Trans woman

A trans woman (sometimes trans-woman or transwoman) is a transgender person who was assigned male at birth but whose gender identity is that of a woman. The label of transgender woman is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual woman, although the two labels are often used in this way. Transgender is an umbrella term that includes different types of gender variant people (including transsexual people).

Overview


Assigned sex refers to the assigning or naming of the sex of a baby, usually based upon the appearance of external genitalia.

Gender identity refers to a person's private sense of, and subjective experience of, their own gender. This may be different from the sex that the person was assigned at birth.

"Transition" refers to the process of adopting a social and personal identity that corresponds to one's own sense of the gendered self, and may or may not include medical intervention (hormone treatment, surgery, etc.), changes in legal documents (name and/or sex indicated on identification, birth certificate, etc.), and personal expression (clothing, accessories, voice, body language).

Both transsexual and transgender women may experience gender dysphoria, distress brought upon by the discrepancy between their gender identity and the sex that was assigned to them at birth (and the associated gender role and/or primary and secondary sex characteristics).

Both transsexual and transgender women may transition, though only transsexual women would medically transition. A major component of medical transition for trans women is estrogen hormone replacement therapy, which causes the development of female secondary sexual characteristics (breasts, redistribution of body fat, lower waist to hip ratio, etc.). This, along with sex reassignment surgery can bring immense relief, and in most cases, rids the person of gender dysphoria.

In the same manner, a trans man is someone who was assigned female at birth, but whose gender identity is that of a man.

Terminology
Some trans women who feel that their gender transition is complete prefer to be called simply "women," considering "trans woman" or "male-to-female transsexual" to be terms that should only be used for people who are not fully transitioned. Likewise, many may not want to be seen as a "trans woman," owing to society's tendency to "other" individuals who do not fit into the sex/gender binary, or have personal reasons beyond that not to wish to identify as transgender post-transition. For this reason, many see it as an important and appropriate distinction to include a space in the term, as in trans woman, thus using trans as merely an adjective describing a particular type of woman; this is in contrast to the usage of transwoman as one word, implying a "third gender".

Sexual orientation
The stereotype of the effeminate boy who grows up to live as a woman has a very long history. It is a common misconception and stereotype that all transgender and transsexual women are heterosexual (attracted to males). However, research on the sexual orientation of trans women in the past has been dubious at best. Many studies on this issue have suffered from reporting bias, since many transsexual people feel they must give the "correct" answers to such questions to increase their chances of obtaining hormone replacement therapy. Patrick Califia, author of Sex Changes and Public Sex, has indicated that this group has a clear awareness of what answers to give to survey questions to be considered eligible for hormone replacement therapy and/or sex reassignment surgery:

"None of the gender scientists seem to realize that they, themselves, are responsible for creating a situation where transsexual people must describe a fixed set of symptoms and recite a history that has been edited in clearly prescribed ways to get a doctor's approval for what should be their inalienable right."

A survey of roughly 3000 trans women showed that only 23% of them identified as heterosexual, with 31% as bisexual, 29% as lesbian, 7% as asexual, 7% as queer and 2% as "other".

Libido
In a 2008 study, trans women had a higher incidence of decreased libido (34%) than cisgender females (23%), but the difference was not statistically significant and may have been due to chance. As in males, female libido is thought to correlate with serum testosterone levels   (with some controversy ) but the 2008 study found no such correlation in trans women.

Discrimination
Trans women, like all gender variant people, face a vast amount of discrimination and transphobia. A survey of roughly 3000 trans women living in the United States, as summarized in the report "Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey", found that trans women reported that:


 * 36% have lost their job due to their gender.
 * 55% have been discriminated against in hiring.
 * 29% have been denied a promotion.
 * 25% have been refused medical care.
 * 60% of the trans women that have visited a homeless shelter reported incidents of harassment there.
 * When displaying identity documents incongruent with their gender identity/expression, 33% have been harassed and 3% have been physically assaulted.
 * 20% reported harassment by police, with 6% reporting physical assaulted and 3% reporting sexual assault by an officer. 25% have been treated generally with disrespect by police officers.
 * Among jailed trans women, 40% have been harassed by inmates and 38% have been harassed by staff. 21% have been physically assaulted and 20% sexually assaulted.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' report of 2010 anti-LGBTQ violence found that of the 27 people who were murdered because of their LGBTQ identity, 44% were trans women.

