Choosing the right words to describe your gender identity can feel tricky. For transgender and non-binary people, finding a label that fits is personal and important.
Using respectful language matters. Outdated or offensive terms can hurt, so it’s okay to set boundaries about how others address you.
At the same time, you are more than a label. What matters most is how you choose to define yourself, no matter where you are on the gender spectrum.
Do you have a label that feels right – like crossdresser, transgender woman, non-binary, or something else?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, so let’s continue the conversation in the comments below!
Love,
Lucille
I label myself as a one of the girls.
Thank you Rebecca! … it’s an Enigma by Raquel Welch. My hairstylist Raymond recommended it to me.
Bonnie Gibson,
London, Ontario
love your hair
I stay as far away as possible from (and never use) drag, CD, or TV.
I can live with TG and/or TW when meeting someone new.
I always simply refer to myself a “woman”. I love hearing others say about me: “She’s my friend” or “Cathy’s one of my gal-friends” or “Let’s get just us ladies together this weekend and have a dinner party”.
My own personal introduction when I correspond or interview for temp or contract work is usually something like, “I’m a 48 year old woman, I’m single, and I’ve been living and working as Cathy since 2005”. That way they know and heard it from me, without the “T” label.
When I show up for a first meeting, interview, or conference, I always want to be completely the exact opposite of whatever stereotypes they might be expecting. When I walk in with gray wool-blend pencil skirt, nude hose, black flats, black shoulder bag, a neutral color long-sleeved clingy, knit-top, and black fitted blazer – along with nice “professional” toned-down but always very feminine jewelry, nails, make-up, hair, and perfume – I can almost immediately see I’ve won them over with my very normal, average, office-professional “look”.
The most satisfying feeling inside is to then move beyond my “identity” and just relate and interact, and talk. It’s always fun to just get my work done on time or ahead of deadlines, do it well, and have fun just blending in among the office and getting to know everyone. Then I wait for it, those first few times someone refers to me with “she” or “her” and I can settle in and relax even more.
I tell people simply that I’m trans.
Ally
Labels are just that,I feel everyone gets labeled in today’s world 🙁 If i had to label myself it would be a “Transssexual Woman” an darn proud of who I am 🙂
I feel whether or not we like or dislike a label,the most important thing is if we can look into a mirror each day an be happy with the person whos looking back 😉
Love ya Lucille,Amy
Born male, prayed to be female as a child. I would love to say female but would have to say transgendered comes closest to describing myself.
Shifting androgyn, I often go for the ambiguous look where unless I talk someone isn’t sure to look at me. Through learning typical gender body languages of each I can express mixed gender messages. I consider myself by female pronouns, but often get called he because of non-typical female behavior. Mostly I want to look as female as possible without all the make up and clothes. I’ve always thought of myself in a feminine, but non-sissy way. I love the outdoors, I don’t mind getting a little down and dirty, there’s always soap and water afterwards, a wild child at heart. The androgynous wild child.
I do not like labels when I am dressed as a woman I feel like a woman and I am wanting to be one 24/7
I’m reading “Woman- An Intimate Geography” by Natalie Angier. It tells about a woman’s structure, but says much about me. A friend calls herself a trans-woman because there is so much of a natal-woman she does not possess or has not experienced. But, this book describes many attributes and experiences, or lack, of natal-women that parallel my friend and so far to me. I no longer feel I’m a trans-woman, but just woman. I was made this way in my mother’s womb. I was born with a man’s body wired as a woman. When I’m finished with my transition I will be a woman, I will be strong.