Critics Make False Statements

While it’s true that a 13-year old child may lack life experience, this is not an issues about life lessons; it is about self-identity.  If from a very young age a child identifies from within as one gender or the other, and is not just fantasy role playing, and then continues to identify as such by the age of 12 or so, the chances are that those feelings are genuine and pure: free from the influence of society “norms.”  

Life experience won’t change those feelings. They will only teach the child that such feelings are wrong, and cause that child to go into hiding. In some cases the child will then become ashamed of whom they feel themselves to be at the core. They try to fulfill the expectations that society has for them, which leads to feelings of confusion, conflict, and in some cases suicide. 

What frightens me about this article is that your “anonymous psychiatrist,” makes statements that are totally inaccurate. He states opinion as fact, which causes the very injury from misinformation he accuses others of inflicting. To say that "People do become somewhat feminized by hormone treatment, but not completely,” is an opinion, and not one that most people would agree with given the chance to see photo’s of successful, and sometimes famous, transsexuals.

His statement “You don't become a woman. You don't have those kind of emotions,” or  “There may be a biological proclivity towards the other sex, as seen in "tomboys and effeminate males," but gender is something that's "entirely learnt," suggests that he has very little knowledge about the subject. Childcare guru Penelope Leach suggests that gender is not a learnt behavior. She reassures parents in her best-selling book Your Baby & Child (Penguin): “If your son wants to dress up as a queen, why shouldn’t he? You would probably be happy to let your daughter dress up as a cowboy. Your child’s eventual sexual predilections will not be changed by swapping roles in childhood.”

In cases of boys who were raised as girls -- usually by the mother – most revert back to masculine behavior once they are old enough to exert their own independence. Regardless of the environment the mother created, their gender was imprinted in them before her influence. As with homosexuality, it is something that you either are, or aren’t: it isn’t learnt.

And, while there is still more research that needs to be done, “Brain Sex; The Real Difference Between Men And Woman” provides evidence as to biological differences between the male and female brain, as well as the male and male-to-female transsexual brain. This has led to the theory that sexual differentiation of the brain in those with gender identity disorder might not have followed the line of sexual differentiation of the body as a whole.  These changes suggest that there might be vital biological factors in the development of sexual identity disorder.

The more intelligent and grounded comments in your article come from Alan Finch, when he suggests that because Alex has a boys name, dresses as a boy and is enrolled as a boy at school, that that alone doesn’t make him one. I agree, but only as it relates to the possibility of difficulties that could result prior to his surgical procedures. Specifically, the problems, and potential lawsuits, that could arise if and when Alex was to begin dating.  A “Girlfriend,” thinking Alex is a boy may be traumatizing, if and when she was to learn that Alex is not yet – biologically – a boy. Also, Alex will have great difficulty maneuvering through a male locker room, and other boy-to-boy situations.  

The comments made by Alan Finch are the concerns that should be focused on here. Rather than focus on discussions of opinion and theory, the focus should be on the practical real life situations that Alex will be confronted with.   

Ask a man, or a woman, “What” does it feel like to be a boy, or a girl?  Odds are they won’t be able to. Ask them “why” they feel like a boy or a girl, and again they will struggle for an answer. A transsexual boy or girl has the same difficulty in answering either question. They simply know that they feel the way they do, because they do.   

Society should stop trying to impose their will on a persons self identity, and instead, focus on providing the environment to allow people to find self acceptance and happiness during the very short time we are each given here on Earth. 

Sincerely, Brianna Austin

1. Start a discussion or make a comment about this editorial at the message boards.
2. Email Me. (Please note if you choose to remain anonymous.)

© 2004 - Brianna Austin - All Rights reserved