Fortunately, we are turning into a society where people recognize different genders and live together in harmony. Though we are not there yet, we are on our way to becoming one. There was a time when besides man and woman, there was only one gender, referred to as the ‘third gender’ and considered the lower part of the society. But, fortunately, those days are gone.
The first step that we need to take towards becoming a society that welcomes people of all genders is understanding them. Let us make some progress today and learn something new.
What Are Transgenders?
Transgender can be explained as an umbrella term used to define people whose gender expression and/or gender identity is different from the sex that was assigned to them at birth. Contrary to what most people believe, being transgender has absolutely nothing to do with an individual’s sexual orientation. Just like a woman whose sex at birth and gender identity corresponds or cisgender woman, a transgender woman who is physically attracted to men is identified as straight. A transgender person, whether a man or women, can have different sexual orientation, such as gay , straight, bisexual or lesbian, just like any cisgender man or cisgender woman.
A transgender woman means someone who is living like a woman today but was born as a man, whereas a transgender man is someone who is living like a man today but was born as a woman. While some transgender may choose to identify as a man or a woman, others may not. Some may also identify themselves as a combination of a man and woman.
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What Is Gender Identity?
What gender identity means is the innate understanding one has of his/her own gender. It is the subconscious of a person realizing whether the individual is a man, woman or belongs to any other category. For a long time, sex and gender were used interchangeably, but people now realize the difference between the two. While sex is all about the physical characteristics of a person at birth, gender is concerned with how a person perceives themself.
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What Is Gender Transitioning?
Transgender people have existed since the ancient civilizations in all parts of the world when they were widely regarded as the third gender. While earlier they were forced to live as the sex they were assigned at birth; they are not coming out and transitioning to live as per their gender identity. Transitioning is the period during which a person starts living as per their gender identity, and it may be different for different people. It may or may not include altering your appearance, clothing, and name. While some even change their documents like driver’s license, others also go to the extent of changing their physical attributes through surgeries.
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We hope this post helped you clear the doubts you had regarding transgender people. Are you or someone you love a transgender? Share with us through your comments below.
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The transgender and Eunuch are not the same set of people. These people have completely different traits from each other. A Transgender is referred to a person who converts his sex willingly which is different from the one when he was born. For instance, a person who lived as a man in his early days of life and then realizes that he is a woman. They are referred with different names like genderqueer or non-binary gender. Whereas, the eunuch are the people who have gone through castration. People are forced to cut their genitals in order to become a eunuch or some people do it willingly.