A lovely bit of prose from a transman talking about sex and gender, and the notion of changing them. Unfortunately I do not know the name of the author. This archive was found on the Wayback Machine.Sunday's Child
Monday's child is full of grace,
Tuesday's child is fair of face,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath day is bonny and blithe and good and gay.
I was born on a Wednesday. The doctors took a quick glance at my body, declared me female, and condemned me to live that way for the rest of my life. But I'm not having it. I am defecting to the ranks of those born on a Sunday and am now proud to announce that I am bonny, blithe, good, gay and male. What a great life!
That in a nutshell is the reason for this web page. To tell my story of what it means to me to have been born in the wrong body. It's a tired phrase but a very accurate, descriptive and easily understood one. After 21 years of reasoning I firmly believe that it is my body, and not my mind which is wrong. I'm sure most of you would not have to think very hard to agree that it is your mind, your personality, the person inside your body, that makes you who you are. People do not become different people after plastic surgery, or amputation of a limb do they? Why do we have such complex ethical debates about whether to switch off life support when a person's brain has died but their body is still functioning and why do we keep alive the bodies of those people who are severely physically disabled from birth or as a consequence of accident? It is because it is not the state of the body that determines a person, but the personality within the body.
Most people probably never think twice about their gender. Most people have the same gender of mind and body and so it is never an issue. They may fleetingly consider what it would be like to be of the "opposite" gender (assuming there are only two, but don't get me started on that now!), perhaps for perceived social advantages or career opportunities. But to change your gender? How ridiculous!
In a sense, I agree. But what if mind and body do not concur? Life can be very difficult, that's what! It seems logical to me that one of them has to be altered to allow agreement. Having spent 21 years trying to "change my mind" I realise it is impossible. Not because I am stubborn (which I am), but because I can't change the person I am. And that person is detemined by my mind and not my body. I am not changing my gender. I have always been male. My body however, has not, and these steps are merely to reassign my sex to enable me to fulfill my social role in life.
Sex is the gender of the body. Gender is the sex of the mind.
Welcome to my world.
Unknown Author © 2000
