On Thursday, October 25, 2007, I observed a presentation by Gavi*, the executive director of a “grassroots educational (nonprofit) organization”** to help transgendered and transsexual people. As there are very few programs that are set up to deal with the diversity of the trans group, Gavi explained that this organization is specifically structured to incorporate all variations in sexuality and gender.
Gavi taught the audience about the physical and mental factors that decide gender, social rules and development, interactions between men and women and more. He explained the feeling of a “sisterhood” among females that as a woman, he experienced and I experience as well: there are often times a glance between women, perhaps when two females are alone late at night at a train station, bus stop, etc., that translates as the message, “I feel safer with you here.” We may not be conscious of this, or (like myself) we may feel physical and emotional relief at the site of another woman waiting by herself. The contact between these two women is very slight, but in that moment the women share a common relief: “With you here, I am less afraid of being raped.” Gavi explained that the switch from female to male (specifically the change in physical characteristics) resulted in a very changed experience. Now his glance at a lone woman at the bus stop became a threatening advance. Gavi had to be conscious of these gendered interactions and change the way in which he looked at and spoke to women. Once he was an ally; now he is viewed (like all men, late at night) as a predator.
There are differences between sex and cultures all over the world. Gavi taught me that these differences (in the writing of my blog) need to be considered and he helped me come up with a more accurate term for what I am looking at: “men and women culture.” “Male” and “female” culture may differ from place to place, but “men” and “women,” which are terms for gender in the United States and in other countries, describe one extreme and another rather than physical distinctions; they label identity rather than biology. “Male” and “female” are biological terms, and do not allow for the possibility of genders in-between. Gavi explained that in different cultures, stereotypes are assigned to different genders: for example, in other cultures, the male is the biological sex that is more likely to cry openly in public and he is often times more accepted in his emotional expression. There are individuals who explain their gender quite differently, and as I am looking at gender identity, rather than biological distinctions, the switch from “male/female” to “men/women” culture at the advice of Gavi, is a switch I am willing to make. I believe this will better explain my goals for my research.
* full name has been shortened for protection purposes
** I left out the name of the organization for protection purposes
~ Katherine Niemczyk
Monday, October 29, 2007
A "Deadly" Secret
Aleshia Brevard, a transsexual, high fashion model, Playboy model, and film and television actress and director, "began" her life at Westlake Clinic in Los Angeles, in 1962 (she was born a male in 1937):
Gone was my "birth defect". From that day forward I could react to life emotionally, pursue my own feminine dreams of success, and live as an equal partner with the man I loved. I had been reborn woman. I was free. - Aleshia Brevard (Brevard, 2006)
I decided to spend some time researching Aleshia Brevard because she is among only a few transsexual women who have appeared either bikini-clad or in the nude (Playboy magazine) for the American audience. I discovered the quote above on her website, and found it very interesting that she referred to being born a male as a "birth defect." Viewed in this way, I feel that it is much easier to understand the position of transsexual women and men; they are born a gender, and are that gender all along, but a "defect" stands between them and their right to claiming a certain sexual identity in our culture. Because gender is so black and white in America, by referring to her sex as a "defect," Brevard is making a point that clearly justifies, for the American public, the switch from male to female.
