And away we go! What is it that makes us women or men? Gay or straight? Feminine or masculine? Or somewhere in between? I'll try to figure this out as a simple-minded citizen. But I wonder just where to start. How I feel? Or from what I see? Or, and this is a question, should I use the available scientific research?
I know! I'll use a little of all three!
Let's see, as you look around you see a bunch of people. What sex are they? What gender? You already know they are female/male, Caucasian or African decent, high voiced or low, long hair or short. Are they gay? Straight? Drag? Trans? Are you sure they are what you see? Or what you hear?
I walk down the street, and I see a person acting very effeminate. Is he gay or drag or just himself? Maybe I'll strike up a conversation, and learn a bit about him, just to find he's an androgyne, and can be very masculine if he so feels a necessity to do so. As he is honest with me, I'll be honest with him, and find a friend to see and spend time with. Here is where I learn about what I see and feel.
I feel this is a good way to learn about my community I live in and interact with. As I see it, when we refuse to find out about a person, we diminish their validity as a human being. Judging a book by it's cover usually leads to misunderstandings which breeds the hatred we face everyday. So I go out to learn about people, and find a rich diversity all around. These are the things I see and feel just living my life.
And now, ladies and gentlemen for the poor person's point of view about the available research on Homosexuality, Transsexuality, and the Intersex born.
The Internet is such an amazing place, with so much information available, it fair to makes my poor little blonde braincells either hurt or go "Huh?". So I read and skim and search and think about what I found out.
Such as the research for the "gay gene". So what? Why do they want to find it? It starts with the thought that if you are born this way, we should be able to find out the cause. Then someone thinks about what it may "look" like. Then they scare me, they think if they can find it, maybe they can fix it "in utero". And I have to ask "Why do they want to fix something that isn't broken?". These are people who are fine just as they are! And have the right to live as they choose.
Then I found out about the Trans research. This was while I was looking up information about my condition. And the research shows...it is very real when one claims to be female/male within their male/female head! The research found that a FtM Transsexual has the same neuron area as a cis-male, and the same for MtF Transsexuals and cis-females. The research is being duplicated in several countries.
And so I come to the research for the Intersex born. And discovered a very angry making thing: many children born with ambiguous or complete pairings of genitalia are being surgically mutilated, usually at the whim of either the Dr. (most often) or one or both of the parents.
I found there are over 200 different forms of Physical/Genetic Intersex Condition, and recent research has found (but not cataloged) a relatively new group of conditions, some they've known about but never associated with the Intersex Condition, listed as Chemical/Genetic Syndromes. Klinefelter's is at the top of the list for the first group, and CAIS/PAIS leads the list for the second group.
CAIS/PAIS: Complete/Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. Individuals born under this syndrome don't process Androgen (and sometimes Testosterone) well if at all. I'm fortunate that this isn't me, I think. Mine is basically an endocrine system completely out of balance. One of the things I found, as I was checking over my body before a surgical procedure, was a possible scar right through the area where a woman's labia would be. Infantile Genital Surgery? I can't find out. So. When I started a hormone regimen, over time my endocrine system began to balance out. Now it's being found that a "male" can be genetic and not process Testosterone. This is very similar to CAIS/PAIS, as it can be very debilitating unless a treatment is found. I think my physician stumbled across a regimen that works by accident. Just by treating me as a regular Transwoman. Hey, it works! I'm calmer, happier, and getting my life back together. But I still wonder, did my parent(s) or the Dr. perform a procedure on me?
So, to answer the title: We define ourselves, and our bodies only serve to support that definition.
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