Girls Women Will Be … ?

Joanne Jacobs reports, via Tongue Tied, that Lindsay Watson, recently the president of the Student Government Association at Smith College, has introduced a resolution to remove “she” and “her” from its constitution.

Watson said she was thinking particularly of students who identify themselves as transgendered, and therefore may be uncomfortable using female pronouns to describe themselves.

“One of the things I spent some time looking into is what is discouraging people from getting involved (in student government),” said Watson. “This was something that screamed really loudly.”

For those of you who might need a terminological refresher course, as I did, here are two entries from “The Angel’s Dictionary,” a transgendered site.

Transgendered

Transgendered was a term put into general usage by Virginia Prince. It originally meant a pre-operative transsexual who has no desire to have the S[ex]R[eassignment]S[urgery]. It later became a catchword for Transvestites, transsexuals, female and male impersonators, drag queens/kings, Intersexuals, gender dysphorics, and those that do not fit any gender label.

Transsexual

What is a Pre/post/non-op transsexual? These are all transsexuals in various stages of the procedure. A pre-op transsexual is someone who has begun the procedure to reassign the sex, but has not had the surgery. This covers people who have just begun the procedure to those who are very close to the actual surgery. A post operative transsexual is someone who has had the actual genital surgery done. It is very difficult to tell a m-f post op transsexual from a genetic female. Up to very recently, female-male transsexuals had no effective surgical technique to create a penis. There are penile implants and grafts, but these are often easy to spot. ‘Non-op’ transsexual is a word that is floating around. Originally from a computer language, it means a person who has had all the hormonal/surgical treatments, except the genital surgery, and who either has no desire to proceed with the surgery, or who cannot proceed due to financial constraints. GIDAANT is another term for this (Gender Identity Disorder, adolescent or Adult onset, Non transsexual).

In the current understanding, as the Dictionary explains, “Sex is a set of biological differences between people; gender is a set of social statuses built on the backs of those differences.” Whatever sex and gender are, they are an enormously complicated affair (that may be a poor choice of words), and I would not presume to comment intelligently upon either of them. What I do find interesting here, and worth venturing at least a tentative comment, is that Smith is, you know, a women’s college.

I wonder if Ms. Watson thinks Smith should replace all references to “women” in its constitution, bylaws, and official publications. If so, she’s got her work cut out for her. Go anywhere on Smith’s web site and all you’ll find is, well, “women.” For example (believe me, there are others), from “Why is Smith a Women’s College?”

At Smith, women are the focus of all the attention and all the opportunities. (Emphasis in original)

Having a wide variety of female role models tends to boost the aspirations and career achievements of female college students….

At Smith, all of the leaders are women….

At Smith, women can have a great social life. (Really!)

At Smith, there are no stereotypes about what women should do, but there are unlimited expectations about what women can do.

Etc.

Now, it’s no news that single-sex colleges discriminate on the basis of sex, but in the case of women’s colleges that is usually understood to mean discrimination against men. What I find interesting here is the realization (maybe everybody else already understood this; if so, dumb me) that Smith et. al. also engage in gender discrimination against women, or at least against those whom the prevailing notions in academia today regard as women. Those notions hold that sex is, for the most part, generally uninteresting and unimportant brute biological fact; everything that is socially significant is a matter of gender. And yet Smith et. al. limit admission to those women who have (or don’t have) the requisite body parts. They would presumably refuse admission to a female-identified man — unless and until (s)he had sex reassignment surgery — while welcoming transgendered women — at least as long as they are pre-surgical.

Well, diversity is a quilt of many colors … and some holes in need of patching.

Say What? (5)

  1. Rachel Cohen April 29, 2003 at 12:00 pm | | Reply

    Howe many transgenedered people go to Smith? And I see a bright future for Ms. Watson in the the study of angel’s feet, metal floor sufaces and the interface thereof.

  2. Roger Sweeny April 30, 2003 at 10:28 am | | Reply

    At least one. Who gave an affecting presentation at last fall’s parent weekend.

    After the presentatation I told my daughter that I had thought of asking, “If you consider yourself a man, do you think you should have to leave Smith?” but that I didn’t because I thought it sounded like I was being a smart-ass. She informed me that it was indeed something people thought about and argued about.

    The present policy seems to be kind of a “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The College accepted you as a woman and assumes you are still a woman unless you show them differently. And as long as you are still anatomically female, most of the student body doesn’t have a problem with your continued attendance.

  3. Joanne Jacobs May 2, 2003 at 12:05 am | | Reply

    Years ago, I worked at a San Francisco magazine with a lesbian named Diane. One day she came back from lunch looking shaken. I asked what had happened.

    “I only have one pair of friends who are a straight, married couple,” Diane said. “I ran into Mary, and I asked how Bill was. She said, ‘We’re getting divorced but everything’s wonderful and I’m dating a transsexual!’ ” Diane shook her head. “Everything is wonderful and she’s dating a transsexual!”

    “Which direction?” I asked. “Male to female or female to male?”

    “I don’t know,” Diane said. “I was so shocked I forgot to ask.”

    Ah, San Francisco.

  4. The Bitch Girls May 3, 2003 at 9:38 am | | Reply

    One Last Post Before I Leave

    All I can say is: Haha! (think Nelson voice when you read that) I’d like to pretend that I have something intelligent to say on the matter, but in reality, I don’t. I just had to laugh for a variety

  5. sarah November 16, 2003 at 6:47 am | | Reply

    Uh, Joanne, why is the story you told funny? “Ah, San Fransisco”?

    Is this site seriously concerned with discrimination or is it actually a joke?

    If y’all are serious, shape the heck up.

Say What?