A Response From Your Local Transsexual

[Arantor]

I've long thought the Internet to be a great leveller, actually, echoing the above.

Case in point: I have a long-standing friend, who has a very visible disability, and is transgendered, although this is something that has only recently been able to be properly expressed.

Now, the weird thing is that this person was mostly avoided, or ridiculed, in the past because of the first point, and others had suspicions about the second. As a result, my friend was quite lonely for a while.

But, over the internet, you'd never know. The internet strips away all of the biases and filters that we as people have, it removes the pre-conceived notions and means you can concentrate on the things are purer and better - the friendship. (We met in real life long before talking over email/IM so I didn't have this bias to start with, but I seem to have been one of the few)

Trouble is it does make it easier to fake your personality. FWIW, I don't think anyone on this forum (anyone) has been faking much, if at all. Every conversation on here (and I've read just about everything here) seems reasonably genuine to me, even down to the experiences thread. Same goes for the lack of trolls; some 'shoot from the hip' but never so vehemently as to be spiteful or insulting as far as I can see. That said, to be vocal can be seen to be suggestive in itself.

I've frequented many forums over the years, and you can tell who is faking it out and who is being genuine, with an awful lot of practice. Studying counselling helps too, since it teaches how to listen and approach it neutrally/without any pre-conceived notions, even if your own nature is naturally this way it helps reinforce the mental discipline.

[Nathan Dorian]

I would just like to mention that people using female pronouns for me on this forum and whatnot is driving me a bit mental.

Hell, my name is Nathan, how on Earth do you make that mistake?

Sincerest apologies, but it'd be really appreciated if people didn't do that, thank you. C:

[Bear]

We used to get that alot on a forum I used to frequent where people would mistake someone for male when they were female and vise versa. We got around it be adding out gender into the location tag { Male } / { Female } so people didn't get mixed up anymore.

Not quite the same situation I know, but it could possibly help solve any possible further confusion if we addopted something similar here.

[Scaramouche]

If people are interested in the facts regarding sex/gender...

Let's begin with a couple of very easy definitions. Some people quibble about language definitions as though twisting word meanings around will change biological facts, silly as that notion is, but I'll go through it anyway.

Sex: (1) either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and most other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions. (2) the fact of belonging to one of these categories. (3) the group of all members of either sex. (4) sexual activity, specifically sexual intercourse. - Oxford English Dictionary.

Gender: (1) a class (usually masculine, feminine, common, or neuter) into which nouns and pronouns are placed in some languages. (2) the state of being male or female (with reference to social or cultural differences). (3) the members of one or other sex. (from Latin genus ‘birth, family, nation’) - Oxford English Dictionary.

And now on to some scientific explanations...

Sex chromosomes: The chromosomes that determine the sex of an organism. In humans, females have two X chromosomes, and males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. Chromosome that determines the gender (sex) of the individual. Human males have a large X and a smaller Y sex chromosomes, while human females have two X sex chromosomes. - Estrella Mountain Community College Life Sciences Dictionary.

In a human, the normal chromosomes complement is 46, 44 of which are autosomes while 2 distinct chromosomes are deemed sex chromosomes, which determine the sex of an organism and various sex linked characteristics.
In most animals, those who possess XX chromosomes are female while male animals possess an X and a Y chromosome. However, this is not true of all organisms, as it can be reversed in some species. - Biology Online.

Chromosomes containing genetic information that determine the sex of an individual. (This only applies to organisms where sex is determined by specific unique chromosomes.) - Oklahoma State University.

A particularly important category of genetic linkage has to do with the X and Y sex chromosomes. These not only carry the genes that determine male and female traits but also those for some other characteristics as well. Genes that are carried by either sex chromosome are said to be sex linked.
Men normally have an X and a Y combination of sex chromosomes, while women have two X's. Since only men inherit Y chromosomes, they are the only ones to inherit Y-linked traits. Men and women can get the X-linked ones since both inherit X chromosomes. - Palomar College.

Sex chromosome: A chromosome whose presence or absence is correlated with the sex of the bearer; a chromosome that plays a role in sex determination. Heteromorphic (different shaped, eg X and Y) chromosomes whose distribution in a zygote determines the sex of the organism. - Northwestern University.

The way it works is simple. The ovum (that's the little egg produced by a female) carries the female characteristics. The sperm (that's the little tadpole thingy produced by the male) carries the male characteristics. The ovum and sperm each carry a set of chromosomes. When they combine, the resulting zygote (that's the fertilised egg) has the double set of chromosomes. Now the female packet always carries the female chromosomes, but the male packet can be carry either male or female sex chromosomes. Whether the zygote and resulting human turns out male or female is determined by whether the fertilising sperm carries the male or female sex chromosomes. That's all there is to it. It really is that simple.

Now that's the physical reality of gender or sex. But then we have recent research which suggests there's a genetic cause also for our sense of gender, or the way we feel about the gender of the body we're in.

'Transexual gene' found by researchers

Researchers measured the variation in the androgen receptor gene, which is involved in the functioning of the sex hormone testosterone.

DNA samples from the transsexuals were compared with the samples from 250 typical men.

Researchers discovered the transsexuals were more likely than non-transsexuals to have a longer form of the gene.

"We think these genetic differences might reduce testosterone action and under-masculinise the brain during foetal development," Prince Henry's Institute researcher Lauren Hare said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24 ... 09,00.html

Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex

Brain scans have provided the most compelling evidence yet that being gay or straight is a biologically fixed trait.

The scans reveal that in gay people, key structures of the brain governing emotion, mood, anxiety and aggressiveness resemble those in straight people of the opposite sex.

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex ... news_rss20

So it's starting to look like even though our sex/gender is determined by our chromosomes (as opposed to surgery), the development of our brains (as guided by gene expression) may actually result in a physical cause for our sense of gender identity.

[Bear]

Okay... now what was the point in all that?

[Nathan Dorian]

We used to get that alot on a forum I used to frequent where people would mistake someone for male when they were female and vise versa. We got around it be adding out gender into the location tag { Male } / { Female } so people didn't get mixed up anymore.

Not quite the same situation I know, but it could possibly help solve any possible further confusion if we addopted something similar here.

I'd be happy to do that. C:





As pointless as it may have been, it was an interesting post, Scaramouche. C:

[Scaramouche]

Okay... now what was the point in all that?

The point was to provide information. I found it interesting when that news was announced recently.

[Pneumonica]

I would just like to mention that people using female pronouns for me on this forum and whatnot is driving me a bit mental.

Hell, my name is Nathan, how on Earth do you make that mistake?

Sincerest apologies, but it'd be really appreciated if people didn't do that, thank you. C:

I claim dyslexia. Strislexia dykes again!

Seriously, I'm sure I've done it, my bad. You can feel free to beat me with whatever implement won't leave marks for longer than a day that you choose.

[Nathan Dorian]

I would just like to mention that people using female pronouns for me on this forum and whatnot is driving me a bit mental.

Hell, my name is Nathan, how on Earth do you make that mistake?

Sincerest apologies, but it'd be really appreciated if people didn't do that, thank you. C:

I claim dyslexia. Strislexia dykes again!

Seriously, I'm sure I've done it, my bad. You can feel free to beat me with whatever implement won't leave marks for longer than a day that you choose.

Actually, I've not seen you do it once.

[Pneumonica]

I claim dyslexia. Strislexia dykes again!

Seriously, I'm sure I've done it, my bad. You can feel free to beat me with whatever implement won't leave marks for longer than a day that you choose.

Actually, I've not seen you do it once.

Oh. Then never mind. Although if you still want to do the beating thing...