transgender references - replies

[Amy Sheldon]

Following are suggestions to the below request for info. Thanks to  
all for replying.  Amy
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Can anyone suggest a source for a discussion of terms used for/by  
transgender folks in the U.S.? If it is tied to different  
perspectives on how to do being a transexual - as that has changed  
over time in the U.S. -  that would be helpful too.

by 'different perspectives' I mean, for example:  "surgery is the  
only option", vs, nonsurgical options, and gender blurring and blending.

Has anyone found readings that would be useful in a Language and  
Gender course?

Amy Sheldon
asheldon at umn.edu

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You may find "different perspectives" in Native american
(queer)studies

see Will Roscoe's writing (check also his home page
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Stonewall/3044/)

or Walter William's "The spirit and the flesh" (1986)
Veronique Perry

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I can't help with references, but here are some terms I have heard (and
read) as used for self-reference by transgendered people:

M2F (male-to-female), F2M (female-to-male): As the term implies, this
involves a target gender, so the idea is a metaphorical journey from one
to the other rather than a state of flux and gender blurring.

"transitioning": describes people on that journey, mostly used once
hormone treatment has started.

"Gender benders": people who prefer to live in a permanent state of flux
and indicate that in their dress styles, body language etc (think beard,
nail varnish and high-heeled boots). Most that I've met reject the idea
of hormonal-surgical gender adaptation.

"genderfuck": practice gender benders engage in, i.e. fucking with
gender

"trans", "tranny": usually adjectives, i.e. "trans man" "tranny boy"
(the latter, with its diminutive overtones, tends to be used for boys
rather than men). Tends to be used for F2Ms.

"boi(s)": a juvenile male (sexual) role/identity, usually adopted by gay
women and usually in relation to a "daddy" of whatever gender. Does not
involve body modification.

"butch flight": describes the phenomenon that women leave their butch
identity and become F2M.

Hope this helps; these terms are constantly changing and by the time you
read this email, they will likely be woefully out of date. Really, there
seem to be as many terms as there are genders.
Veronika Koller

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For a discussion of how transgendered people in the US (in NYC in  
particular) identify themselves, I recommend you check out the work  
of David Valentine, including:

2003 "I went to bed with my own kind once": the erasure of desire in  
the name of identity.  Language and Communication 23:123-138 (special  
issue on language and desire).
Kathe Managan

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* for a short, but interesting, discussion on linguistic preferences  
within transgendered communities

Wilchins, Riki A. What's in a name: the politics of gender speak. In  
Transgender Tapestry, 74(1995)

* on how male-to-female transsexuals see themselves in gendered terms  
(the article includes an interesting discussion on the decision of  
undergoing (or not) chest surgery and hormonal treatment)

Dozier, Ranie. Beards, Breasts, and Bodies: Doing sex in a gendered  
world. IN Gender & Society. vol 19(3), June 2005, 297-316

*on how male-to-female transsexuals experience body reshaping,  
retraing, and redecorating

Schrock, Douglas; Reid, Lori; Boyd, Emily M. Transsexuals' embodiment  
of womanhood. IN Gender & Society. vol 19(3), June 2005, 317-335

Kulick's review article on transgender and language might help you  
track down literature that you might be interested in

Kulick, Don. Transgender and Language: A review of literature and  
suggestions for the future. IN GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay  
Studies, vol 5(4) 1999, 605-622
Borba.Rodrigo