The first thing people notice about each other, is which of the two biological classes they belong to: Male or female. Identification of and by means of gender is a universal phenomenon, fundamental to the very core of existence of the species on this planet. The difference between the sexes is looked upon as a positive occurrence ensuring the continuity of life through procreation and any development even remotely threatening this natural process is put down very seriously.
While gender differences have always taken precedence through the ages, they have probably never enjoyed so much attention or been the subject of such lively debate as they are today. The physical characteristics of the male and female anatomy are so strikingly different and so strongly deep-seated in our collective psyche, that anything out of the ordinary can only serve to disturb and distress.
Thanks to the media and the promotion of fitness campaigns, we all have a clear and definite image of what a perfect male or female body should be like. Anybody not conforming to this criterion or near-about is in danger of being written off by society in general. Therefore, what happens when a quirk of nature results in people sharing an equal number of both male and female characteristics? The poor individual may decide to stick it out taking the bull by the horns in a manner of speaking or venture to do something about it in order to normalize the situation. Success is not guaranteed in either situation and the poor individual may resign himself to the life of a monster for the rest of his days.
People, in general, are not only slow to forgive but also quick to forget, especially when the misery in question is not theirs. How many of us remember the frustrations of adolescence and pubescent years? The fears of not being able to have super model anatomies and the looks of celebrities were perpetually with us. A pimple or acne ridden skin meant the end of the world, while plumpness being in fashion, was synonymous with ugliness. Can any of us then visualize or even remotely understand what it must be like to have a body which refuses to conform to the high ideals set by our society?
Since gender determines what role we play in our immediate surroundings, a confusion of this important factor upsets everything. Friends need to make fresh evaluations of how to treat this new ‘creature’; parents are embarrassed and the person, needless to say, has lost his identity.
Gender also determines legal and inheritance rights depending on what religion one belongs to. According to Islamic law, a man stands to benefit more from his inheritance as opposed to a woman. So, perhaps in our part of the world, such a person would be at more advantage if she posed as a man, depending on how great her financial needs are.
The important thing to remember is that the person, regardless of his sex is a human being first, with human needs and a right to life just like everybody else. If the person decides to make a complete changeover for a more normal life, he should not be castigated for it. It should be seen as an effort to live, to belong and it is cruel to deny that right. The decision to make a changeover is not an easy one to make. There is a lot of physical pain involved not to mention the emotional and psychological repercussions one goes through. The operation does not guarantee success; like all operations, things can go wrong: The person may not be happy with the results and may even want to revert to his former self! The cost of the surgery is astronomical and, moreover, not all surgeons are qualified to operate. In short, the risks far outweigh the benefits. Yet, there is no dearth of patients who flock eagerly to private clinics willing to hand out their last penny for the operation which is, for them, a passport to a normal life.
Being different is no crime, and as the tatty old saying goes: It takes all sorts to make up this world. Although people try to nurture tolerance, there is evidence of intolerance at every stage and in their very attitude.
The intolerance of things different today is so great that they are considered nothing less than a bane to society. This is strange to say the least. In Shakespeare’s day and even before his time, it was not unusual to see eunuchs roaming the royal courts with exceptional freedom. Not only were they valued for their wit and good logic in the courts rubbing shoulders with royalty, but they were also equally appreciated for their sensitivity to delicate matters concerning the harem. Transvestites actually enjoyed a lot of popularity and were considered an asset to a household moving freely between both male and female courts. Men in female guise were perfectly acceptable, whatever their personal reasons for doing this. However, they did not face or put up with the censure or the harsh criticism emanating from the acute intolerance our society doles out to these unfortunate people.
In the 21st century, all our hi-tech wizardry, barrage of information and sprawling communication networks may have shrunk our world, but they have also, paradoxically, shrunk our minds as well.
Somewhere, in some remote cyberspace, we try to find ourselves by chatting to faceless people, ignoring the cries for sympathy at our doorsteps. Safe in the snug interiors of our chat-rooms, we chat on happily to total strangers because we know that identity does not need a physical presence. It is all in the mind. And yet, we cannot tolerate the human being with a physical appearance which seems alien to us.
We form relationships not on the basis of what we like about the other person but on how far that person resembles us. Everyday, relationships are broken and made again because for a while the people involved had failed to conform to the images their friends had of them. Herein lies the dilemma of the transvestite: He is unable to conform to the mental images of people around him and therefore it is not possible for him to form any sort of relationship.
It has often been said that when you meet people, it is like holding up a mirror to yourself. It is of little wonder then that people are so uncomfortable around transvestites for they are palpable proof of the very changeable characteristics in each one of us. They make us re-live the fear of having one set of genes supersede another while we look on helplessly as our personality, our whole life changes. They are shocking because they make us see unwillingly how insignificant we are in the hands of nature. We call them by various names: ‘It’, a joke, weirdo, freak, etc. in short, anything, but human.