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Trans woman

Woman assigned male at birth

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The term trans woman is sometimes used interchangeably with the earlier medical term male-to-female transsexual, though the latter refers specifically to those who have undergone medical transition, and is generally considered outdated. Someone assigned female at birth with a male gender identity is called a trans man. The opposite of transgender is cisgender. Trans women may have any sexual and romantic orientation, including being straight (attracted to men), lesbian (attracted to women), or bisexual.

As part of social transition, trans women often adopt a more feminine gender expression with the goal of being perceived as female, for example taking on a new name, hairstyle, clothing style, and voice which affirm one's identity. Many trans women also transition medically through gender-affirming medical treatment, in order to develop female sexual characteristics. A major component of this is feminizing hormone therapy, which stimulates the development of breasts. Some also undergo feminizing surgeries, including breast augmentation, facial feminization, vocal feminization, and vaginoplasty. Relatively few transgender people are able to access surgery, due to legal and financial obstacles.

Trans women face significant discrimination (called transmisogyny) in many areas of life—including employment and housing. In the United States, discrimination is particularly severe against non-white trans women, who experience the intersection of transphobia, misogyny and racism, and are at heightened risk of physical and sexual violence and hate crimes. Historically, media portrayals of trans women have overwhelmingly relied on common tropes and stereotypes, though this has changed somewhat in the 21st century alongside transgender rights activism.

Terminology

Transgender (commonly abbreviated to trans) is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity or gender expression are different from those typically associated with members of the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender women are women who were assigned the male sex at birth (AMAB), but who identify and live as women.

The older term transsexual refers to the subset of trans people who desire to medically transition. The term originated in medicine and psychology in the 1960s, and was largely displaced by transgender. It is now typically considered outdated, though some trans women still identify as transsexual in addition to or instead of transgender.

Transfeminine (commonly abbreviated to both transfem and transfemme) is a broader umbrella term for AMAB people with a predominantly feminine identity or gender expression. This includes trans women, but also some AMAB non-binary people, whose identity may be feminine but not entirely female.

The closed compound (one word) spelling transwoman is sometimes used interchangeably with trans woman, but is often associated with the gender-critical or anti-trans belief that trans women are not women, and thus require a separate word to describe them. For this reason, many transgender people find the spelling offensive. Some prefer to omit trans, and be called simply women. Older terms sometimes still seen are male-to-female (MTF, M2F), but these are outdated.

In other languages

In several Latin American countries, the word travesti is sometimes used to designate people who have been assigned male sex at birth, but develop a female gender identity. The use of travesti precedes transgender in the region; its distinction from trans woman is controversial and can vary depending on the context, ranging from considering it a regional equivalent to a third gender.

In Thailand, kathoey refers to a transfeminine individual, though the term "transgender" is infrequently used to refer to those with this identity. The term is sometimes translated to "ladyboy" in English. Most transfeminine Thai individuals simply referred to themselves as women, or phuying praphet song, meaning "another type of woman."

Amongst Native Hawaiians and Tahitians, māhū are people of a third gender who possess spiritual and social roles. The term has historically been applied to people assigned male at birth, but now may refer to a large variety of gender identities. The term is sometimes seen as disparaging or a pejorative, similar to faggot.

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