Some terms and meanings
 Transsexual: A person who changes
sex and gender
Transkids:
Non-technical term for homosexual transsexual, used mostly for
political reasons to have a non-clincal way to refer to hsts as a
population rather then a condition. It does not refer to agp children
because they are not identifiable as potentially transsexual as
children. Hsts and agp transsexuality are etiologically very different -
the problems of hsts begin at the onset of social behavior and must
be resolved before maturity or they will not advantageously
transition.
Transition: in common usage this refers to the very definite point
in the transexual process where someone announces their desire to change sex and
begins attempting to live in their new role
Transkids.us member Inoue recently explained very clearly on a transsexual
discussion group how the word "transition" has two differnt
meanings for agp ts and hsts:
Transition is one of those words that has a social context too, like
"woman"? When 45 YO married men say that they "transition" it means
something very different from when a 14 YO queer kid transitions. In
the first case, it's expected that "transition" will bequeath class
membership upon the transitioner, in the second case "transition"
reifies an already existing class membership. That's almost like two
completely different social processes and social expectations.
Sex: Obviously sex can mean a lot of things but for the purposes of
this site this site sex refers to phenotypical sex, that is to say,
the physical appearance, rather then either genetic or hormonal or
legal or "mental" (brain) sex, or any other category, unless
specified.
Gender: Gender is a social concept whereas sex is a physical one. For
the purposes of this site Gender will mean social gender, that is to
say, gender is determined by what sex other people and society at
large regard an individual.
Masculinity/Femininity: To say that something that's masculine is
significantly more prevalent among men then among women, and likewise
to say that something is feminine means that it is significantly more
prevalent among women then among men.
Homosexual Transsexual: A transsexual who transitions young principly
for social reasons. As boys they're very queer and have a difficult
time socially, romantically, and sexually, so they transition to fit
in better and have more normal lives in those three areas. They are
etiologically similar to homosexual boys with commonalities in
childhood and adolescence. Homosexual transsexual sexuality is
uncomplicated, typical, and unconfused, they are simply attracted to
and desire relationships with men. They tend to view transition as a
way to facilitate other life goals such as being regarded as normal by
peers, having an easier time getting relationships with boys,
etc. (Abr. HSTS)
Autogynephilic Transsexual: A transsexual who transitions to satisfy
an intense internal urge to be the opposite sex and gender. This urge is
sometimes described as a paraphilia, a fetish, or an inverted
heterosexual drive where they, attracted to women, want to become the
objects of their desire. They are attracted to the female physical
form, so their core sexuality is heterosexual (as men), but since
their preferred object of desire is not another person but themselves,
they have a very atypical and complicated sexuality. They often find
it confusing, mysterious, and while they are in the vast majority of
cases originally attracted to women, their perceived sexual
orientation may shift. They are not physically attracted to men but
may be interested in men to complete their autogynephilic fantasy of
themselves as a woman. They are etiologically similar to
transvestites. They tend to view becoming a woman as a life goal in of
itself, one they're willing to abandon important features of their
life such as a wife or children, job, and being seen as a normal
person in order to accomplish. (Abr. AGP)
Early transitioner: A transsexual that transitions during childhood or
adolescents. Essentially all HSTS are early transitioners but some
AGPs manage to transition early as well. This is a non-technical term. "Early"
is also relative for the two differnt types of TS.
Late transitioner: A transsexual that transitions during adulthood. In
essence all late transitioners are AGP.
Primary: Earlier classification
schemes typically used the term "primary" to refer to HSTS, but it's a
confusing term because while most (but not all) of those
classifications accurately described the symptoms of the condition,
they had a poor theoretical understanding which led to awkward
definitions and groupings. It is also not a preferred term because
there is nothing inherently more primary about HSTS gender dysphoria
than AGP gender dysphoria.
Secondary: A late onset transsexual, an AGP in early classification schemes.
Androphile/Androphilic Transsexual: A way to refer to HSTS transkids
that politically active AGP transsexuals find more to their tastes
since it denotes sexual orientation without implying gender. It is a
needlessly technical term that is in fact less accurate as it does not
represent the etiology of HSTS and since many AGPs develop a
pseudo-androphilia it confuses what the condition actually
is. Androphile or related terms are not the preferred term for these
reasons.
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