Misconceptions about Transgender
Myth #1: Transgender people live crazy lives.
This is probably the most common misconception about trans people.
Many people incorrectly associate being transgender with automatically living an “crazy lifestyle” based on tv and in the movies. This may involve drag performance, hyper-masculine or hyper-feminine behavior, drugs, or prostitution.
Some trans people (and some non-trans people too!) engage in the above behaviors. But all transgender people do the everyday things that are a part of life. They go to work, buy groceries, see movies, kiss their kids good night.
They are people. They do people things like everyone else.
Myth #2: Transgender people are confused.
Just because a person is different, doesn't mean they don’t know who they are.
Trans people have a sex. They are females, males, and intersex.
Trans people have a gender. They are men, women, queer, and other genders.
They know their sex and they know their gender.
This can be confusing to us who inhabit more traditional gender roles, but to the transgender person, it is not confusing. It is just who they are.
That said, coming to the realization that you are trans, and coming out publicly as trans, in a society that doesn’t accept or understand you can be very confusing and hurtful. Many transgender people have experiences of feeling “defective” or “wrong.”
This is a social problem, not a gender identity problem.
Myth #3: Transgender people are mentally disturbed.
It’s true that many transgender people suffer from mental illness. But it’s not because of their gender identity alone!
It’s because in a patriarchal society, being gender variant causes a lot of distress. So much distress, in fact, that it can be described by the diagnosis of a mental disorder. This diagnosis is helpful because it tells us that this person is hurting and something needs to be done to help.
Transgender people have the same brains we do. They are just faced with a lot more mental and emotional stress.
Myth #4: Transgender people are gay.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are two completely seperate characteristics. One is what gender we see ourselves as being. The other is what gender(s) and sex(es) we are physically and romantically attracted to.
Knowing one doesn't tell you about the other.
Myth #5: Transgender people are radical liberals with crazy ideas.
Transgender people come from all political and religious backgrounds.
Many trans people just want to lead their lives as part of “mainstream” society and be accepted and not condemned by their families, churches, governments and communities.
Other trans people feel very strongly about changing the system that has oppressed them and adapt more radical beliefs about the gender system. They wish to live outside of traditional social norms and not be deemed “freaks” because of it.
Transgender people are diverse. Each will make a unique decision about the life they want to lead.
Myth #6: Transgender people hate their bodies.
This is a very common myth. It does make sense that a person who identifies as a woman might be uncomfortable in her male body, and vice versa. And some transgender people are uncomfortable and want to alter their bodies. Others choose to live with their bodies as they are.
Neither choice means that this person hates themself. On the contrary, a transgender person can love themselves through the whole process of transitioning. And we can love them too!
Each person’s relationship with their body is unique and we should support every transgender person in doing what works for them.
Myth #7: Transgender people perform drag shows.
Conservative thinkers would love to point to a singing, shimmying, scantily dressed, heavily made-up drag queen slinking across a stage and say, “THAT is a transgender!” But, they’re wrong. In fact, did you know that the majority of gender performance is done by non-trans people?
Because, it’s just a performance. It’s not about real people.
Drag Queens and Drag Kings “do drag” for theatrical, comedic, and at times, political purposes. They do it for their art and they do it with you, the viewer, in mind.
When a trans woman wears women’s clothing or a trans man wears men’s clothing, they are not doing drag. Nor are they cross-dressing. They are just wearing their clothes.
Myth #8: You can tell someone is transgender just by looking at them.
This is a myth meant to make us believe that transgender people are all crazy freaks. That you can “spot” one, like a cartoon villain or a sasquatch. “Look, a tranny!”
It is a hurtful and misleading lie.
The truth is, transgender people have bodies just like ours. And they may display them in very traditional ways.
Some pass very well, others don’t.
Myth #9: Transgender people aren't “real” men or women.
This is probably the most hurtful myth of all. It tells us that transgender people are somehow less human because of their gender identification. It is proof that they do not have a place in proper society.
It is hateful and unacceptable.
Everyone should have the right to be men and women, regardless of sex category or anything else.
There are many ways to be human.
Myth #10: Transgender people are weird.
When someone is unlike anything we have seen or known, we think, that’s weird.
It’s okay to have that thought. It’s human nature. But it’s important to understand that your perception of what’s “weird” is based on your experiences and your culture.
Many cultures think that living outside the gender binary (two-gender system) is perfectly normal. Transgender people are integrated into mainstream society and may even be held in high esteem.
