Vocabulary - transsexual
Transsexual people are people who desire to have, or have achieved, a different physical sex from their original physical sex. One typical (though oversimplified) explanation is of a “woman trapped in a man’s body” or vice versa. Many transsexual women state that they were in fact always female gender, despite physically being male; transmen feel exactly the opposite.The process of physical transition for transsexual people usually includes hormone replacement therapy and may also include sexual reassignment surgery (a.k.a. gender reassignment surgery); at least a strong wish for it has to be present to meet the requirement for the diagnosis. For transwomen, electrolysis for hair removal is often required, while many transmen have breast-reduction surgery as early as possible.
Some spell the term transexual with one s in order to reduce the association of their identity with psychiatry and medicine.
There are some scientific studies suggesting physical causes of transsexuality (see the main transsexual article).
Reference to “pre-operative”, “post-operative” and “non-operative” transsexuals indicates whether they have had, or are planning to have sex reassignment surgery. This can be misleading, because there are a number of different types of surgery that may be used, and the terms are rarely used with precision. Some suggest that the term “non-op transsexual” is an oxymoron, as the definition of transsexual includes at least a strong wish for such surgery. However, for various medical and financial reasons, people may have the wish, but not the ability, to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Further confusing the term is that the individuals concerned have various motivations, ranging from dissatisfaction with medical options available (particularly among transmen), to the perception that one’s genitals have little bearing upon identity. Currently, there are no broadly agreed terms, even within the larger transgender community, to accurately define the various groups of “non-op transsexual people”.
Transgender is sometimes used as a euphemistic synonym for transsexual people. Some prefer this because it avoids the concept of “sex” in “transsexual”, which may give the incorrect impression that transsexuality is motivated by erotic desire. However, many transsexual people do not self-identify as “transgender,” contending that the term inaccurately describes and marginalizes their specific gender identity. In addition, many transsexuals identify simply as “men” or “women,” though the opposite of that assigned at birth, and do not wish to be associated with the connotation of being in-between genders. Some feel that they their gender identity has remained constant, and that they have changed sex, but not gender.
Some criticize the use of the term “transsexual” because sex reassignment does not render an individual reproductively viable nor does it change their sex chromosomes. From a functional viewpoint of sex, the transition is cosmetic rather than fundamental, and the individual is not “really” changing their sex. This argument is particularly used by some feminists to dispute transsexual women’s claims of identification and association with other women. This ignores, however, cases of non-transsexual people who are infertile or intersexual people who have a non-standard chromosomal configuration. For example, women with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) are born physiologically female, but their sex chromosomes are XY. An analogous condition exists where an XX fetus is exposed to testosterone in utero, and develops male genitalia.
In an effort to respect the identity of those transsexual people who do not identify as transgender, the constructions trans, trans*, or transgender and transsexual are sometimes used to describe all trans-people.
Further, many people whom this article would define as transgender reject the term altogether, along with other related terms (transsexual, crossgender, etc.). This is most commonly seen with people who have changed sex but who do not define themselves as transsexual. A common statement is that a transsexual is someone who is undergoing a change from one sex to another; someone who has already done so is simply a “man” or a “woman”.
source : Wikipedia