Reply to comment

After Alex's visit to class, I have a better understanding of what is means to "pass." The definition Alex provided was  what I assumed the word meant: to pass is to assimilate (aesthetically) with either a man or a woman.  So to address Alex's question, now, I think "passing" is dangerous because the "ability" (as per defined by Alex) forces  individuals to assimilate within a binary gender that they have been trying to avoid.  In Alex's instance, he says it is very important for him to "pass" as a man so that his transformation F-to-M is legitmized to a certain degree. Alex mentioned he is not interested in having a surgical operation for his genitals. This reminds me of the point Julia brought up in her post about the penis as an "external" organ.  Is passing only aesthetic similuation, then? I understand that it could also be a mental relief, but for people like Alex who identify as Trans" so to incorporate both genders, why is it necessary to pass? I think this is the essence of the type of danger that ensues from "passing." If an individual wants to pass, it is only to assimilate so to conform with normalcy of society (binary gender).  If society was not as adamant on binary gender as it is, I am not sure if such a pressure to "pass" would be supressing trans individuals.