This is probably the most common misconception about trans people.
Many people incorrectly associate being transgender with automatically living an “crazy lifestyle” based on tv and in the movies. This may involve drag performance, hyper-masculine or hyper-feminine behavior, drugs, or prostitution.
Some trans people (and some non-trans people too!) engage in the above behaviors. But all transgender people do the everyday things that are a part of life. They go to work, buy groceries, see movies, kiss their kids good night.
They are people. They do people things like everyone else.
Myth #2: Transgender people are confused.
Just because a person is different, doesn't mean they don’t know who they are.
Trans people have a sex. They are females, males, and intersex.
Trans people have a gender. They are men, women, queer, and other genders.
They know their sex and they know their gender.
This can be confusing to us who inhabit more traditional gender roles, but to the transgender person, it is not confusing. It is just who they are.
That said, coming to the realization that you are trans, and coming out publicly as trans, in a society that doesn’t accept or understand you can be very confusing and hurtful. Many transgender people have experiences of feeling “defective” or “wrong.”
This is a social problem, not a gender identity problem.
Myth #3: Transgender people are mentally disturbed.
It’s true that many transgender people suffer from mental illness. But it’s not because of their gender identity alone!
It’s because in a patriarchal society, being gender variant causes a lot of distress. So much distress, in fact, that it can be described by the diagnosis of a mental disorder. This diagnosis is helpful because it tells us that this person is hurting and something needs to be done to help.
Transgender people have the same brains we do. They are just faced with a lot more mental and emotional stress.
Myth #4: Transgender people are gay.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are two completely seperate characteristics. One is what gender we see ourselves as being. The other is what gender(s) and sex(es) we are physically and romantically attracted to.
Knowing one doesn't tell you about the other.
Myth #5: Transgender people are radical liberals with crazy ideas.
Transgender people come from all political and religious backgrounds.
Many trans people just want to lead their lives as part of “mainstream” society and be accepted and not condemned by their families, churches, governments and communities.
Other trans people feel very strongly about changing the system that has oppressed them and adapt more radical beliefs about the gender system. They wish to live outside of traditional social norms and not be deemed “freaks” because of it.
Transgender people are diverse. Each will make a unique decision about the life they want to lead.
Myth #6: Transgender people hate their bodies.
This is a very common myth. It does make sense that a person who identifies as a woman might be uncomfortable in her male body, and vice versa. And some transgender people are uncomfortable and want to alter their bodies. Others choose to live with their bodies as they are.
Neither choice means that this person hates themself. On the contrary, a transgender person can love themselves through the whole process of transitioning. And we can love them too!
Each person’s relationship with their body is unique and we should support every transgender person in doing what works for them.
Myth #7: Transgender people perform drag shows.
Conservative thinkers would love to point to a singing, shimmying, scantily dressed, heavily made-up drag queen slinking across a stage and say, “THAT is a transgender!” But, they’re wrong. In fact, did you know that the majority of gender performance is done by non-trans people?
Because, it’s just a performance. It’s not about real people.
Drag Queens and Drag Kings “do drag” for theatrical, comedic, and at times, political purposes. They do it for their art and they do it with you, the viewer, in mind.
When a trans woman wears women’s clothing or a trans man wears men’s clothing, they are not doing drag. Nor are they cross-dressing. They are just wearing their clothes.
Myth #8: You can tell someone is transgender just by looking at them.
This is a myth meant to make us believe that transgender people are all crazy freaks. That you can “spot” one, like a cartoon villain or a sasquatch. “Look, a tranny!”
It is a hurtful and misleading lie.
The truth is, transgender people have bodies just like ours. And they may display them in very traditional ways.
Some pass very well, others don’t.
Myth #9: Transgender people aren't “real” men or women.
This is probably the most hurtful myth of all. It tells us that transgender people are somehow less human because of their gender identification. It is proof that they do not have a place in proper society.
It is hateful and unacceptable.
Everyone should have the right to be men and women, regardless of sex category or anything else.
There are many ways to be human.
Myth #10: Transgender people are weird.
When someone is unlike anything we have seen or known, we think, that’s weird.
It’s okay to have that thought. It’s human nature. But it’s important to understand that your perception of what’s “weird” is based on your experiences and your culture.
Many cultures think that living outside the gender binary (two-gender system) is perfectly normal. Transgender people are integrated into mainstream society and may even be held in high esteem.