Born in the Right Body

Katie Couric took on the subject of transgender kids on her talk show which aired February 26, 2013. I felt she handled the the topic very thoughtfully and without a lot of sensationalism while providing a lot of good information from medical and legal professionals.  Yet, I just had to shake my head as soon as I hear those 5 words uttered, Born In The Wrong Body.

When we are born we are assigned a label.  This label is the most defining label assigned to any person.  You are labeled male or female.  This label is assigned from strictly external visual cues determine by the genitalia exhibited by that baby’s body.  So that is it.  As a 1 minute old baby, their entire existence, personality, and possibly the professions that they can and cannot work in have now been predestined.  Ok.  Good job parents.  Your work here is done.

Silly, right?  But I am sure we can all agree that there is no way of knowing the talents of that child, what personality they will develop, what interests they will gravitate to, or in their quiet moments what lofty goal(s) they aspire to achieve.  And can we really know what "gender", that which the brain tells us we are, that the child will be.  But the label of male or female supposedly predetermines so much of what is expected of that child later in life.

This world we live in is imperfect and we as corporeal beings have imperfect vessels.  And one of those imperfections, for some of us, is that the external physical characteristics conflict with the chemistry of our brain and what it tells us about who we are.

In many cases, the physical characteristics of our body provide us certain limitations.  I just will never be the world’s fastest human in the 100 meter sprint, among many other things.  Am I trapped in the wrong body if I believe I can be or am the world’s fastest 100 meter sprinter?  No.

Does the person born with a physical challenge or disability say they were born in the wrong body?  Certainly not.  It is simply the majesty and imperfection of the incredible machine we call the body that creates these unfortunate situations.  Yet so many of the people that society labels disabled show us how much a person can achieve and become when you do not have the same acuities that many of us take for granted.

So is it not from our mind that comes our personality, our dreams, our aspirations to achieve whatever our hearts desire?

So back to the well-worn media phrase, Born In The Wrong Body.  My hope, my call to action, is that we eradicate this from the lexicon.  Because, I was born in the “right body”.  My body does not define who I am as a person or how I want the world to see me or what I aspire to achieve. Who I am, or anyone else is as a person, transgender or not, has nothing to do with our bodies.

I was born in the right body because it was the body I was born with.  Just that simple  My gender, that which my brain biologically developed into as I was nurtured safe within my mother’s womb, just ended up not matching the physical characteristics of my body.  We are born with the bodies we are born with.  They are not wrong, nor are they right.  They just are.  Perhaps we should simply borrow from the popular song and proclaim, "Baby, I was born this way".  Truly, this is closer to the truth than being born in the wrong body.

 

I have never been “Trapped In The Wrong Body” or “Born In The Wrong Body”.  I was just born into an imperfect body.  Yes, I struggled because of the incongruity between my mind and body.  That sense of self was in direct opposition to the external characteristics of my physical body.  But still, I was not born in the wrong body or mind or trapped in my body.  My body is only the vessel which carries my spirit or soul, the true essence of who I am.  In a way, regardless of being transgender or not, an argument can be made that we are all trapped in our own bodies?

And if we are all trapped in our bodies, shouldn’t we simply pay more attention to our minds and our spirit and nurture those thoughts and aspirations to be the best person we can be.  And for some of us that just might mean changing that first label we are given in that very first minute of life out in the bright, beautiful world.

We in the transgender community have taken this phrase, "Born In The Wrong Body", and without really thinking about it, used and overused it.  We need to eradicate this from any discussion we ever have about ourselves.  Take ownership of our selves.  You and I were born in the right body.  As right as any other person is born with.  What we do with our body and mind to become the best person we can be is of the most importance.  Now go out and be of sound mind and body and know your body is the right one for you, even if a remodeling of that body will be needed down the road.