As Promised!
I'll be updating this page
soon with information to educate and inform.
Having been subject to ignorance and prejudice, it only seems right that
education and information are the tools in which we defeat those terrible foes.
Without knowledge, human nature is to malign or fear that which we do not
understand. It is my hope that there will be a future for our world when
humankind rises above and embraces diversity in this world.
Hopefully the information to be provided here will, in some small way, help
with that process.
Inspirational
Information
And People
Lynn Conway
Lynn
Conway, Professor
of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science, Emerita
Transsexual Women's Successes
by Lynn Conway
Copyright © 2001-4, Lynn Conway
Approximately
30,000 to 40,000 postoperative transsexual women live in the
The
social invisibility of successful women who have undergone gender corrections
supports the notion that male-to-female transsexualism
is extremely rare. However, intense transsexualism is
not all that uncommon. Recent
calculations indicate that the condition occurs in about 1 out of every 250 to
500 children born as boys, and that about 1 in every 2500 males in the U.S.
has already undergone surgical sex reassignment*. Transsexualism
is thus more than twice as prevalent as multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy
or cleft lip/palate conditions.
The
invisibility of these successes supports notions that gender transitions often
have rather sad outcomes. At present, the media only spotlights transsexual
people on two occasions, namely when "someone well-known changes sex"
and when someone is a victim of discrimination, harassment or attack. Media
stories about someone's "sex change" are never followed-up to find
out what happened years later. Instead stories always focus on pre-transition
life and struggles during transition and never on their life afterwards. This
lack of balance in exposure shapes society's notion that transition leads to
social marginalization or worse, because we
"never hear about them again". Only stories of occasional social
failures and victims of harassment and attacks remain visible longer term.
Lacking
successful role models, and confronted with deliberately staged,
stereotypically-prurient images of "transsexuals" from media like the
Jerry Springer Show, young trans girls are often terrified to tell anyone about
their condition. Constantly reminded of the violence and discrimination that trans people face, but unaware that large numbers of
successful women get beyond such difficulties, many young transsexual girls
can't see any way out of their awful predicament. Social stigmatization of transsexualism leads many young people to internalize a lot
of undeserved shame, embarrassment and guilt about their condition. As a
result, young transsexual girls often waste precious years before they seek
help, and many never find a way to correct their gender condition.
Recently
the veil of invisibity has been lifting, as many
post-operative women all around the world have begun creating websites to help
others. Some of these women are quietly "out" within the TS
community. Others share their stories by being "virtually out" (VO)
only via the web (while otherwise remaining woodworked or in stealth). We are
very fortunate to finally be able to learn about their lives, as they become
listed on webpages such as this one.
The
women listed on these pages are a very diverse group. They are of many
different nationalities, races and ethnicities. They come from a wide range of
social classes and family backgrounds. They transitioned at many different
ages. Some have been postop a long time, others
transitioned more recently. Some have been "out" for many years,
others are still living stealthily.
Many
of these women had to suffer terrible trials in order to transition, especially
those who did so years ago. Some rose from extremely humble beginnings,
including living on the streets, and yet succeeded anyways. Others had easier
transitions in more recent times in the more enlightened western countries. A
few were even fortunate enough to have had the support of their parents when
they were young.
The
thing that makes these women "successes" isn't how far they've gone
in their careers, or how much money they've made, or how pretty some of them
are, or how well known some are as entertainers. Those accomplishments are very
meaningful, and show that transitioning doesn't have to hold a woman back from
achieving traditional social measures of success. However, the real successes
we find here are ones of the heart. They are successes
in living "life in the large". We see it in the happy faces, and
sense it in between the lines of their stories. These are the successes of
women who have survived and corrected their earlier transsexualism,
and gone on to find joy and comfort and peace in their lives.
Taken
together, our stories will gradually help change people's views of the
transsexual condition. After all, we are happy and productive contributors in
all walks of life: as doctors and lawyers, as scientists, engineers and
programmers, as airline pilots, as entrepreneurs, managers and office workers,
as university professors and students, in politics, in education, in law
enforcement, in the skilled trades, in modeling and in entertainment. The
realities and completeness of our physical gender transformations cannot be
denied. Many of us are wives, lovers or partners in long-term loving
relationships. You can put a compelling human face on the transsexual condition
by browsing the websites linked from these pages, which contain information
about the experiences of these successful women.
Lynn Conway’s website