How would one define trans? /genq. I used to say it’s when one’s agab doesn’t exactly align with their experience with gender, but I realise how this is problematic now, and I’m unsure how to explain it.
Hai! We've had this ask before, so hopefully we don't forget anything that was in the inital one, or anything contradictory. I don't want past me to be upset lolz.
Honestly, I think transness isn't easily defined. It's like "define a woman", how do you do that? Everyone defines their personal womanhood differently. It's hard. And it's the same with transness.
There's too many experiences to define correctly.
I would say it's when your gender does not match entirely with your sex, SIG, AGAB, etc. Because a lot of people define it based on one of those things, and it's all correct!
Really, I like the post that just says "trans just means a person who IDs as trans, just like how woman is somebody who IDs as it" (paraphrasing)
But if you were to explain it, I would say it is an opt in label to describe any experience with gender outside of what is commonly expected. (Eg. Somebody who's gender doesn't match their sex, their socially imposed gender, their AGAB, or however else they may define it.)
It's a lot like OSDD-1. There's examples in it's explanation to have people understand what it is, while also acknowledging that there will be experiences that fall outside of that.
This is important because the person still understands the basics of what trans experiences may look like, while also understanding that there are many experiences that may not fit into the examples.
It also doesn't fall into the trap of ATIB, which we strongly believe to be an issue in this community. It isn't defining transness by the act of seperating yourself from your "original" point. Which is inclusive to nonbinary, multigender, GNC, intersex, etc. trans people.
Too commonly people's view of transness is based on moving away from an origin point. Think FTM/MTF. People think transness is strictly that. You start as one and you must entirely detach from that to be "trans enough". Which has a lot of issues We explained in the OG ATIB post.
It also doesn't define trans people by transphobia, which is something I also see too often.
Think of a genderfae person who was assigned female at birth.
Too commonly I have seen exclusionistic transgender people say "What are they even transitioning to?" or note about how they won't even experience transphobia. (Which is wrong.) .. or weirdly enough that these people can only exist after transphobia is gone because they distract from "real" trans people.
This is truscum-esque logic that has plagued this community for too long and I think a definition that is inclusive to many experiences, while also not defining it by separation of your "orginal state" or by your oppression is exactly spot on with what this community is. It's just people who are trans.
I hope this made sense! Tysm for the question! If I missed anything, somebody please don't hesitate to send another ask!
