Transsexuality

I'm not really here to act as a teacher or ambassador into the realm of the genderally-screwed. Better resources for explaining what transsexuality is, how to deal with it, and possibly even what causes it can be found on my links page . Plain and simple. I'm just here to try and lay out the basics so that A) You don't think I'm some sick pervert who wants to corrupt your children and drink your blood and B) So you can get the goddam jokes!

The simple, straight-forward answer: Being transsexual is somewhat like being Scandinavian; it's a circumstance of birth, and no amount of denial or brainwashing can really change that fact. Some people can ignore it and live pretty-much normal lives, but most can't, and at some point need to transition into the opposite sex so they can finally feel at peace with themselves.

Of course, being a transsexual girl is very different than simply being a feminine man. Masculinity and Femininity are not opposite ends of the same scale; they are both independent scales within a person (I for example, seem to have a fairly average level of femininity for a girl my age, and a fairly high masculinity...'cause I like hitting things with sticks), and independent from these scales is your Gender Identity, or simply, your Gender. Gender is who you are in your own mind, based on your instincts and thoughts. Sex is simply what's between your legs and, for the most part, is either male or female. Usually, a person's Sex matches their Gender, but not always, and when these two don't match up, it causes a lot of stress and depression.

For a good analogy, let's assume you're a fireman. You like being a fireman. You're a damn good fireman, too! Now, someone by the name of S. O'Ciety grabs you by the scruff of your neck, whips off your comfy red suspenders, sticks you in a tie, drops you in an office, and tells you you're a purchasing assistant for a large, multinational corporation. You didn't want to be a purchasing assistant... You're not even 100% sure what a purchasing assistant does. You wouldn't know how to do the job, and you probably wouldn't really want to. Sure, after a little while you would learn the ropes and make an okay purchasing assistant, but it's just not fire-fighting. You miss the fresh air, rubber pants, and speckled dogs, and you're just not happy with this stupid job, and you don't have anything in common with the other purchasing assistants.



Being a transsexual is like being a purchasing assistant: Your knowledge/instincts, preferences, and tastes just don't suit what society tells you are, and that makes it tough to keep going on every day... like going to a crappy, soul-draining job every day, except you never get to go home.

Glossary

Just a quick glossary of terms that sometimes hang out the same places as transsexuals (mostly here in case you read something in the comic that made no sense; If you still don't find the comic funny after checking this glossary, you may be broken. Please report to a doctor or mechanic)

Transsexual: Someone whose Gender doesn't match their Sex

-Male to Female: A Transsexual who was born male but is really female

-Female to Male: A Transsexual who was born female but it really male

Transgendered: Broad, umbrella term for anyone who tampers with society's definition of a bipartisan gender state (ie: you're either male or female); a Transsexual person isn't necessarily Transgendered, and a Transgendered person isn't necessarily Transsexual

Crossdresser: One who wears the clothes of the opposite sex; usually doesn't desire to actually BE that sex

Transvestite: One who wears the clothes of the opposite sex because they find them exciting, usually sexually; usually doesn't want to be the opposite sex

Drag Queen: A man who performs onstage as a woman; usually doesn't want to actually be one

Pass: to actually look like a member of the sex you're presenting. Passing is good; Not passing is bad and sometimes dangerous

Hormones/Hormone Replacement Therapy: Taking hormones of the opposite sex in pills or through injection to develop secondary sex characteristics of that sex (in the case of MtFs: Breasts, softer skin, rounder face, ect), essentially triggering a second puberty

Electrolysis/Electro: killing off of hair via electrical current; extremely painful but usually necessary for MtFs

Surgery/Sexual Reassignment Surgery: Surgery to transform a person's genitalia into those of the opposite sex

Abbreviations

TS: Transsexual

MtF: Male to Female

FtM: Female to Male

HRT: Hormone Replacement Therapy

SRS: Sex Reassignment Surgery

CD: Crossdresser

TV: Transvestite

TG: Transgender

DQ: Dairy Queen; they've got 'nummy ice cream there :9















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