Determining Sexual Identity

It's early afternoon and I'm watching daytime television which leaves you with limited options. I could probably be doing something better with my time however it is summer break. So as a guilty pleasure, I relish in the antics featured on the Maury Show. Normally his show deals with life changing paternity shows. Occasionally, he veers away from his usual format to a once popular format: Is she a man or woman? This is a show that allows the audience to guess the gender of the person. It seems rather straight forward; the entertainment value is that it's difficult to tell at first glance. It forces you to carefully select which phenotypical traits are most appropriate for the gender you select. We all think we can innately tell the difference between a man and woman and this ability is based on our own subjective viewpoints and biased opinions. The current classification used to describe transsexuality as both psychological and physiological are more than the sum of its parts, however, I believe objectivity is needed regarding males or females that wish to alter their gender. There should be some way to objectively define what makes a man a man and what makes a woman a woman despite a person's previous sexual identity.

Transsexualism was not an official disorder until 1980 as it was first listed in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (339). Prior to 1980, attempts had been made to define criteria for transsexualism. In fact, clinical studies were performed to better assist in a differential diagnosis although with limited subject participants (340). As a result of the small sample size, results from the study provided a selective bias that may have skewed an understanding of transsexual ...

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...come up with a universal definition that describes various cues that allow for concise recognition for a specific orientation. One that excludes bias based on perceptions and not on actual fact. Because these individuals are indeed what they have transformed to be: men or women. What defines a woman as a woman should be as objective as what defines a man as a man. We should nurture the idea of inclusiveness of all genders' contributions to the ontology of transsexuality.

Works Cited

Benjamin, Harry The Transexual Phenomenon. New York: Julian Press, 1966

Stone, Sandy The Empire Strikes Back: A Postranssexual Manifesto. New York:Columbian Press,1991,1997.

Wyndzen, M. H. (1998). All mixed up: A transgendered psychology professor's perspective on life, the psychology of gender, & "gender identity disorder". (Rev. 2008). http://www.GenderPsychology.org/