變異的性行為

性少數: 7. 易性癖者

“變性”

通俗用語“變性（sex change）”是容易引起誤解的，因為這個用語忽視了生物性別（sex）與性別（gender）之間的區別。正如我們早前所提及的那樣，我們在此正商討對策的問題不是“生物性別的問題（sexual problem）”，而是性別的問題（gender problem）。個人的染色體性別和作為男性或女性的性自認並不會改變，而且，身體與性自認是協調一致的。通過激素療法和一系列的整形手術可以做到這一點。整形手術會消除次級性徵和初級性徵，以至於用另一個性別的兩個性徵給予替換。這被稱為“性別指派手術（sex reassignment surgery）”，而且最終有兩種手術類型——“男變女（M-F）”和“女變男（F-M）”。因為顯而易見的原因，“男變女”手術通常更為成功，因為要構建人工陰道比構建人工陰莖要來的容易。不過，現代外科技術已經有可能使手術結果讓病人感到相當滿意。

Variations in Sexual Behavior

Sexual Minorities: 7. Transsexuals

“Sex Change”

The popular term “sex change” is misleading, because it ignores the crucial distinction between sex and gender. As mentioned before, one is dealing here not with a “sexual”, but with a gender problem. The person’s chromosomal sex and self-identification as male or female do not change, but the body is brought into harmony with that self-identification. This is done through hormonal treatments and a series of cosmetic operations which remove the secondary and primary characteristics of one sex and, as far as possible, replace them with those of the other sex. This is called “sex reassignment surgery”, and it comes in two varieties - “male to female (M-F)” and “female to male (F-M)”. For obvious reasons, the “male to female” operations are, as a rule, more successful, because it is easier to construct an artificial vagina than an artificial penis. Nevertheless, modern surgical techniques have made results possible that are quite satisfactory to the patients.