Dear Maya Forstater: Transsexuality is Not a Dress-Up Game

'Sex Matters'—Unless You're a Transsexual

This article is an adaptation of a reply made by the author in response to Maya Forstater's tweet at the time it was posted.


Last April, Maya Forstater, co-founder and Executive Director of Sex Matters, posed a question on Twitter/X: "What experience do women share with cross-dressing men and male transsexuals? Is it tights? Lipstick? Nail polish? Hairdressers?" Her question reduced the transsexual experience to mere caricature and revealed a glaring hypocrisy. Forstater, who constantly advocates that ‘sex matters’, discards the relevancy of sex as soon as her attention turns to transsexuals and reassigned sex characteristics. Contrary to Forstater’s reductionist perspective, the experience of MtF transsexuals go beyond tights or lipstick. Let me provide some examples to illustrate the point.

Understanding the Complexity of Transsexual Biology

First, it's essential to understand that MtF transsexuals have undergone hormone therapy at minimum, which alters our bodies in various ways. These changes include breast growth, fat redistribution, and even emotional shifts. Our voices also change due to voice therapy or surgery, and we pursue surgeries to further align our external primary and secondary sex characteristics with that of the phenotypical female sex. All these factors address aspects of sex differences and contribute to a more profound, all-encompassing transition that sets us apart from crossdressers who merely dress up in women's clothing, wigs, prosthetics, and often, stereotypes.

The Social Aspect: Treatment and Perception

Second, the way society treats us is vastly different. As a transsexual who passes, I'm subject to the same judgments, prejudices, and expectations that natal females face daily. For example, I've been catcalled on the street, scrutinised for my appearance, and had my ideas dismissed in meetings because of my perceived sex. Crossdressers may experience some of these situations, but they can step out of their persona at any time, while MtF transsexuals live through these experiences constantly and cannot return to a life of male privilege.

Different Motivations, Different Lives

Lastly, our motivations are entirely different. Transsexuals seek sex reassignment medical interventions to alleviate a deep-seated, innate discomfort with their biological sex. It’s a medical treatment for a medical problem; our place in society is a discussion that follows, not than one that precedes it. Transsexuals like me are not seeking the thrill of dressing up or exploring a feminine side for fun; we're fighting for the right to live peacefully and quietly in a world full of “trans” visibility which nevertheless doesn't understand or accept us.

Transsexuals are not seeking the thrill of dressing up or exploring a feminine side for fun; we're fighting for the right to live peacefully and quietly in a world full of “trans” visibility which nevertheless doesn't understand or accept us.

Crossdressers, on the other hand, typically dress up for personal enjoyment or self-expression and do not experience the same unyielding, drive that pushes transsexuals to physically transition.

Conclusion

While I would never claim to be identical to a biological woman or to share all the issues they face, reducing my existence as an MtF transsexual to that of a male crossdresser or a transvestite is both insulting and ludicrous. Transsexuals navigate a world that perceives us as our target sex, or at least visibly transsexual, which brings with it unique challenges that cannot be equated simply with wearing women's clothes, makeup, or preferring a certain hairstyle.

If 'sex matters,' as Forstater and her organisation claim, then they need to acknowledge the biological and neurological complexity of transsexuals and our underlying condition. Until then, their activities appear to be nothing more than a smokescreen for deeply ingrained prejudices and a blatant display of hypocrisy, underlining an apparent agenda to marginalise a vulnerable group under the guise of advocacy for 'biological reality'.

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Tired Transsexual is the pen name of an Anglo-American male-to-female transsexual who lives in the U.K. Her Twitter account is @tiredtransmed