Answers to Your Questions About Transgender Individuals

[Jennifer_English]

Peggy.. your so cool...

:O) xx

[peggygee]

Peggy.. your so cool...

:O) xx

Thank you.

I think you are ducky too lurve

[flabbybody]

WOW, as many as 4.5 million tgirls in the USA?

wish they all came to live in New York

[peggygee]

[peggygee]

I'm old school and somewhat rigid on this, if you don't fit the
Benjamin criteria and or APA guidelines, you are not a transsexual.

To the untrained and trained eye as well, it may be difficult to discern
the 'true' transsexual.

It can not ascertained merely by demeanor, manner of dress, etc.
Perhaps this will be helpful in making an accurate assessment:

Dr. Harry S. Benjamin's Gender Disorientation Scale

Type One: Transvestite (Pseudo)
Gender Feeling: Masculine
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Lives as a man. Could get occasional kick
out of dressing. Normal male life.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Hetero, bi, or homosexual. Dressing
and -- more --exchange may occur in masturbation fantasies mainly.
May enjoy TV literature only.
Kinsey Scale: 0-6
Conversion Operation: Not considered in reality.
Estrogen Medication: Not interested or indicated.
Psychotherapy: Not wanted and unnecessary.
Remarks: Interests in dressing is only sporadic.

Type Two: Transvestism (Fetishistic)
Gender Feeling: Masculine
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Lives as a man. Dressing periodically or
part of the time. Dresses underneath male clothes.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Heterosexual. Rarely bisexual.
Masturbation with fetish. Guilt feelings. Purges and relapses.
Kinsey Scale: 0-2
Conversion Operation: Rejected
Estrogen Medication: Rarely interested. Occasionally useful to reduce
libido. Psychotherapy: May be successful (in a favorable environment.)
Remarks: May imitate double (masculine and feminine) personality with
male and female names.

Type Three: Transvestism (True)
Gender Feeling: Masculine (but with less conviction.)
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Dresses constantly or as often as
possible. May live and be accepted as woman. May dress underneath
male clothes, if no other chance.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Heterosexual, except when dressed.
Dressing gives sexual satisfaction with relief of gender discomfort. May
purge and relapse.
Kinsey Scale: 0-2
Conversion Operation: Actually rejected, but idea can be attractive.
Estrogen Medication: Attractive as an experiment. Can be helpful
emotionally Psychotherapy: If attempted is usually not successful as
to cure.
Remarks: May assume double personality. Trend toward transsexualism.

Type Four: Transsexual (Nonsurgical)
Gender Feeling: Undecided. Wavering between TV and TS.
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Dresses as often as possible with
insufficient relief of his gender discomfort. May live as a man or woman;
sometimes alternating.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Libido often low. Asexual or auto-
erotic. Could be bisexual. Could also be married and have children. Kinsey Scale: 1-4
Conversion Operation: Attractive but not requested or attraction not
admitted.
Estrogen Medication: Needed for comfort and emotional balance.
Psychotherapy: Only as guidance; otherwise refused or unsuccessful.
Remarks: Social life dependent upon circumstances.

Type Five: True Transsexual (moderate intensity)
Gender Feeling: Feminine (trapped in male body)
Dressing Habits and Social Life: Lives and works as woman if possible.
Insufficient relief from dressing. Sex Object Choice and Sex Life:
Libido low. Asexual auto-erotic, or passive homosexual activity. May
have been married and have children.
Kinsey Scale: 4-6
Conversion Operation: Requested and usually indicated.
Estrogen Medication: Needed as substitute for or preliminary to operation.
Psychotherapy: Rejected. Useless as to cure. Permissive psychological guidance.
Remarks: Operation hoped for and worked for. Often attained.

Type Six: True Transsexual (high intensity)
Gender Feeling: Feminine. Total psycho-sexual inversion.
Dressing Habits and Social Life: May live and work as a woman. Dressing
gives insufficient relief. Gender discomfort intense.
Sex Object Choice and Sex Life: Intensely desires relations with normal
male as female if young. May have been married and have children, by using fantasies in intercourse.
Kinsey Scale: 6
Conversion Operation: Urgently requested and usually attained. Indicated.
Estrogen Medication: Required for partial relief.
Psychotherapy: Psychological guidance or psychotherapy for symptomaticrelief only.
Remarks: Despises his male sex organs. Danger of suicide or self-mutilation, if too long frustrated

Source: http://www.genderpsychology.org/tran...njamin_gd.html

[peggygee]

We may want to clarify some terms, a transgendered person is not
neccessarily a transsexual;

What does transgender mean?

Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender
identity (sense of themselves as male or female) or gender expression
differs from that usually associated with their birth sex. Many transgender
people live part-time or full-time as members of the other gender.

Broadly speaking, anyone whose identity, appearance, or behavior falls
outside of conventional gender norms can be described as transgender.
However, not everyone whose appearance or behavior is gender-atypical
will identify as a transgender person.

What are some categories or types of transgender people?

Transsexuals are transgender people who live or wish to live full time as
members of the gender opposite to their birth sex. Biological females who
wish to live and be recognized as men are called female-to-male (FTM)
transsexuals or transsexual men. Biological males who wish to live and be
recognized as women are called male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals or
transsexual women.

Transsexuals usually seek medical interventions, such as hormones and
surgery, to make their bodies as congruent as possible with their
preferred gender. The process of transitioning from one gender to the
other is called sex reassignment or gender reassignment.

Cross-dressers or transvestites comprise the most numerous transgender
group. Cross-dressers wear the clothing of the other sex. They vary in
how completely they dress (from one article of clothing to fully cross-
dressing) as well as in their motives for doing so. Some cross-dress to
express cross-gender feelings or identities; others crossdress for fun, for
emotional comfort, or for sexual arousal. The great majority of cross-
dressers are biological males, most of whom are sexually attracted to women.

Drag queens and drag kings are, respectively, biological males and
females who present part-time as members of the other sex primarily to
perform or entertain. Their performances may include singing, lip-
syncing, or dancing. Drag performers may or may not identify as
transgender. Many drag queens and kings identify as gay, lesbian, or
bisexual.

Other categories of transgender people include androgynous, bigendered,
and gender queer people. Exact definitions of these terms vary from
person to person, but often include a sense of blending or alternating
genders. Some people who use these terms to describe themselves see
traditional concepts of gender as restrictive.

Source: http://www.apa.org/topics/transgender.html#whatare

[peggygee]