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Transitioners with Partners
Interesting article on transitioners who stay with their partners can be found on the Sydney Morning Herald website”. The link is:
Transformers: the unique challenge of changing gender within a relationship
It seems to me that the bulk of media articles about transgender issues give prominence to stories about transitioners. This makes me wonder whether people may be led to believe that all transgenders are potential transitioners. Transgenders who are happy to remain as they are perhaps are not newsworthy? Or is it just me.
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9 Replies
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I don’t know Martina but the main message I took was that this was another plain positive story with not a smidgeon of shock horror in it and that has to be good. It was also in today’s Good Weekend magazine.
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The article was in the Age too down here in Melbourne. With the exception of not wanting to transition, the rest of the article really hit some raw nerves for me.
a/. I used to cart all my femme gear all over the world and dress in hotel rooms. (Tho luckily I could store it all away from home, so no “post trip purges”) Ah……… the unforgettable comments by businesss associates/hotel staff. “You have enough luggage there for two” or “all that travel must be a real drag”
b/. The initial conversations these couples had were exactly the same as I would love to have with my beloved. OK she knows about Caty, but the subject is never discussed. If it ever does come up I’ll tell/show her as much as she wants to know/see. By this I mean in terms of “see”, just how much of Caty’s wardrobe does she want to know about.
She’d probably freak out at the breast forms/wigs and stuff like the make up collection etc..
But in my case, it’s best that the sleeping dog is much better left having a snnoze
Caty
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You’re probably right about the transitioning, as much as transgender issues is usually interesting enough to gain traction in the news industry transitioning is just that more interesting to publishers.
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The article title is “Transformers: the unique challenge of changing gender within a relationship”. But of course they don’t mean that. As the first paragraph makes clear the article is actually about “the unique challenge of changing physical SEX within a relationship.
Quote:Changing from one sex to another clearly involves an enormous physical and emotional upheavalI agree the media currently has a fixation with the “easy story” – those centering round man becomes woman (or visa versa). These stories are very predictable in content and unfortunately easy for magazine journalists to write.
When the press moves on from stock sex-change stories like this one and starts to explore the wider spectrum of gender expression we will hopefully see a different and less sensational description of transition. One where many more people get to tell the story of expressing their true gender identity within society.
I just hope they move on soon as I believe endless sex-change articles cloud the public understanding of gender. Like Martina I also think these articles create a fear of sex change in the minds of partners and make it harder for many transgender to come out.
BTW: I do hope we aren’t going to start using the ugly label transitioners to describe those who have SRS!!!
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At risk of starting a new topic, do articles such as this promote gender binary thinking or do they open up the readers to thinking of gender more like a spectrum?
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Thanks Adrian for your warning about ugly labels. I was perhaps a bit careless in choosing the title for this topic but can assure you no disrespect for those who choose the SRS path was intended. I shall be more circumspect in the future.
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My experience with the gay and lesbian community has been exactly the same as with anyone else. Some accept and some don’t. The article seems to generalise that gays and lesbians will be more accepting than the rest of the population. Before I came out I thought that this would be true, afterwards I was surprised that they are no different to anyone else. You cant generalise on how a particular part of the community will react to meeting either a cross dresser or transgender person. It is entirely an individual reaction and cant be assumed. Mostly, I have found that the fears where all mine and have had very few negative responses, although in comparison,I have definitely had more negative from the LGBT community compared to the so called “normal” population.
Cheers Ali -
Yeah, also the use of ‘Transformers’. That could be confused with Autobots or Decepticons.
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As a partner of as trans individual I’d like to add my voice to this discussion. I was pleased to see the article published and found it positive and realistic. It feels good to be recognised.
