Key Terms

For many, trans and queer culture let alone history is a new field with many unknown terms that may seem intimidating. But! We were all once ignorant when it came to areas of history we cherish and, more broadly, the things we love. Within the confines of this project, some of the key terms below will help with the uncertainty you may be feeling. It is important to emphasize however that, as Riki Wilchins puts it, “the dominant discourse in the trans community is at best a moving target.” (1) Terms continue to evolve and remain accepted and problematic among different communities. The folks that wrote in these circulars lacked access to a highly visible trans movement and outside of scattered trans social clubs and circulars were likely isolated from wider gender discourse. Thus, many folks who in 2017 would self-identify as transgender, would in decades past call themselves transsexual or transgendered. Given the overwhelmingly trans voice found in the periodicals used in this work, one can presume that any problematic language used was not used out of spite. Given the fractured and isolated nature of the historical ‘trans-circular’ community, the terms themselves were not used consistently. Thus, one should take these terms not as universal but the best approximation of what most people meant by the term. As you go forward, I would recommend keeping this page open as a separate tab for easy reference.

Trans:  Folks with a gender identity that differs from their assigned gender identity

En Femme: Wearing feminine clothing, can be distinguished between trans women dressing feminine versus cross-dressing.   

 Femme: A gender identity, aesthetic, or sexuality which corresponds to traditional feminine gender norms.

 Femmephobia: The devaluation and violence inflicted on those seen as femme.

 Genderfuck: A person whose identity, aesthetic, or outfit challenges or disrupts traditional gender norms

 Passing: A person’s ability to be regarded as a cisgender man or woman

 Kink: Any sexual practice that goes beyond mainstream heteronormativity

TERFs: Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist

 SRS/ GRS: Sex Reassignment Surgery/ gender confirmation surgery; wherein, a trans person’s physical appearance and function of their genitals is altered to more closely resemble their identified gender

Bibliography

1. Wilchins, Riki Anne. Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender, (Ann Arbor: FireBrand, 1997.), 15.