Nevertheless, my research has shown a certain amount of separation between those who have gone through sexual reassignment surgery, and those who have not. While we, as a culture, do not allow for this other gender type, transsexuals still have a place in society, and by ignoring it, we are avoiding reality. Someone once told me that there are at least five different genders between male and female (black and white), but American society only recognizes those two. How strange we are to only accept a small number of these categorized genders. But reality does prove to us that there is a large amount of gray area in between:
To me gender is not physical at all, but is altogether insubstantial. It is soul, perhaps, it is talent, it is taste, it is environment, it is how one feels, it is light and shade, it is inner music, it is a spring in one's step or an exchange of glances, it is more truly life and love than any combination of genitals, ovaries, and hormones. It is the essentialness of oneself, the psyche, the fragment of unity. Male and female are sex, masculine and feminine are gender, and though the conceptions obviously overlap, they are far from synonymous. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, gender is not a mere imaginative extension of sex. "Gender is a reality, and a more fundamental extension of sex. Sex is, in fact, merely the adaptation to organic life of a fundamental polarity which divides all created beings. Female sex is simply one of the things that have feminine gender; there are many others, and Masculine and Feminine meet us on planes of reality where male and female would be simply meaningless." - Jan Morris (Ames, 2005: 89)
That being said, and returning to the topic at hand, gender plays a role in society that defines who we are. So, what happens when a man suddenly breaks the social norm and changes his physical make-up to match that of a woman? Deirdre McCloskey, an economic theorist and historian, says, "It's strange to have been a man and now to be a woman. But it's no stranger perhaps than having once been a West African and now being an American, or once a priest and now a businessman. Free people keep deciding to make strange crossings, from storekeeper to monk or from civilian to soldier or from man to woman. Crossing boundaries is a minority interest, but human" (Ames, 2005: 205). Is the gender switch, therefore, equivalent to that of a culture change? McCloskey seems to think so, and not only that, but she seems to agree that it is of human nature to create change for oneself. Aleshia Brevard saw this change as only natural and it seems to me that we give way to many changes in our lives that naturally occur. But in the United States, as in other countries all over the world, the transsexual change specifically is a social taboo:
"Never forget," I tell myself, "you are always a stranger here, always carry a smoldering, deadly secret. Never fully relax; never completely let go." - Calpernia Sarah Adams (Ames, 2005: 278)
~ Katherine Niemczyk
Sources -
Ames, Jonathan ed.
2005, Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs. New York, New York: Vintage Books.
Brevard, Aleshia
2006, Excerpt from Aleshia's autobiography. Electronic document.
http://www.aleshiabrevard.com/Gallery_Fashion.htm
The Sight of Men
I think it is time to acknowledge culture as I have decided to use the term. There is hardly one explanation of the term culture, due to the large scope of different cultures around the world. In fact, as we distinguished in Introduction to Cultural Anthropology at the beginning of the course, culture is a long and varied list of beliefs, norms, social constructs, practices, traditions, music, dance, family roles, heritage, education, world view, etc. We could look to David Schneider who said that "culture is a stage" with a stage setting, a cast of characters, power differentials, and norms (or stage directions). Or we could look to Clifford Giertz who said that "man is an animal suspended in the webs of significance that he himself has spun" (culture being the web of significance). While both of these definitions certainly describe culture, I have decided to explore this topic on my own, in the context of my cultural-encounter topic: transsexuals and transgendered individuals (Delaney, 2004: 14-15).
The most fitting definition of culture that I could come up with is "a set of ideas, beliefs, and/or conscious or unconscious societal rules and norms that envelope all those activities that we may be able to distinguish from other groups." Yes, I know. You will first say that this definition is too broad to lay a hand on, but first let me remind you that culture is too convoluted a theory for most to comprehend. In fact, anthropologists have been arguing for years as to whether or not the discipline should use this term to describe such a phenomenon. For my purposes, culture is being used to describe the sex change experience, and will therefore encompass quite a lot of new ideas to add to the concept of culture (Delaney, 2004: 11)).
Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902), a German physician and neurologist, studied a patient (as part of his study Psychopathia Sexualis), who felt "'like a woman in a man's form,'" and who suffered from a number of ailments throughout his life, including grout, influenza, neurasthenia, and a stroke of paralysis. Psychopathia Sexualis was a "collection of 237 case studies in sexual pathology," which influenced Freud (a student of Krafft-Ebing's) in his work at a later time. Krafft-Ebing gathered the following information (note - this is before sex change operation revolutionized the medical field) (Ames, 2005: 1-21):
Since complete effemination (men taking on the characteristics of women), the principal changes I have observed in myself are:
1. The constant feeling of being a woman from top to toe.
2. The constant feeling of having female genitals.
3. The periodicity of the monthly molimina (symptoms a woman may experience before a period).
4. The regular occurrence of female desire, though not directed to any particular man.
5. The passive female feeling of coitus (sexual intercourse).
6. After that, the feeling of impregnation.
7. The female feeling in thought of coitus.
8. At the sight of women, the feeling of being of their kind, and the feminine interest in them.
9. At the sight of men, the feminine interest in them.
10. At the sight of children, the same feeling.
11. The changed disposition and much greater patience.
12. The final resignation to my fate, for which I have nothing to thank but positive religion; without it I should have long ago committed suicide.
