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Bigenderal Introduction:

 

TERMINOLOGY FOR THE CROSSDRESSING COMMUNITY
by Virginia Prince
The matter of labels in our community has come up many times and seems to be divided between those who want some sort of definition and those who say, “we don’t need labels, we are just people”. I submit to the latter group that categorization is the way the human mind works and as such descriptive terms are necessary. It would be rather ridiculous not to distinguish between a banana and an orange just because they are both “fruit”. Likewise it is necessary to distinguish between races, nations, kinds of people or occupations. But the battle has largely been over what designation should be applied to our group.

The term “transvestite” came into disfavor because it has a medical and thus “abnormal” and pejorative flavor to it. Thus “crossdresser” or “CD” ( which is simply substituting English for Latin) has come into common use. However, this is a term that simply says what we DO not what we ARE. Some years ago, in trying to find a term that described what we ARE, I came up with the term : “Femmiphile” for the individual and “Femmiphillia” for the phenomenon (meaning literally a “lover of the feminine”). It never caught on because it sounds too technical even though, it was an accurate term. Now I think it is time for and necessary to generate a new and acceptable term for us.

I say “necessary” because there is an aspect of this terminology problem that has not been given much consideration but which is vitally important and that is the public perception of whatever term is used. Whether we like it or not the public needs to have a descriptive term which they can easily understand and use and which is also acceptable to members of our community. We are not like alcoholics, drug abusers, criminals, voyeurs, pederasts, schizophrenics, epileptics or a million other types of people. Therefore, we need a “handle” by which others can comfortably refer to us, distinguish us from all other types of people, and which is positive and not condemnatory.

We all seek greater understanding and acceptance but it doesn’t seem to occur to us that we can’t achieve either until we 1) have a convenient term by which others can refer to us and, 2) that it be a term with an easily understood meaning to lay people. That is, something that doesn’t sound too medical or technical. If we are to talk to people (as on talk shows and lectures, not to speak of 1 on 1 conversations) we have to have a term for ourselves that they can relate to practically the first time they hear it.

Now there have been a lot of what I call “cutesy” names invented for us like “femmemen”, “girl-guys”, “he-shes”, “femmemales” and “she males”. This latter term has been preempted by a special class of people having breasts and penises and who like to be photographed in all manner of sexual poses. Unfortunately many of the porno magazines published to show these people use the terms “TV” and “Transvestite” in their title thus confusing them with our kind and further making these two terms untenable for us. But these “cutesy” names are no good for public use. They are again words for what is done and contribute nothing to an understanding of what we ARE. Thus there is a great need for a new, true, descriptive and convenient term that will properly describe us and which we can be proud to use.

I therefore would like to propose such a term, namely, BIGENDERIST, or BIGENDERAL for the noun and BIGENDERED for the community at large. The term means that we can express two genders, the masculine and the feminine. It is, therefore, true, it does describe what we do, it is short and convenient and best of all similar terms are already widely used and understood in society. “Bisexual” is a term known to most everyone to mean someone who can and does perform sexually with members of both the same and opposite sex. Since it is important to us to have the public understand us and it is important to both us and the general public to make a distinction between SEX and GENDER the term “bi-genderal” is valuable because it aids that distinction. The public already knows that “bisexual” refers to people who can operate in both sex roles, so gender must be different from sex and the term bigenderal facilitates that distinction.

In addition to “bisexual” everybody is well acquainted with the use of the prefix “bi-” in the following words.

Bilateral – two or both sides of

Bicameral – two houses (of the legislature)

Bipartite – two parties, as in Republicans and Democrats

Bilingual – two languages

Bicentennial – the celebration of two centuries

Biennial – two years , as in a biennial report

Bimetallic -two metals as in a thermostat

Bifurcate – a division into two parts as in pants

Bipedal – walking on two feet, as opposed to quadruped

Bivalve – two shells or valves , as in clams & muscles

Bipolar – having two poles, as in magnets

Not to over look Bicycle – a vehicle with two wheels.

I don’t mean to give you a whole dictionary but to show that the prefix “BI-” is well known and used in the English language and therefore well understood. So to refer to us as bigenderal–i.e. having or expressing two genders not only defines us but promotes the awareness of the separation of sex and gender. This is a matter of importance not just to our community but to society in general since that ignorance is the basis of our difficulties with society.

It should be pointed out that while “bi-” means two, “trans” means across or beyond. Thus the terms “transgenderist” and “transsexual” remain valid and appropriate terms since the former indicates that the individual has crossed the gender border and taken up permanent residence on the other side in the other gender. The latter refers to people who have crossed the sexual border for permanent living as a member of the opposite sex. The fact that they have also crossed the gender border is secondary and incidental to their altering their sexual status. The commonly used term “transgendered” to describe the community is not correct to begin with because most of the members of the community have not “trans-“ed anything except on a very temporary basis. The consistent and therefore proper way to describe the community as a whole should therefore be “bigendered” which it is.

I hope the word “Bigenderal” will be adopted and promoted in books, newsletters, lectures, etc. until we have ONE generally accepted word within our community and one which we can gradually teach to society in general and the professional community in particular. Your help in achieving this goal will be appreciated by all.

