MYTH 1
They all come from the lesbian community. After transition,
they will all be heterosexual (attracted to women).
Not all of these men come from the lesbian
community and not all are sexually attracted to women.
There are men who were attracted to other men before and
after transition and who socialised with men in the gay
community alongside other men. There are also men who are
bisexual (attracted to women and men equally).
MYTH 2
Men who transition are really ‘butch’ lesbians who
want to avoid harassment or justify their
‘same-sex’ relationship as a heterosexual
relationship.
There are easier ways for 'butch' lesbians to
avoid harassment than expensive, invasive surgery and
radical changes to their physical appearance.
There are also men who have transitioned and never heard
of the concept of ‘butch lesbian’. Many men
(identified female at birth) have never felt
comfortable in the lesbian community.
MYTH 3
Men who transition are rarer than women who
transition.
This is debatable.
Given the effects of testosterone since birth, women are
unfortunately more obvious in society. Given the effects
of testosterone, men are more undetected in society.
Some figures suggest there might be a 1:1 breakdown.
MYTH 4
Men who transition are ‘victims’ of sexual
abuse.
While there are some men who have experienced
childhood sexual abuse, not all men who transition have a
history of childhood sexual abuse.
MYTH 5
Men who exhibit stereotypically male behaviours are just
‘pretending’ or reinforcing gender-role behaviour
they think is right.
Men transition out of a personal desire to be
authentic in appearance and to become comfortable in
their own skin. It is time-consuming and tiring to
consistently exhibit behaviour that is not genuine.
MYTH 6
Transsexual men didn’t exist until after testosterone
and surgical procedures were available.
There are plenty of people who were only even
known in their public and private lives to be male long
before the availability of testosterone and surgery.
In most cases, they were only ‘outed’ by the
coroner after their death. Some famous examples include
Dr James Barry, Billy Tipton and Murray Hall.
MYTH 7
Men who transition do so for ‘male privilege’ or
economic advantage.
This myth misses the reality that women who
transition, who by and large find their 'male privilege'
is revoked and their 'economic advantages' dwindle.
Neither group undergoes life-changing medical treatment
and irreversible surgery either for the 'economic
advantage' or 'privilege' of the other sex. There is a
much deeper, more urgent drive behind their need for
transition.
Transition isn't about sexuality or politics, it's about
achieving comfort between psychological and biological
presentation.
MYTH 8
Men who are transitioning or have transitioned have deluded
themselves into thinking they’re men, when they should
just accept the body they have and concentrate on
‘re-working’ their female gender-role.
The need for treatment has nothing to do with
society’s perception of gender, gender roles, or
social values.
Men need the medical treatment to rehabilitate their
physical body into line with their brain-sex. Treatment
is about a personal comfort within their own body where
brain-sex and body are incongruent. (see Human
Sexual Development).
MYTH 9
Transgender men and men with transsexualism are essentially
the same, just on a continuum of ‘gender
issues’.
At first glance, it certainly looks as if
transgenderism and transsexualism exist on a spectrum.
However, they are about as similar as the words
‘click’ and ‘clique’ or
‘morning’ and ‘mourning’.
A transgender individual takes hormones to appear
as one gender or another; a man with transsexualism
needs hormone treatment and undergoes reconstructive
surgery as rehabilitation for a physical condition.
MYTH 10
Transition is just a big game for young people who are
‘screwing’ about with society and their
bodies.
Transition takes a great deal of commitment and
effort for the individual. It is often hard work, spread
over many years and makes considerable demands on people
who go through with it.
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