A little background

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In book "Beyond the Weekend", I discuss the various tests and whether or not I found them valid. Here is a discussion of how

I use those tests to help others. I have tried to simplify things as much as possible, but there are a few things I have to explain.

I refer to myself (and certain others like) as Animata: Both male and female, with overtones of each in our personalities/psyches.

Now: there is nothing outside of Sexual Reassignment Surgery that can be done about your birth sex. You either have a penis or

a vagina, and there isn't much that can be done with that. Your gender, though…that's another story. Most people look at the

And thus equate their gender with their sexuality. This is known as binary genderism, and it really does not work too well, especially

in the TG community. It truly works only if there are never any Hermaphrodites or Intersexed people! Some would see it as a

ANIMUS----------------------------------------------------------------------------ANIMA

HOMME MALE------MALE----ANDROGYNE------FEMALE--------FEMME FEMALE

This is okay, except it isn't totally accurate. A continuum has a start and an end, and with gender, that isn't totally true, either.

There can be a blurring of distinctions, almost as much as any point in a line.

Therefore, as I see it, What really needs to happen is more of a graph, where the COGIATI is X and Moir-Jessel is Y.

So as an example, if you took the COGIATI-flaws and all-and the Moir -Jessel (M-J) and scored dead center in the Androgyne

category (Category 3), plus 50/55 for the M-J, you'd be exactly between the cross-hairs, roughly at point X. My score-445-

places me in Category 5 (Classic Transsexual), plus my M-J score of 100 and is represented by the S. Other tests I have

taken, from the BSRI to Spark.com's cuuuuuute lil' gender test, pretty much all place me in the same category. I think like a

woman. So I can best describe myself as a woman with spare parts, NOT as a woman trapped in a man's body. Truly, I am

Animata-the essence of both femme and home. (By the way…if you want to take ANY of the tests in question, head for the

links page on my web site; I have a bunch all listed under Transgender Links: Gender Tests.)

According to DSM-IV, there really isn't. Personal experience, as well as collected testimonies, however, seem to indicate

that there IS a difference. GID is short for Gender Identity Disorder; the only real cure seems to be therapy and a sex change.

Gender Dysphoria would be a more mild case of GID; in my case it means that I prefer being female, and would consider (and

in fact, have started) hormones. But SRS (or, “The Operation”) is not where I am heading. It does mean, however, I do have to

wake up before walking into the loo…I am just as liable to pick up my S.O.'s makeup and start applying it as I am to pick up

my razor and shave. I am more comfortable in panties and a bra as opposed to boxers and a tee...but could wear boxers and

a tee if I had to. I prefer to “present” or exist as Minako. You may be comfortable in either gender, as you have need.

Simple. You need to determine where you are on the graph. More than that, however, is the question: what is your gender?

Not your sex, not your sexual preference…your gender. Please be aware that, as you continue this journey, it may call into

question some parts of your life. It should get you to think about who you are and what your needs really are.

The answer to that is based on where your doc places you on the Benjamin Scales. To see what those look like, click the

"next" at the bottom of the page. They will have to diagnose you, and so itis in your best interest to be honest and informed.

The informed part I can help you with. The honest part is on your own.