Girls Will Be Boys

By T. Eve Greenaway, AlterNet. Posted June 6, 2001.

Graduation, 2001. A crowd at one end of the lawn. Folding chairs in rows across the newly mowed green. Teary faces, fidgeting children. The soon-to-be graduates of a small women's college move slowly through the crowd in white hats and gowns. They ascend a small stage for a certificate marking the end of their undergraduate careers.

The parents of this group in white believe in women's colleges for many of the same reasons they might have 20 years ago. They believe young women have a stronger chance at success, academically and professionally, if they are nurtured in an environment free of gender politics. But many of their daughters are graduating with very different identities; in fact, a whole new kind of gender politics. Some will tell you they are not women at all.

As feminism sees its third wave -- and the voices of students identifying themselves as lesbian, bisexual and transgender grow -- women's colleges are witnessing a cultural transformation similar to the '60s. Many of the 74 women's colleges in the U.S. and Canada are now thought to breed the most radical feminists and counter-cultural types. One of the first questions many students hear when they announce their enrollment in a women's college is "Isn't that a lesbian school?"

And indeed, there is reason for that question. Lesbian and bisexual groups have played a prominent place on many women's campuses since the '70s and queer identity forms the backbone of a large portion of the social activism that goes on there. But as the distinction between gender identity and sexual orientation becomes more of an issue, women's colleges are witnessing a new crop of student groups. Transgender organizing is picking up speed and trans alliances are far more vocal than they were just five years ago.

How many transgender students are there in the U.S.? The numbers are hard to record, and university deans and administrators appear reluctant to comment or speculate on transgender organizing on their campuses. While the term transgender applies to anyone who undergoes a shift from female to male (FTM) or male to female (MTF), most associate it with those who don female clothes or traits like Ru Paul.

Until recently, FTM people were relatively invisible. But things are changing fast, especially on America's campuses. Some Americans born between the mid '70s and early '80s are now taking on gender identities as varied as their hair colors. Many will tell you they are simply "trans," but some use words like trannyboy, boydyke, post-genderist, androgyne and genderqueer.

Korey, for instance, was born female but will tell you he is a straight male. The 19-year-old New Yorker says he questioned his female gender identity for years but didn't find the language to describe himself until he saw author and transgender advocate Leslie Feinberg speak. (Feinberg's novel, Stone Butch Blues, is the first step on many trans boy's reading lists. He also has written books about the blurred the lines of gender expression and coined the term "Transgender Warrior.")

Inspired by Feinberg, Korey and his girlfriend began searching the Internet for more clues. Around the same time, he transferred to the women's college at Lesley in Massachusetts and says he didn't think twice about attending a women's college despite his decision to begin "transitioning." Since then, he has taken a gender-neutral name and started testosterone. But he has not had an operation. Like many young "genderqueers," Korey doesn't believe a male physique is necessary to be "male."

Neverthless, Korey ran into some trouble at Lesley University. He was criticized by students and administrators for his gender stance. "The staff reminded me that if I don't identify as female then I need to reconsider why I am at a women's college," says Korey. "It is frightening that I've become a threat."

Korey is probably still a student at Lesley University because there are no policies there regarding trans students. But Paul Karoff, vice president for Student Affairs at Lesley, is concerned. He speculates: "A situation like this is going to raise practical issues that no one has ever contemplated or dealt with before."

As Karloff suggests, the transgender "movement" is difficult to understand. It's based on a language of identity, with which most American are unfamiliar. It requires a revision of the use of pronouns, and the inclusion of terms like "hir." Many trans activists seem to spend a great deal of time educating people about this shifting language. Glossaries are popping up right and left. The most comprehensive ones break down the intricacies of "assigned gender," and what it means to be "female-bodied," "pre-op" or "non-op." (The latter refers to the way some trans people position themselves in relation to sex-reassignment surgery.)

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