Media.www.WesternCarolinian.com – Kayla Lynch
In our society, there are two clear genders: male and female. Androgyny may be trendy, but there are only ‘male’ and ‘female’ check boxes on driver’s license forms, birth certificates, and other forms. So what happens if you just don’t fit into either category? What happens when the doctor picks you up at birth, slaps you on the backside, and pronounces you a bouncing baby girl…but you don’t feel like one? How are you going to live, growing up your whole life waiting for your male sex organs to grow like all the other boys, but they never do?
Gender identity is how you see yourself. You might have been born a man or woman and “just know” that you are male or female. But when you don’t fit into a specific category of gender, you’re put under the umbrella term of transgender. The term ‘transgender’ is broad and covers many aspects of the gender experience. Typically, transgender people have come to the conclusion that they are trapped in the wrong body. Some will go through hormone therapy, electrolysis, plastic surgery, or sex reassignment surgery to complete their transition to the correct body. Being transgender is different from cross-dressing because cross-dressers don’t necessarily want to be the opposite sex. The terms ‘transgender’ and ‘transsexual’ are slightly different as well: while a transgender person typically will not have the sex reassignment surgery, a transsexual person will.