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Transgender women (often shortened to trans women) are women who were assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their sex assigned at birth).[1] Gender dysphoria may be treated with gender-affirming care.
Gender-affirming care may include social or medical transition. Social transition may involve changes such as adopting a new name, hairstyle, clothing style, and/or set of pronouns associated with the individual's affirmed gender identity.[2] A major component of medical transition for trans women is feminizing hormone therapy, which causes the development of female secondary sex characteristics (breasts, redistribution of body fat, lower waist–hip ratio, etc.). This, along with socially transitioning, and receiving desired gender-affirming surgeries can relieve the person of gender dysphoria.[3][4] Like cisgender women, trans women may have any sexual orientation.
Trans women face significant discrimination in many areas of life—including in employment and access to housing—and face physical and sexual violence and hate crimes, including from partners. In the United States, discrimination is particularly severe towards trans women who are members of a racial minority, who often face the intersection of transmisogyny and racism.
The term transgender women is not always interchangeable with transsexual women, although the terms are often used interchangeably. Transgender is an umbrella term that includes different types of gender variant people (including transsexual people).
- ^ "Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People (version 7)" (PDF). The World Professional Association for Transgender Health. p. 96. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-24.
- ^ Sherer, Ilana (2016-03-01). "Social Transition: Supporting Our Youngest Transgender Children". Pediatrics. 137 (3): e20154358. doi:10.1542/peds.2015-4358. ISSN 0031-4005. PMID 26921284.
- ^ Beidel, Deborah C; Frueh, B. Christopher; Hersen, Michel (30 June 2014). Adult Psychopathology and Diagnosis (7th ed.). New York: Wiley. p. 618. ISBN 978-1-118-92791-5. OCLC 956674391. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ Köllen, Thomas (25 April 2016). Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues in Organizations: Global Perspectives on LGBT Workforce Diversity. Springer. p. 138. ISBN 978-3-319-29623-4. OCLC 933722553. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2017.