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From Illusion
to Reality...
Living in the role of the opposite sex has been a practice
of mankind for centuries. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century it
was not uncommon to find women who joined the army or served as sailors,
pretending to be male.
Also, men have historically dressed and behaved as women.
Famous among these were the Roman emperor Calligula, King James I of England,
Governer of New York Lord Cornbury, etc.. However, in all these cases,
gender dysphoric behavior was episodic. We would now probably label
them as trasvestites (those who wear the clothing and demonstrate the mannerisms
of the opposite sex).
The story of Chavalier D'Eon, a nobleman who served the
French King Louis XV as a diplomat in Russia is better known. The
year before his appointment, he spent several months in disguise, presenting
himself at the Russian court as his own non-existent sister Lea. He became
very popular as a woman and no one ever doubted his self-assigned sex.
Later, he served in England where rumor had it that he was in fact a female.
He refused to settle the question. On the royal order of Louis XV he was
obliged to dress as a woman & live a female role until his death in
1810. The autopsy showed that he had the body of a normal male, much
to the chagrin of the pubic and the people who knew him closely.
Much as it might have been desired by those who lived
previous to the last century, hormonal and surgical gender reassignment
were impossible until the 1930s. Modern documented history of transsexualism
and gender reassignment starts at that time with the first recorded sex
change operation on a Danish artist in Germany. Einar Wegener became
Lily Elbe.
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It was only in 1953 with the story of the surgical gender
reassignment of the American ex-GI George Jorgensen, who became Christine
Jorgensen, that transsexualism
received worldwide publicity. In fact, a movie of her life was produced
by Hollywood and her autobiography still sells quite well.
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Christine
Jorgensen
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Before
&
After
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The last four decades have witnessed an increased medical
interest and research in this field. In 1966, Dr. Harry Benjamin, who had
carefully examined, treated and followed up on several transsexuals for
many years in the United States, published a treatise on his experience
entitled, "The Transsexual Phenomenon".
This work contributed largely to the understanding of
transsexualism and enabled physicians specializing in this feld to approach
the matter in a much more scientific manner. To honor him for this great
contribution, the worldwide organization of professionals who work with
transsexuals has been named "The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria
Association."
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From
Culture to Culture...
Transgenderism is seen all over the world. However, its
expression varies from one culture to another.
In Oman, men who live as females are known as "xaniths."
Their place in society is literally between that of men and women. They
retain male names, wear clothing which is partly male and partly female
and cut their hair to a medium length. Unlike other men, they have the
right to socialize with women.
Conversely, unlike women, they |
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also have the right to move unescorted in public. They also may live alone,
be hired as house servants, and work as prostitutes in a culture where
prostitution is otherwise prohibited. Another cultural variant
of cross-gender behavior is seen among some American Indian tribes. A young
adolescent boy displaying effeminate traits is known as a "berdache."
After getting into a divine trance and receiving 'spiritual enlightenment,'
a berdache begins to dress as a female and engages in sexual relations
with males or even lives as a berdache wife with a husband. In India
we have the "hijra" community which is a motley group of people belonging
to various religious communities. Many of them are male-to-female transsexuals
but the group
also consists of adolescent boys who have undergone early castration
and children with intersexual traits.
Traditionally, all hijras undergo amputation of the penis, scrotum
and testis. This is a very crude procedure performed by established
senior hijras. The hijras form a kind of a social institution--a religious
cult with its own mother goddess, Bahuchara Mata.
Similarly, male-to-female transsexuals in Burma group
together. They are looked upon as being possessed by the spirit of the
opposite sex. They play a special role in temples and are known to participate
in special religious ceremonies.
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From Country
to Country...
The exact prevalence of transgenderism is difficult to
assess because only a fraction (size being dependent on the socio-cultural
ethos) of those who practice this lifestyle seek therapy. However,
in the USA, it is estimated at 1 in 100,000 for male-to-female transsexuals
and 1 in 400,000 for female-to-male transsexuals. In England, 1 in 30,000
and 1 in 100,000. In Sweden, 1 in 37,000 and 1 in 103,000. The ratio of
male-to-female and female-to-male remains around 3 to 1 regardless of the
country.
Most adult transsexuals confess to having experienced
a hatred for their gender long before puberty. Many remember puberty
with abhorrence because of the hormone-induced changes in body characteristics
which they perceived as totally alien to their gender identity. Furthermore,
it is during this time that most of those who experience disatisfaction
with their natural sexual identity choose to make the change.
In some cases, a disdain for one's gender is seen at a
very early age. For example, it may manifest itself in a young boy as a
desire to wear little girl clothing and to play with dolls. Retrospective
studies have corroborated that such boys often grow up to be either homosexuals
or transsexuals.
Those who consider themselves to be transgendered have
been amongst us all throughout the history of our species. Due to
the advances of modern medical science, they can now do much to physically
alter their sexual features. The assumption is that science will
continue to make advancements in this area.
Who knows what the future may hold when it comes to the
process of sexual reassignment. |
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The mission of this not-for-profit website is to promote clear insights
and toleration regarding the many variations of primary relationships that
exist in our world. We ask for neither acceptance or approval but
hope that each visitor who reviews the pages of this site will leave them
with a better understanding of the numerous cultural, historical, preferential,
religious, sexual, and sociological approaches to coupling that have always
existed and will continue to exist as long as there are at least two human
beings living on this planet. If the effort put into creating and
maintaining this site results in others coming to the realization that
the basic human need to love and be loved takes on many forms which are
accepted by those who practice them, whether right or wrong as determined
by the personal belief system of others, then it will have served it's
purpose well. |
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