to identify trans people. A gender-variant person was either a perverse transvestite or curable as a transsexual – there was no other diagnosis.As language has continued to develop, transsexual is a term that currently solely refers to those within the transgender community who undergo some aspect of medical treatment, but this population is actually a very small group within the larger transgender community.
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“About HBIGDA” 19 Feb 2007 <http://www.wpath.org/About.htm>.
Califa, Pat. Sex Changes. San Francisco: Cleis Press, 1997.
Cauldwell, David O. “Psychopathia transexualis.” Sexology, 1949 16: 274-280.
“transsexual” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2004. 30 Sep 2010 <http://m-w.com/dictionary/transsexual>.