It's Not as Simple as Pink or Blue
Debra Rosenberg: Hi everyone. I'm Debra Rosenberg, Assistant Managing Editor at Newsweek, and I wrote this week's cover story on Rethinking Gender. I oversee the magazine's coverage of health, science and social issues. I'm happy to answer your questions on gender and transgender.
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Collierville, TN: When one uses the terms "transman" or "transwoman," to what do they refer? An individual who has gone through sexual reassignment surgery, one who is planning to do so, or simply a transgendered individual? Does the "man/woman" designmation refer to their pre- or post-operative sex or to their own specified gender identity?
Debra Rosenberg: When someone uses the term "transman" or "transwoman," they are referring to the new gender that the person has become. Transgender is an umbrella term that encompasses people who have had surgery or taken hormones as well as those who haven't taken any physical steps to change genders but still feel a disconnect between their gender and their biological sex.
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Clearwater beach, FL: Does a child send his father, who changed into a woman, a mothers day card on mothers day or a fathers day card on fathers day? or does he send a mothers day card on fathers day? or how does he address his father now that he changed gender,call him mom or dad? like steve stanton turned into susan stanton? the child will eventually want to forget about his dad or disrespect his father because of the ridicule he will he through at school,out in public the next few yrs!
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Member Comments
Posted By: lantern451 @ 07/02/2008 2:33:43 AM
Comment: Having gender variance classified as a mental disorder and relying on that for health insurance coverage is a bit of false logic. Most insurance companies in the U.S. exclude treatments for Gender Identity Disorder, but there hormonal imbalances are covered for all kinds of conditions that are not related to GID. People who need to have medical support to manage their gender variance can and should be able to access competent medical care through health insurance, but for the most part right now a GID diagnosis must be avoided if coverage is expected. There are transgender health advocates working to address this issue systemically, both from the activist side as well as from the health care provider side. Thanks, by the way, for your generally excellent responses to the questions raised about this sorely neglected and unfortunately too long obscured topic.
Posted By: valerierom @ 04/10/2008 11:06:57 PM
Comment: To the person from Dallas TX regarding mental illness. Some researchers believe that gender identity is affected by hormones released by the mother during a specific stage of fetal development. Identity is not behavior; behavior is not illness, although it can be a manifestation of illness. Discrimination against expressions of gender identity is prohibited by law in 14 states and the District of Columbia as well as in more than 70 counties and localities.
Posted By: Vanessa Lynn @ 11/21/2007 8:10:07 PM
Comment: To the person from L.A.,Ca. I am a 60 year old male who beleives myself to be a female although my physical body is that of a male.I have had some counseling for a time.It has been a very hard stuggle to just keep my sanity over all of this.I am married with four children.My wife is 56 years old and our children range in age from 25 to 36 years old.One of our daughters is married with our first grandchild being born back in April of this year.I am always thinking about wheather I should kill myself or try to keep on living.I have tried in the past to kill myself with a knife,that I kept trying to stab myself with but for some reason i kept missing.Maybe God has a different reason for me to go on living for.I just wish i knew what real answer to this question and i hope this has helped you to some degree.God bless you.
Flint,Michigan