(Ames, 2005: 1-21)
Please keep in mind that this patient suffered from a great number of health issues, some of which may have been the cause of one or a number of the previously mentioned feelings (molimina or the feeling of impregnation). However, the reader cannot deny that many or all of these feelings relate to the gender specific, the female, and those changes from male to female. Some of these, in fact, accompany the experience of culture "shock" or change: the relating to the "other" ("being of their kind"), the interest in the "other," a changed disposition in a different cultural setting, and a mention of religion. In my opinion, the feeling of culture "shock" is significant of very few experiences, which makes it all the more fitting in this instance, and it may be looked at as a new cultural encounter for the individual. This may not be a very conventional way to look at the sex change experience, but by drawing these similarities, the reader may be able to relate by experience, as if he or she were in his or her "shoes," if you will. Only by similar experiences, can we begin to understand those around us.
~ Katherine Niemczyk
Sources -
Ames, Jonathan ed.
2005, Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs. New York, New York: Vintage Books.
Delaney, Carol
2004, Investigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing.
The most fitting definition of culture that I could come up with is "a set of ideas, beliefs, and/or conscious or unconscious societal rules and norms that envelope all those activities that we may be able to distinguish from other groups." Yes, I know. You will first say that this definition is too broad to lay a hand on, but first let me remind you that culture is too convoluted a theory for most to comprehend. In fact, anthropologists have been arguing for years as to whether or not the discipline should use this term to describe such a phenomenon. For my purposes, culture is being used to describe the sex change experience, and will therefore encompass quite a lot of new ideas to add to the concept of culture (Delaney, 2004: 11)).
Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902), a German physician and neurologist, studied a patient (as part of his study Psychopathia Sexualis), who felt "'like a woman in a man's form,'" and who suffered from a number of ailments throughout his life, including grout, influenza, neurasthenia, and a stroke of paralysis. Psychopathia Sexualis was a "collection of 237 case studies in sexual pathology," which influenced Freud (a student of Krafft-Ebing's) in his work at a later time. Krafft-Ebing gathered the following information (note - this is before sex change operation revolutionized the medical field) (Ames, 2005: 1-21):
Since complete effemination (men taking on the characteristics of women), the principal changes I have observed in myself are:
1. The constant feeling of being a woman from top to toe.
2. The constant feeling of having female genitals.
3. The periodicity of the monthly molimina (symptoms a woman may experience before a period).
4. The regular occurrence of female desire, though not directed to any particular man.
5. The passive female feeling of coitus (sexual intercourse).
6. After that, the feeling of impregnation.
7. The female feeling in thought of coitus.
8. At the sight of women, the feeling of being of their kind, and the feminine interest in them.
9. At the sight of men, the feminine interest in them.
10. At the sight of children, the same feeling.
11. The changed disposition and much greater patience.
12. The final resignation to my fate, for which I have nothing to thank but positive religion; without it I should have long ago committed suicide.
(Ames, 2005: 1-21)
Please keep in mind that this patient suffered from a great number of health issues, some of which may have been the cause of one or a number of the previously mentioned feelings (molimina or the feeling of impregnation). However, the reader cannot deny that many or all of these feelings relate to the gender specific, the female, and those changes from male to female. Some of these, in fact, accompany the experience of culture "shock" or change: the relating to the "other" ("being of their kind"), the interest in the "other," a changed disposition in a different cultural setting, and a mention of religion. In my opinion, the feeling of culture "shock" is significant of very few experiences, which makes it all the more fitting in this instance, and it may be looked at as a new cultural encounter for the individual. This may not be a very conventional way to look at the sex change experience, but by drawing these similarities, the reader may be able to relate by experience, as if he or she were in his or her "shoes," if you will. Only by similar experiences, can we begin to understand those around us.
~ Katherine Niemczyk
Sources -
Ames, Jonathan ed.
2005, Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs. New York, New York: Vintage Books.
Delaney, Carol
2004, Investigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing.
The Black and White of Gender
I have been having some difficulty making connections with members of the transsexual community. However, I do have one contact through the LGBTQ Alumni Association at Wheaton College. She has connected me with members of the association who will hopefully be willing to answer my questions. In the mean time, I have decided to examine some literature devoted to the topic of being a transsexual, and this has proven to be very helpful.
