Mintaka, thank you for trying to explain why some people have a visceral dislike of transsexuals. I have to admit, I have never understood these negative reactions so I appreciate your taking the time to share your perspective.
I think you may be right about the discomfort and anger that people may feel when they have to re-adjust their image of, and attitude towards, a friend, co-worker or family member. I would guess (and I am just guessing) that these feelings would be stronger if the relationship is close and if the transsexualism wasn’t previously suspected.
Your point that changing one’s sex “seems like an act of utter contempt against one’s own body” intrigues me. It certainly fits the “self-mutilation” charge which has often been voiced in these forums. But I guess I still don’t understand where that visceral reaction comes from (although I accept that it is honestly felt.)
I wonder if part of the “self-mutilation” feeling originates in an individual’s own sense of body integrity, and a fear that it will be lost to them. I think we see some of that when people make jokes about a “poor” pet being neutered… the joke is in some sense a defense mechanism against one’s own sense of possible loss. I don’t think that is the only basis for the joke. I think it is also based upon a sense that some ideal state of existence is being taken away, and that in itself is an interesting belief.
And since many people indeed struggle with self-images that contradict what actually exists, in ways that can’t be fixed without contradicting the Church or natural law, there is the visceral horror for others (which of course is not the transsexual’s fault) of seeing someone else do the sort of thing they have been fighting hard not to do.
Thank you for sharing about your personal struggle, and I am very glad you have resisted giving in to that impulse.
So “this is who I really am, I am acting to make that manifest” is a very horrifying argument to us. If everyone in human society acted on who they really are, civilization could not exist. Even after baptism, the effects of original sin are always with us. Concupiscence is a very large part of who we really are.
I want to point out that transsexualism has nothing to do with sexual desire. It has to do with gender identity. Sex may ultimately enter the picture, because humans tend to be sexual, however that it isn’t the motivation for changing one’s gender expression.
Mintaka, you suggested that individuals expressing their inner feelings and identity without self-control is a threat to society. I think you are right that some self-control is necessary. Indulging in adultery and murder, for example,
does threaten society. But where is the line between acceptable and unacceptable self-expression drawn? I believe a similar argument was used back in the 1960s when women began voicing a desire to work outside the home. It was argued by many that no women should have a job outside of the home if they had children, and that young women should be preparing for marriage and not for employment.
It is perhaps natural that transsexuals should sometimes model their new appearance on people whom they know. …Since most people at work and in the musical community would have found this sort of imitatory behavior strange without any sort of transsexual or transvestite behavior being involved, it seemed almost designed to elicit a bad reaction in the cases at hand. People studiously ignored it for the sake of manners, but they had to work at it. I don’t think anyone trusted themselves enough to mention the matter to the people directly, but there were a lot of embarrassed whispers.
Wow, thank you for mentioning this. It isn’t something I have ever thought about. I guess you are right that it is natural for someone, when developing their personality, to model it somewhat on others. Children do it as they grow up (which is why we speak of role models) and I suppose transsexuals would do it as well. Yes, I could see where it might be a bit creepy for those in a transsexual’s life to see him or her imitating (stealing, perhaps?) another adult’s personality.
Before all that, however, there are the effects of the drugs and hormones that people take. My workplace noticed these long before what was going on had been announced, and everyone was sure that the gentleman in question had contracted a serious or terminal disease. The mystery involved exacerbated this certainty, as did other recent deaths among our staff. People were very relieved to learn that he wasn’t going to die, but disturbed and angry that he would voluntarily hurt his health so severely. (He was very physically fit before.)
This case puzzles me, because I am not aware that taking estrogen and/or testosterone blockers would make someone appear sickly. I wonder peoples’ reactions are related to an image of an ideal state of existence, which they believed this transsexual had before starting on hormone therapy?
It’s fairly obvious that becoming a transsexual falls into the category of “stuff that sets other people off”, and it seems naive to imagine that it wouldn’t be. Anything that touches upon sex, identity, change, and relationships is a powderkeg in any human society.
I suppose so. I still don’t fully understand the negative reactions given to transsexuals, but I think your post is a valuable contribution to the discussion. Thank you for voicing your opinion, and for doing it so diplomatically.