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Bigenderal Rejection:

TO ALL SUPPORT GROUPS WHO HAVE PRINTED DR. VIRGINIA PRINCE’S “TERMINOLOGY FOR THE CROSSDRESSING COMMUNITY” IN THEIR NEWSLETTER. THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS A REBUTTAL OF DR PRINCE’S CALL FOR THE STANDARD USE OF “BIGENDERAL” IN REFERENCE TO THE GENDER COMMUNITY AT LARGE

TERM “BIGENDERAL” CORRECT IN REFERENCE TO THE COMMUNITY?
Counterpoint to Dr. Virginia Prince

Tere Fredrickson

We find ourselves again embroiled in the ceaseless circular search for labels. While we concur with Dr. Prince that “labels” (we prefer “descriptive words”) are needed as a point of reference, we do not agree with either the choice of words suggested or the basic rationale behind this choice.

The term “bigender” [big-ender??? as in large posterior] is neither appropriate as an overall descriptive term for our community nor is it easily understood by inference for the rest of the population. Simply, we provide the following counterpoints:

1) Bigender would imply that everyone in the community has a dual gender disposition. I’m sure that the fetishist crossdresser who has a strictly male gender identity would protest to random assignation of dual genderism (these individual also protest the use of the term “transgender”). I’m also sure that many transsexuals would protest the assignation of gender duality because most have established having a gender identity akin to the opposite genetic sex and are thus not bigenderal.

2) Bigenderal would also be confused with bisexual by the general public. Dr. Prince freely admits that the general public does not comprehend the difference between “sex” and “gender” (for most the terms are virtually synonymous). It therefore follows that the general public when hearing the term “bigenderal” will without a doubt be confused with “bisexual” which we in the community obviously do not need.

3) Dr. Prince asserts that the prefix “trans-” means to permanently cross or move beyond something. We beg to differ on this point; “trans-” can indeed mean temporary or transitory. After all the term “transvestite” does not mean that the person permanently dresses in clothing style assigned to the opposite sex. Ergo, the term “transgender” does not dictate a permanent crossing of genderal line (it doesn’t preclude a permanent crossing either).

We propose the usage of the term “transgender” as an overall and inclusive term for our community. All Dr. Prince’s arguments for “bigender” in regard to simplicity and understandability also apply to the term “transgender” (we won’t take a trip through the dictionary). The prefix is also used in other descriptive terms within the community and the public so there can be little confusion (both transvestite and transsexual are already in the dictionary). For the fetishist crossdresser with strictly a male gender identity, “transgender” is still descriptive for their crossing of gender line (in clothing only) and at the other end of the transgender spectrum, “transgender” can refer to the transsexual who has permanently adopted a single gender identity akin to the opposite genetic sex (SRS merely being a medical procedure to align anatomical genital appearance to that of the opposite genetic sex). So, it can be easily argued that the term “transgender” is highly appropriate and highly descriptive in reference to our community as a whole. Finally the overwhelming common usage of the term “transgender” in our community today is the usage we have proposed. We ask, “Why bother to change terms when we already have one which is proper, clear, and already in common use?”

In acknowledgment to Dr. Prince, we recognize that she coined the term “transgenderist” to refer to someone who has permanently adopted the gender role typically assigned to the opposite genetic sex. However, we would suggest in the interest of standardization of terminology that the term “transgenderism” as defined by Dr. Prince be abandoned by the community and another term used in reference to one who cross-lives full time in the opposite genetic sex gender role (maybe something like “transrole/ transroler/transroled/transrolist” to remain consistent and simple). Well, have we added enough fuel to get the raging semantic inferno going full blast?

 

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NOTES:

Prince continues to receive credit for coining various terms and this is another example.

• Prince is credited for coining “transgenderist” even though Ariadne Kane was using it prior to Prince.
• Prince is credited for coining “transgenderism” even though Phyllis Frye was using it years prior to Prince.
• Prince is credited for coining “trans person” even though Phyllis Frye was using it prior to Prince.
• Prince is credited for coining “transgender” even though it was used around a decade before Prince coined “transgenderist.”
• Prince is again credited for coining “transgender” to describe transgenderists because she wrote “transgenderal” once (an never use the term again) in her 1969 newsletter (the term remains out of print until 1980) even though within just a few months “transgendered” is being used in the TV Guide in reference to transsexualism – a connotation the term “transgender” carries throughout the 1970s.

Here in 1992, Prince is proposing that the community take of a word she presents as her own invention. However, “bigenderal” was being used in Sexology and presented at a 1989 conference as a term to replace bisexual:

“Both heterosexual men and homosexual women; I would define this relationship as bigenderal, and DSM-III defines it as bisexual.”

Is it coincidental that Prince references bisexual when the term’s actual originator did as well while presenting at a Sexology conference? Prince writes:

I therefore would like to propose such a term, namely, BIGENDERIST, or BIGENDERAL for the noun and BIGENDERED for the community at large. The term means that we can express two genders, the masculine and the feminine. It is, therefore, true, it does describe what we do, it is short and convenient and best of all similar terms are already widely used and understood in society. “Bisexual” is a term known to most everyone to mean someone who can and does perform sexually with members of both the same and opposite sex. Since it is important to us to have the public understand us and it is important to both us and the general public to make a distinction between SEX and GENDER the term “bi-genderal” is valuable because it aids that distinction. The public already knows that “bisexual” refers to people who can operate in both sex roles, so gender must be different from sex and the term bigenderal facilitates that distinction.

I think one could argue that perhaps Prince didn’t actually coin anything but (possibly) “transgenderal”.