I had, until then, not been privy to the many complicating factors involved with being transgender. Fair to say this few hours has possibly confused and troubled me further.
Australian academic and feminist writer Germaine Greer is, once again, in the firing line for her views and this time it’s about her views on transgender, claiming that an operation does not qualify someone to then claim that sex. In other words, just because a man has had the snip and ingested a plethora of hormones, “it doesn’t make them a woman”! Cardiff’s student Union, where Greer lectures, is petitioning for her to be stood down, arguing that her views are ‘problematic’ and may insight ‘hate and violence’.
So, in a nutshell, the over-riding question is ‘What defines us as males or females?’ Is it the genitalia you were born with? Is it a distinct way of thinking that challenges your perception of self and gender? Is it the length of time you have experienced being one or the other? Who, then gets to decide at what point you qualify as a male or female in this world? Surely ‘God’ doesn’t get all the say! What a fascinating concept.
I can’t help but reflect back on my new transgender friend, Jade, who, like so many in this predicament claims to have known at a very young age that she was not a he and felt trapped in the wrong body. I shall spare you the details of her harrowing life story and the ongoing struggle but I feel comfortable to say that it certainly isn’t a path that you would choose lightly; or at all. I think the choice is made for you and the difficulty in living a life trapped becomes too much to bare. Either way, the last thing this beautiful person needs is someone denying her right to be who she wants to be. Who has that right?
If we are to make decisions about gender where does it stop? It opens the door for questioning those who are bisexual on whether they qualify as gay…. or straight for that matter. What qualifies you in the religion you adopt? In my understanding it is an adherence to a way of thinking that aligns with how you perceive yourself in the world. How is this any different? At the end of the day, how does it affect me if that person chooses to be male or female?
I oppose Germaine on this one for, in my opinion, if you are determined enough to become part of the marginalized female race in this male dominated world then who am I to stop you? I may gently persuade you to think seriously as it’s not all heels and lipstick, but if you want to join us in waving the almighty flag then welcome aboard!
