Comments on: Gender issues debated on Dr. Phil Show today

By: Warren

Warren — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:08:33 +0000

In reply to carole. Carole - Could you also post that on the thread with the video. Thanks, warren

By: Eddy

Eddy — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:06:34 +0000

Pathia–
Don’t worry about the anonymity…only a handful of bloggers on this site use their real or full names.
I wanted to let you know something that might not come through in my posts. I have a tremendous respect for you. Yours has been a very tough road that most of us cannot even fathom. The fact that you’ve come through it with the strength of character that you portray amazes me! We’re likely to disagree on a number of issues but I’m one of those people that tend to respect people who disagree with me more than those who do. Total agreement is BORING! Telling me things I already know is BORING! You never bore me….you challenge me and my notions…in short, you rock!!!

By: carole

carole — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:02:07 +0000

Response to the clip–
Shows like this actually do more of a disservice to the general public, I think, rather than a service–edited clips, participants who realize they will only get so much time to make their points, a host who may or may not ask the right questions or allow enough time for discussion.
My heart was with the child, and I found myself disliking the mother as much as I distrusted Nicolosi.
She “wasn’t close to her son.” Any mother would ask, “Why the hell not, lady?”
Maybe some of her child’s behavior was related to her not being close to him and maybe not, but I found her defensive and sarcastic and sense that she was concerned about herself, not about her son who was now her daughter. I have a feeling she was concerned more about herself from the get-go.

By: Pathia

Pathia — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:35:32 +0000

In reply to Eddy.

Transsexuals tend to be so stigmatized even in the more open parts of the world, that there’s almost no studies. Plus we have a tendency to vanish. You will notice I use a made up fictional name here. I do not want people to know who I am, or what I am, unless I am very good friends with them. I do not disclose my status to anyone, unless it is anonymous.
Thus, we’re pretty darn hard to track down. The latest ‘crop’ of transsexuals, those a little older than me and down on through younger seem to be incredibly more variable in appearance as well as sexual attraction. I don’t know if this is just my own observations and my own personal hangout space that’s biasing this, but it’s best described as everyone is getting a little more queer. Gender walls are being less rigid. Many more people are partially transitioning, or literally living a bigendered life. IE: I know someone who works as a fairly effeminate man, but on the weekends he’s a she, yet he/she’s not a drag performer or anything like that. It’s just a life style.
I’m sure a study COULD be done, but it would cost so much and there’s simply not enough of us to bother with the funding. Even the most generous estimates give us about 1/10,000 of the population. And when you do do a study, you have the problem of doing what Bailey did. He observed transsexuals, but only one particular kind in one particular part of the country. There’s no way of telling if the community is that uniform etc.

By: Eddy

Eddy — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:29:25 +0000

Pathia–
First of all, my apologies for forgetting that you are intersexed. I did know that and forgot in our conversation re transsexuality. My bad!!!
The conventional definition of ‘bisexuality’ is ‘sexual attraction to both genders’. Is that how you’re using it? I’ve heard people use the term incorrectly applying it to people who are intersexed…figuring ‘bi’ means ‘both’. But I presume you’re talking about sexual attraction to both genders.
I appreciate your insights re transsexuals who don’t fit the typical definition of ‘gay’. Born with a man’s body, identified as a transsexual, becomes a woman–but is sexually attracted to women. By birth gender, they wouldn’t be gay but by their re-assigned gender they are. And the opposite. Again with my limitations–I really have been a bit of a hermit–but I knew of two or three such people back in the 1970’s, early 1980’s. I thought of it as a fluke. Do you have any idea as to percentages? How many (of either gender) become either a man attracted to men or a woman attracted to women? Are there any studies that we know of?
I’m guessing statistics and studies are scarce to non-existent but thought you might know.