Discrimination is particularly severe towards trans women of color, who experience the intersection of racism and transphobia. Multiracial, Latina, Black and American Indian trans women are twice to more than three times as likely as White trans women to be sexually assaulted in prison.

In her book Whipping Girl, trans woman Julia Serano refers to the unique discrimination trans women experience as 'transmisogyny'.

Notable trans women

 * Marja-Sisko Aalto, Finnish former Evangelical-Lutheran priest
 * Calpernia Addams, American actress, author, autobiographer, entrepreneur, activist, fiddle player
 * Aderet, Israeli pop singer
 * Rebecca Allison, American cardiologist and past President of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA)
 * Nadia Almada, Portuguese-British Big Brother UK 2004 winner
 * Barbra Amesbury, Canadian singer-songwriter
 * Charlie Jane Anders, writer and co-editor of the blog io9
 * Enza Anderson, Canadian media personality and political activist
 * Erica Andrews aka Erica Salazar, Mexican-born American international and national beauty pageant title winner, drag performer, actor and entrepreneur
 * Anna Anthropy, American video-game designer and critic
 * Gwen Araujo, American teenage murder victim
 * Patrícia Araújo, Brazilian actress and model
 * Alexis Arquette, American actress, musician, member of the Arquette family of actors
 * Nina Arsenault, Canadian writer, actress, columnist and sex-trade worker
 * April Ashley, British model
 * Estelle Asmodelle, Australian actress, author, dancer, and transgender activist
 * Mianne Bagger, Danish-Australian professional golfer
 * Jenny Bailey, British politician and mayor
 * Christine Beatty, American writer, musician and transgender activist
 * Georgina Beyer, New Zealand politician, first transgender person globally to become a mayor (1995) and a member of Parliament (1999)
 * Alexandra Billings, American actress
 * Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress
 * Alejandra Bogue, Mexican actress and TV host
 * Kate Bornstein, American activist, author, gender theorist, performance artist and playwright
 * Marci Bowers, American gynaecologist and sex-reassignment surgeon
 * Wendy Carlos, American composer and electronic musician
 * Carmen Carrera, American reality television personality, model, actress, and burlesque performer
 * Candis Cayne, American actress and entertainer
 * Parinya Charoenphol, Thai muay thai boxer, actress and model
 * Jamie Clayton, American model and actress
 * Roberta Close, Brazilian model
 * Coccinelle, French actress, entertainer and transgender activist
 * Canary Conn, American musician and author
 * Raewyn Connell, Australian sociologist
 * Joanne Conte, American politician and activist
 * Lynn Conway, American computer scientist, electrical engineer and transgender activist
 * Caroline Cossey (a.k.a. Tula), English model
 * Jayne County, American rock singer
 * Roberta Cowell, First legally recognised male to female transgender person in the UK (1951), memoirist
 * Laverne Cox, American actress
 * Katelynn Cusanelli, cast member on MTV's The Real World: Brooklyn, and the first transgender individual to star on the show.
 * Florencia De La V, Argentine actress
 * Michelle Duff, Canadian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer
 * Michelle Dumaresq, Canadian downhill mountain bike racer
 * Lili Elbe, Danish artist, society figure and early recipient of sex reassignment surgery (1930)
 * Eli Erlick, American trans activist
 * Bülent Ersoy, Turkish singer of Ottoman classical music
 * Bibiana Fernández, Spanish presenter and actress
 * Ina Fried, American journalist and senior writer for CNET Networks
 * Chiya Fujino, Japanese fiction author
 * BB Gandanghari, a Filipina actress and commercial model
 * Francis García, Mexican performer and actress
 * Laura Jane Grace, lead singer and guitarist for punk rock band Against Me!
 * Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, African-American activist
 * Anna Grodzka, Polish politician
 * Harisu, South Korean entertainer, actress, and singer
 * Choi Han-bit, South Korean model
 * Ai Haruna, Japanese singer and television personality
 * Lauren Harries, British media personality
 * Rebecca Heineman, One of the founders of Interplay and long time video game programmer.
 * Adela Hernandez, first transgender person elected to political office in Cuba
 * Rita Hester, African American murder victim
 * Jenny Hiloudaki, Greek model
 * Stephanie Hirst, British radio DJ
 * Dana International, Israeli pop singer
 * Kim Coco Iwamoto, American politician
 * Juliet Jacques, British journalist
 * Andrea James, American filmmaker and activist
 * Caitlyn Jenner, American Olympic athlete, reality television actor on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, stepparent to the Kardashian family
 * Christine Jorgensen, first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery (1953)
 * Aya Kamikawa, Japanese politician
 * Isis King, American designer and finalist on America's Next Top Model
 * Victoria Kolakowski, American lawyer and judge
 * Eden Lane, American broadcaster
 * Jennifer Leitham, American double-bass musician
 * Amanda Lepore, American model and performer.
 * Chen Lili, Chinese singer, model and actress
 * Alicia Liu, Taiwanese model and television personality
 * Ts Madison, pornographic actress, producer, director, recording artist, entrepreneur, and adult entertainment executive
 * Kellie Maloney, British boxing manager and politician
 * Rachel Mann, British Anglican priest and writer
 * Chelsea Manning, United States Army soldier, convicted for leaking classified documents through Wikileaks
 * Deirdre McCloskey, American economist
 * Janet Mock, American transgender activist and writer
 * Micheline Montreuil, Canadian lawyer, teacher, writer, radio host, trade unionist and politician
 * Jan Morris, British writer
 * Ataru Nakamura, Japanese singer
 * Judiel Nieva, Filipina alleged witness of a Marian apparition
 * Bell Nuntita, a Thai freelance singer, entertainer and radio D.J
 * Jessica Orsini, American politician
 * Kim Petras, German singer
 * Veronique Renard, Dutch author and Free-Tibet activist
 * Renée Richards, American tennis player
 * Miriam Rivera, reality television, Mexican television personality and model
 * Sylvia Rivera, American activist and founding member of the Gay Liberation Front, Gay Activists Alliance, and co-founder of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is named in her memory.
 * Martine Rothblatt, American lawyer, technological theorist, author and entrepreneur
 * Joan Roughgarden, American biologist
 * Carmen Rupe, New Zealand/Australian entertainer, politician, activist and cultural identity
 * Jessica Amanda Salmonson, American fantasy author
 * Kayo Satoh, Japanese model and television personality
 * Julia Serano, American writer, trans activist, and biologist
 * Vanessa Show, Argentine performer
 * Amanda Simpson, Executive Director of the Army Energy Initiatives Task Force, United States Department of Defense
 * D. C. Simpson, American cartoonist (Ozy and Millie)
 * Theresa Sparks, executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission
 * Allanah Starr, pornographic actress and party hostess
 * Sandy Stone, American academic theorist, media theorist, author, and performance artist
 * Margaret Stumpp, American executive
 * Lea T, Brazilian fashion model
 * Audrey Tang, Taiwanese free software programmer
 * Manuela Trasobares, Spanish artist, opera singer and politician
 * Ayana Tsubaki, Japanese television personality and fashion model
 * Kelly van der Veer, Dutch celebrity and singer
 * Lana Wachowski, American film director, screenwriter, and producer
 * Bali White, Researcher and Activist
 * Sophie Wilson, British computer scientist
 * Marie-Pier Ysser, French entertainer and academic