Probably among of the first obstacles a transsexual individual may experience is the issue of finding his/her individualism within a society that has a very poor understanding of the transsexual community. As Anne Bolin discusses, in her book In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rites of Passage, the transition from male to female can be confused with a lot of other identities:
A major part of understanding transsexuals as males who feel like females and who dress like women is understanding what they are not. They are not transvestites. The Berdache Society included a population of heterosexual transvestites and these people contributed much valuable information by serving as a vehicle of comparison and contrast with transsexuals. Moreover, transsexuals and transvestites are often confused with another group of people: homosexual cross-dressers ("drag queens" in the gay argot). Because transsexuals, heterosexual transvestites, and drag queens all share the behavior of cross-dressing (wearing the clothes of females), there is a superficial similarity amongst an otherwise diverse group of people. Nevertheless, clarification is necessary to avoid any misconceptions in terminology. (Bolin, 1988: 9)
In fact, identity plays a huge role in everyone's life, no matter their sexual identity, ethnicity, nationality, etc. Imagine the transition from male to female (or vice versa), as there are very few allowances in our society for any other type of gender identity. When one goes through with the transition, what are the expectations of others for that individual and what are the expectations of that individual for themselves? As "gender" is such a black and white issue (you are either female or male), how does one find any sort of American or Westernized identity when his/her mind is of a separate gender than what the everyday citizen might call "normal"? There is not only ostracizing of transsexuals from the American community at large, but also between and among groups of transsexuals:
... One transsexual stood out as the "in-group deviant" (cf. Goffman 1963: 142-43). She violated transsexual concepts of their own normalcy as protowomen and women. This individual was known for her high-fashion hairstyles, reliance on wigs (even though she had a full head of hair), chic and extensive use of makeup, penchant for black satin and spandex, and clawlike, long fingernails. Even though she had been repeatedly sanctioned on these grounds and had tried to alter her choice in clothing, she continues to transform an average outfit through accessories into a glamorous high-fashion ensemble. This individual was suspect as to the authenticity of her transsexualism because she presented herself in drag queen style. Like drag queens, her modus operandi was one of artifice and impersonation rather than naturalness. Naturalness was the premise upon which transsexuals "stratified their own" (cf. Goffman 1963: 107). The absence of progress in the presentation of self as a natural woman, then, was the basis of in-group stigmatization. (Bolin, 1988: 81)
This may be a very specific case of stigmatization, but what happens to any individual who transitions so severely (severely, I say, according to society at large)? Bolin says that they must "divorce themselves from networks in which they are known as males (or females)" (Bolin, 90). A change in association, may conclude in a change of culture, and with this in mind, may the reader imagine a change such as this in order that they may begin to understand our differences, whether it be gender, ethnicity, nationality, etc. There are niches for all of us in this modern world, but we must allow for every one to be of equal size.
~ Katherine Niemczyk
Sources -
Bolin, Anne
1988, In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rites of Passage. South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc.
