more (trans)gender stuff

[falcongrrl]

This is a neat article: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063716.html. It's an interview with Eli Avidan Azar. I really want to read some of his* poetry now.

Quotes that really stand out for me:

"The question of regret isn't asked in regard to a lot of other changes that people make in their lives. Women do a breast enlargement, and no one asks them if they're not afraid that it will hurt their back. Responsibility for the question of regret belongs to the person himself and not the doctor. There are people who do regret it; it's only logical. But no one undergoes this change, in a society in which gender is such a critical issue, on some fleeting whim. Therefore, I consider this an unfair question. But to answer you anyway: No, I'm not afraid that I'll regret it." (italics mine)

and

Interviewer: "What's it really like to be a transsexual in Israel today?"

Avidan Azar: "One of the main problems right now has to do with physical changes. Not all trannies are interested in physical changes, but our society categorizes gender according to body and appearance, and many of us feel a need to toe the line with this. Someone who's interested in a physical change needs to cope with the difficulties piled on by the Kupat Holim health maintenance organizations. If you want to have any operation in Israel, you can't do it privately. The moment there's an attempt to question the gender you were born into, people freak out and their biggest fear is that the person will change his mind, and so you have to go through this series of tortures that lasts for many years, and includes being humiliated in front of the Tel Hashomer hospital committee. At the basis of the investigation is the question of whether the person is suited to the gender to which he wishes to belong.

"If I would have gone to that Tel Hashomer committee, and answered their questions honestly, I might not have gotten approval. I liked to play with Barbies, I like to color-coordinate - these are stereotypes. We live in a society in which an inseparable connection is made between sexual organs, chromosomes, and gender and sexual orientation, even though this is not in tune with reality. As for the operations themselves, in Israel they use outdated methods that often harm the patients. They refuse to modernize. This gives rise to an economic differentiation between those who can afford to travel abroad for surgery and those who can't."

(from eumelia)

*FtM

Comments

[tracerj.livejournal.com]

Heh. That question, "What if you regret it?" It always sort of insulted me. I mean, it implies that one hasn't thought about what one's doing, that one intends to get there blindly. What if, indeed? Narutally, the idea scared me shitless, and the notion that I might regret it is what made me put so much of my transition off for years. I had to have my hand forced, realising that I was losing my mind and if I didn't do something, I would regret a hell of a lot more than just a few biological decisions.

Also... yeah, everything else here resonates.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I liked the way he said, "That's an unfair question, but I'll answer it anyway: no." Because it is an unfair question. Of course it's a huge decision, and to imply that someone comes to it without thinking things through is insulting.

That said, anything that takes away options creates the potential for regret. I think regret (or the lack of it!) is a reaction based more upon one's personality than the objective rightness or wrongness of one's choices. *cough*GeorgeWBush*cough*