Are transsexuals subverting gender construction? Are they rebelling against the confines of the sex, and gender roles that we, as a society, have built up? No, I don’t think so. The plight of transsexuals, or transgendered people is a tragic one. I can’t imagine living a life where an incredible part of your identity (made incredible only by societies insisting of it) is in constant question; but I don’t believe them to be flipping society the proverbial bird.
When a transgendered person decides to switch sexes, they are simply dropping the role of one and moving into another, effectively they are the new sex, and while they were once a member of the opposite sex, they have ceased to be. For all intents and purposes they are of their new sex, and behave like that sex.
A more rebellious action to take against the gender roles would be dressing in drag, which is more of a theater performance, that is, everyone knows that what they are witnessing is not a man but a man in woman’s clothing taking on a woman’s role (that is an example, the analogy can work the other way too, and indeed I’m an acquaintance of a drag ‘king’). That is a subversive action for it lets everyone know that you are performing the opposite role, and laughing in the face of preconceived gender notions, right to the shocked expressions of those who hold such notions aloft.
While I’m not scoffing at transsexuals, or transgendered people by any means, I am simply pointing out that there are rebellious sexual roles, and non-rebellious sexual roles.
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I find this question an interesting one, and certainly one that has sparked a lot of controversy in feminist and gender studies circles...but I also find it somewhat difficult to even talk about b/c it can take on the air of criticizing persons who are doing no different than many others who alter their bodies to make themselves more comfortable in their gender role (most of us!)--it can single out transsexuals for criticism unfairly. I hesitated to bring it up in class for that reason. But you have done a good job here of avoiding that implication...after all, I doubt most transsexuals change their bodies in order to make a political point, just as those of us who spend time exercising or shaving our legs are not trying to make a political point either!
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