A reader writes: “I’m a 32-year-old female who is a bigender transgender. I got my testosterone checked and it’s 43. The doctor said that 45 and up would be kinda high, and I’m very close to that.
“Can this be why I’m bigender? I heard that most transgenders (transgender people) have high or near-high testosterone or estrogen. Thanks.”
The short answer is that I don’t know why you are bigender – but I obviously have more to say!
My understanding of the term bigender is that it refers to a person who manifests both masculine and feminine gender identities and who sometimes identifies as a man, sometimes identifies as a woman, or perhaps identifies as both simultaneously. I believe that this term can also refer to people who have multiple gender identities that are not necessarily restricted to traditional masculinity and femininity or to traditional representations of “man” and “woman.”
I’m sure that there are individual variations on this, and because I’m don’t identify as bigender, I might not be expressing this correctly, so I hope bigender people will correct or add to this definition. There is also information and individual stories, as well as communication and interaction opportunities, at Bigender.net.
I’m not sure what you mean by “bigender transgender,” but it’s possible that you mean that you have a bigender identity that leans heavily toward the masculine on a hypothetical masculine/feminine spectrum or towards “manhood” on a hypothetical man/woman spectrum.
The majority of men and women produce both testosterone and estrogen in varying amounts. Based on this, medical science has come up with averages or “norms” for both men and women, but those averages and norms fall within a very wide range. So what’s “normal” for you might not be for someone else.
I do know some trans guys who had what were considered to be very high testosterone levels prior to using prescription testosterone. But I also know some, like myself, whose testosterone levels were considered to be in the “normal” or average range for females with a “standard” body. This is probably the case for trans women as well with regard to estrogen.
And there are plenty of non-trans women out there with what would be considered high testosterone levels who do not feel themselves to be trans or bigender. There are also plenty of non-trans men out there with lower-than-average testosterone levels or higher-than-expected estrogen levels who don’t consider themselves trans or bigender. So it’s just hard to say.
You could ask your doctor if he/she believes that your testosterone level is related to your being bigender. But my question to you is this: Does it matter?
If you are bigender, you are. If you are transgender, you are. Based on everything I know about hormones and gender identity, decreasing your testosterone levels and/or increasing your estrogen levels will not change that.
I’m not a big one for causes, and I tend not to be too concerned about them. I think that you are the way you are, and the most important things to do are learn about it, learn from it, and embrace it.
So while I don’t know the answer to your question, I would suggest that you communicate with some other bigender people and get involved with some online discussion groups (or in-person groups if they are available where you are) so that you can feel more comfortable about being bigender (if you don’t already) and get more information.
I also hope that readers will have some additional thoughts and resources, so I now turn it over to my better half. Readers?
This post originally appeared on Matt Kailey's award-winning website Tranifesto.com. Republished with permission.
