On Mon, 10 Jul 2000 20:20:16 -0700, A. J. Annala wrote:

>  My congratulations to Stephen Whittle on winning the GIRES prize.
>
>  Now that I've had a chance to review the full text of his article, I
would
>  propose an entirely different perspective on the transsexual rights
agenda.
>
>  The medical research community has in recent years discovered evidence
that
>  there exists a physical somatic birth defect in the form of structural
>  changes in the developmental wiring of a transsexual's brain.  The
>  structure of an MtF transsexual's brain is essentially identical to the
>  female wiring pattern.  The structure of an FtM transsexual's brain is
>  essentially identical to the male wiring pattern.  These structural
changes
>  are the result of the inappropriate levels of androgen exposure in utero
>  during the third month of embryonic development.  These sexually
dimorphic
>  structures of the brain are the basis of one's sense of gender identity.
>
>  The medical research community has also found that one's internal sense
of
>  gender identity cannot be changed by medical intervention to alter one's
>  genitalia at birth, administer hormones, psychotherapy, or socialization.

>
>  Because we cannot change the gender determining structures of the brain
>  once they are established by androgen exposure in utero, the only
effective
>  means for rehabilitation is to correct the superficial external body
>  appearance.
>
>  In short, the proposed alternative strategy is to argue that the gender
of
>  a transsexual is the consequence of the immutable physical structural
>  somatic organization of their brain as determined long before birth.
>
>  Therefore, I propose transsexuality is not a psychiatric disorder.
>  Instead, transexuality is a form of hermaphroditism where some
superficial
>  aspects of the body differ from the true gender determined by deeper
>  structures of the brain.  Transsexuality is a medical condition which the
>  medical community is well aware only responds to medical treatment to
>  alleviate intense dysphoria including hormone replacement and surgery to
>  repair an obvious deformity.
>
>  In short, one's gender is determined by brain structure at birth.  The
>  simple fact is that transsexuals are not changing gender.  Their gender
>  designation was merely mistaken by a nonspecialist physician at birth
based
>  on superficial observation.  Today's transsexuals are simply applying for
>  the correction of their birth records based on delayed expert medical
>  evidence and for surgical revision of a few easily modified superficial
>  external appearance factors.
>
>  Transsexuality is not a question of passing.  It is more a question of
>  being recognized, rehabilitated, and reintegrated into society as one's
>  true self.
>


July 11, 2000

Aloha!

The last paragraph of Dr. A.J. Annala's message above caught my attention.
As a male-to-female transsexual myself, I started female hormone therapy in
June of 1996, primarily to achieve some "acceptable" degree of physical
passing in terms of secondary female characteristics.  In terms of my
mental, emotional, and behavioral expressions, I have always perceived
myself as being female, the classic example of a "woman trapped in a man's
body."  However, I also recognize the need to respond to social parameters
of what is defined to be "female," at least in terms of physical, mental,
emotional, and behavioral dimensions.  As such, passing becomes crucial in
order for society itself to recognize, rehabilitate, and reintegrate me as a
transsexual "woman," if not a genetic or biological "woman."

If, as Dr. Annala had stated, "[t]ranssexuality is not a question of
passing," then on what basis would society recognize, rehabilitate, and
reintegrate mtf transsexuals? My own practical experience in terms of being
able to blend into a crowd that would generate the least attention to my
being an mtf transsexual woman is the fact that I do pass as female, that I
not only feel, think, and act like a woman, but equally important, I look
like any other woman in that crowd, at least for most of the people for most
of the time.

In contrast, some of my mtf friends who do not pass, especially in terms of
the physical aspect of passing, more often than not experience social
isolation, open ridicule, and extreme sanction.  In fact, those who look
like "men with make-up and wearing dresses" are not at all seen by others as
women; rather, they are regarded as "caricatures" of the female image and,
as such, are not taken seriously and usually dismissed for one reason or
another.  These friends of mine think of themselves as "women" but others do
not see them as such, at least based on their social interaction with these
mtf transsexuals.  It would be akin to a scenario where, say, Rocky suddenly
sports a wig and a dress and argues till he's blue in the face to a crowd
that he's all woman.

Indeed, it is one thing to say that society should recognize, rehabilitate,
and reintegrate an individual, at least on the basis of gender contingent
upon the brain structure at birth.  However, it is another to observe and
experience what actually is in the real world.  While it is not the "be all"
and "end all," passing will always constitute an indispensable and integral
component of transsexuality.






Mely Dantes-Silverio





_______________________________________________________
Say Bye to Slow Internet!
http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%