Probably among of the first obstacles a transsexual individual may experience is the issue of finding his/her individualism within a society that has a very poor understanding of the transsexual community. As Anne Bolin discusses, in her book In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rites of Passage, the transition from male to female can be confused with a lot of other identities:
A major part of understanding transsexuals as males who feel like females and who dress like women is understanding what they are not. They are not transvestites. The Berdache Society included a population of heterosexual transvestites and these people contributed much valuable information by serving as a vehicle of comparison and contrast with transsexuals. Moreover, transsexuals and transvestites are often confused with another group of people: homosexual cross-dressers ("drag queens" in the gay argot). Because transsexuals, heterosexual transvestites, and drag queens all share the behavior of cross-dressing (wearing the clothes of females), there is a superficial similarity amongst an otherwise diverse group of people. Nevertheless, clarification is necessary to avoid any misconceptions in terminology. (Bolin, 1988: 9)
In fact, identity plays a huge role in everyone's life, no matter their sexual identity, ethnicity, nationality, etc. Imagine the transition from male to female (or vice versa), as there are very few allowances in our society for any other type of gender identity. When one goes through with the transition, what are the expectations of others for that individual and what are the expectations of that individual for themselves? As "gender" is such a black and white issue (you are either female or male), how does one find any sort of American or Westernized identity when his/her mind is of a separate gender than what the everyday citizen might call "normal"? There is not only ostracizing of transsexuals from the American community at large, but also between and among groups of transsexuals:
... One transsexual stood out as the "in-group deviant" (cf. Goffman 1963: 142-43). She violated transsexual concepts of their own normalcy as protowomen and women. This individual was known for her high-fashion hairstyles, reliance on wigs (even though she had a full head of hair), chic and extensive use of makeup, penchant for black satin and spandex, and clawlike, long fingernails. Even though she had been repeatedly sanctioned on these grounds and had tried to alter her choice in clothing, she continues to transform an average outfit through accessories into a glamorous high-fashion ensemble. This individual was suspect as to the authenticity of her transsexualism because she presented herself in drag queen style. Like drag queens, her modus operandi was one of artifice and impersonation rather than naturalness. Naturalness was the premise upon which transsexuals "stratified their own" (cf. Goffman 1963: 107). The absence of progress in the presentation of self as a natural woman, then, was the basis of in-group stigmatization. (Bolin, 1988: 81)
This may be a very specific case of stigmatization, but what happens to any individual who transitions so severely (severely, I say, according to society at large)? Bolin says that they must "divorce themselves from networks in which they are known as males (or females)" (Bolin, 90). A change in association, may conclude in a change of culture, and with this in mind, may the reader imagine a change such as this in order that they may begin to understand our differences, whether it be gender, ethnicity, nationality, etc. There are niches for all of us in this modern world, but we must allow for every one to be of equal size.
~ Katherine Niemczyk
Sources -
Bolin, Anne
1988, In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rites of Passage. South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc.
Of Delight in Diversity
A cross-cultural encounter is often times a difficult experience, as I have found traveling around the world (to China, Britain, Italy, and Germany); you lose your comfort zone and at the same time become very curious about this new and interesting person you have been introduced or exposed to. I decided that I wanted to study the transgendered/transsexual community to see if those that have been through the sex change process have discovered themselves entering into a different culture (i.e. male-culture v. women-culture). But, is this a cross-cultural experience for them as well; that is, is it even a culture? That is my exploration.
I watched a film last spring semester (2007) as part of my "Self and Society" class called "Southern Comfort" (2001), a story of a transsexual man, Robert Eads, who discovered he had ovarian cancer. The sickening aspect of his story is that NO DOCTOR would give him the operation, a seemingly common occurrence (malpractice) based on the experiences of other transsexuals in the film. They suffered through botched operations and first-hand discrimination, not to mention rejection from family members. Due to a kind of forced alienation, the group of friends found comfort among each other, giving and receiving love and support. So, why do I think this is important? As human beings, we all need interaction and attention, and physical touch if we are allowed it. When we are denied access to the majority, we form groups of our own, and create a sort of culture. We may have traditions that no one else has, interactions that no one else has, suffer together, eat together, become an extended family. If this is the case, as it appeared to be in "Southern Comfort" (2001) could the transsexual community arguably be a subculture of American culture, or of French culture, or Japanese culture, etc.? Since I had no idea of what these people went through (not necessarily all, I expect, have experiences quite like what I am referring to), I found "Southern Comfort" (2001) extremely hopeful and sad at the same time. It seems as though just when you discover that the world cannot possibly hate any more than it already does, someone such as Robert Eads finds himself in the most ironic situation, and still has room enough in his heart to love those around him.
I am not sure what I will find as I continue this project, but I do think that there will be some aspects of a new culture evolving in the transgendered/transsexual community. I hope to learn if that is and why that is, and could it be mostly because among themselves, they find the most understanding? For the most part, I want to understand their experiences in depth, and whether I discover that there is an evolving culture or not, it will be an experience that will teach me more about individual and unique human beings. As Lola, Robert's partner, remarks at the end of the film after his death, "Nature delights in diversity. Why don't human beings?"
~ Katherine Niemczyk
Sources -
www.planetout.com, 1995-2007, PlanetOut Inc. Electronic Document. http://www.planetout.com/images/popcornq/dbimages/s/southerncomfort.jpg)
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