There is a lot of confusion about the word ‘transgender’. People listen to the word transgender and make a picture of a person who in their opinion is neither a male nor a female. This is all everybody knows about transgender people, but to be honest there are a lot more things you need to know about what does it mean to be transgender?
You might have met a transgender once in your life, whether you know it or don’t. There are millions of transgender people in the world and they can be your colleague, friends, family, or anyone in your circle. People usually do not disclose about being them transgender due to the reasons of humility, disrespect, shame, etc., especially in India. In India, you can be everything, but you need the guts to introduce yourself as Transgender. Many people don’t even know they are transgender, they just have a feeling that something is wrong as they don’t fit the gender they are recognized by. This can be due to the lack of proper knowledge. It is not necessary you need to be a transgender to get knowledge about them but as a person, you must know who they are and how you can help those people by providing them an environment where they feel safe and respected. So before proceeding further, let’s know what is transgender first.
Meaning of Transgender
Meaning of Transgender is not what sex they were assigned at the time of thier birth. Sometimes, even if are a male or female in the biological sense you still can come into the transgender category. Yeah, that’s true. Being transgender means having a gender identity or gender expression which can be different from the sex that was assigned to you at the time of your birth. People. Some transgender shows their gender identities by dressing in a particular way, by speaking in a different way, by their behavior, or mannerism, and some show by making a physical change, it can be hormones taking or by going through surgery. You can define transgender people by three main features, gender identities, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
- Gender Identities
Gender identity refers to the way a person feels on the inside. Your feelings about yourself as a gender matter here, you can be a male but your thoughts are similar to that of a female or vice versa. - Gender Expression
The other way through which transgender defines are gender expressions. Their way of dressing, acting manner, behavior sum up them as transgender people. A male person may like to wear makeup, women’s outfits, etc, or vice versa. - Sexual Orientation
The word Sexual Orientation defines the quality of a transgender that to what specific gender they are attracted to, irrespective of their own gender. The opposite attract formula fails here as a transgender person who is biologically a woman can be attracted to another female and the same goes for a transgender male person.
It is one of the transgender facts that transgender and sexual orientation can be two different things. A person may be lesbian, bisexual, or gay. The thing that matters the most for being transgender is what they feel themselves, i,e. Gender identity. You can be a transgender and still don’t get attracted to anyone or you can be attracted to the same-gender but still, you can’t be categorized as transgender.
The other most asked question is can transgender get pregnant? Well, the answer to this question is ‘Yes’. transgender men and transmasculine, just like females, can get pregnant. Some transgender men take testosterone and can get pregnant if they have ovaries and uterus.
Transgender Surgery is a surgical procedure through which a transgender person can change his/her physical appearance and sexual characteristics so they can resemble their gender identities. It is possible for transgender people to look like the gender they feel describes them the most by using the medical assistance of a doctor.
Some other terms related to transgender you need to know
There are many similar terms that get you confused with transgender. Here we have described them, in brief, to make them clear to you.
Trans Men and Women: It’s a kind of clash between your gender that is specified at the time of birth and your gender identity. A trans man is one who by birth is a female but whose gender identity is male. The goes for the trans woman.
Cisgender: a cisgender is just the opposite of a transgender. When your gender identity matches with the gender you are born with.
Gender Fluidity: this is the term used for those people whose gender is not fixed. This term is highly related to gender expression and gender identity but not to sexual orientation.
Some of the Transgender Celebrities
Many celebs have broken the barriers and come up as transgender. There are some transgender celebrities we gonna talk about.
- Asia Kate Dillon, known for her role as Taylor Mason in Billions ( an American television show), is transgender.
- Billy Tipton was a girl when born and later converted her gender to Trans man. He was a famous Jass musician. The interesting fact about him is that his status as a trans man was undiscovered till he died.
- Candis Cayne is one of the famous transgender actresses of the television show ‘Dirty Sexy Money.
- Andreja Pejic is a famous model who has modeled for both types of gender clothes. She is one of the most high-profile transgender models in the world.
- Josie Totah is one of the youngest transgender celebrities in the world. She is known for her in a show telecasted on Disney Channel named “Jessie”.
- Namitha Marimuthu is an Indian model and actor. She represented India at a beauty pageant for transgender women called Miss Trans Star International in 2019.
- Anjali Ameer is a trans-actor who worked in movies of the Malayalam and Tamil languages. She has also participated in Big Boss Malayalam.
So being transgender is no shame anymore because it is not you who needs to change but the vision of the world that has to be. Go out and tell the world what you feel and be confident from the inside.
