Cis female Marine (Photo: mcmuseum.com)
THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — I’ve no reason to doubt the claim, especially since the researcher’s earlier papers touched on the same topic. However, the study by George Brown has not been released yet, nor do we even have a title of the paper or an abstract. Also, looking at some of the numbers quoted in a news report which Brown discusses his research seems way off. Until the actual study comes out, I’ll refrain from further comment on it.
However, I thought I’d write this piece about it to share with those of you who are interested in the topic. Perhaps some of you are already familiar with his research.
I will say that the gist of what Brown is getting at is this: many biological males with female ID leanings often join the service to “prove” they’re real men. Hypermasculinity is the word he’s using to describe this.
Personally, I would have never guessed that many trans women have in common a military background, yet my own personal observations of social media suggests it is so. While this observation is completely unscientific, it does raise a flag for me that Brown may be on to something.
Feel free to comment one way or another on the topic, or if you’re familiar with Brown’s work.
Read more about the upcoming research here: Courthouse News Service.
Cis female Navy pilot (Photo: sharpshooter)
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Categories: Transgender, Transsexual, Trans
LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS 
I can understand it, though for me it wasn’t quite the same reasoning. I wasn’t trying to “prove [I] was a man”… It was a way for me to simply try to disappear into the sea of men…to not let anyone see the real me. I joined the Navy when it became apparent, to me, that I could never “come out:”… it was me trying to be what everyone expected of me. I wasn’t trying to “be a man”.
Perhaps some won’t see the subtle difference, but I see and feel it… However, I can see many transwomen, before coming out, almost raging against what they feel about themselves and going in for that very reason…to make a point to themselves more than to anyone else, that they are “indeed a guy”.
Such is the massive social stigma outside forces put on us from nearly the moment we breathe our first gasps of oxygen. We are “declared” a certain gender without our input, we are then swaddled in clothing bearing the colors of that declaration without our input, and from that moment on, we are indoctrinated via toys and clothing to be that thing declared by a single man or woman without an inkling as to what WE think…
Was that too much? ~sighs~
No, that was not too much at all.
What you said about “raging” is very true. I can easily picture more than a few people signing up to serve as a symbolic denial to something they’re wholly confused about.
Having not been in the armed forces myself, but being trans, I have a keen interest in all areas of research. I have heard that this idea of hyper-masculinity is not so far fetched.
I felt that the more male I presented, the bigger the beard, the more macho, then I would not be seen as weak or girly, when in fact the very opposite was true, the bigger the beard, the less male I felt.
This may not be scientific and it may attract scorn from others, I don’t care, this is what happened to me.
I did hear of many at the leading gender clinic in the UK, at Charing Cross, as having been in the armed forces, test pilots, and special armed service SAS soldiers.
If this is not hyper-masculine, then I would beg to be informed of the definition.
As I see it there are 3 types of males, that are trans or have GID…
Type 1: Hypo or under masculine, these are mean that choose soft careers, nurses, teachers etc, careers that tend to be seen by males as weak or feminine.
Type 2: Balanced: Men that do normal type jobs, jobs expected of them, car mechanics, plumbers, hand on what is called blue collar, or white collar careers, extending to doctors, lawyers, etc, jobs that do not call for exposure to danger.
Type 3: Hyper or over masculine: The fighter pilot, fireman, etc, jobs that require excessive testosterone. Jobs where the more danger, the more strength, the more of a “man” you are seen.
I myself see myself as Type 1, tending towards Type 2.
This is what I have researched and observed, and not a confirmed scientific approach. Agree or disagree, I am here to learn and observe and report what I know.
If this leads to a breakthrough, yay!!
It seems this might be a product of general prevalent transphobia in society rather than anything intrinsic. It’s also interesting to note that trans men don’t feel such a strong need to prove that they are “real women”. So sexism as well as transphobia is involved here.
More interesting is that the Submarine service seems to have a lot more T-People coming from it than it should! wonder if that study has or should be done?
Interesting. I joined, not to try and ‘become a man’, but simply because I wanted to be around aircraft. It didn’t work out that way, and I found myself fixing radar instead, but at least I was on an airfield. A quarter century later, I’m still in uniform. By the way, I’m one of the three interviewed by Alan Okros, and I know the other two.
I don’t know. Firstly, the title of your piece bothers me: “Men in military, twice as likely to identify as female.” What % of the total male pop. in military? the wording is misleading and sounds like a supermarket tabloid. That said, there is truth to the Hypermasculine thesis. Being a pacifist myself, I never would have joined the military. But, I did seek a job, and get hired as a Firefighter. A trad, male job that not only has cis females, but transwomen in that role. However I presented at the time, I simply didn’t have the phys, strength or agility to ‘cut it’. My point being, I think many of us transwomen try in various ways to ‘stuff’ our feminine true selves and cut it as ‘Men’. Some can’t “cut it”, and more importantly, is it healthy to “stuff” it? That’s my two cents.
The missing piece of info is this: (Men in military, twice as likely to identify) as female compared to civilian men.
I probably should have included that in the story somewhere instead of assuming readers would figure it out.
Headlines are a true pain-in-the-butt to write. They’ve got to be luring without misleading, yet include all the keywords and short enough not to lose meaning when automatically shortened by some sites.
My headlines still tend to be too long for some sites. I will keep working to improve them! 🙂
Thank you for responding, Lexie. I can usually figure these things out, I missed it in this piece. That being said I always get something out of your posts, you find news items most others don’t and they are always relevant to our community. With the explanation, the stat. is really remarkable! But, as many commentors, myself included, stated, we seem to seek out ANY ultra masculine pursuit in a sometimes, last ditch effort to make it in a “man’s world”. For myself, thank God, I failed the test!!
I have met, either in person or via the net, Special Ops both domestic and abroad, Pilots, Army grunts and Sailors. I did airborne Search and Rescue with the CAP for years – most of the missions were at night and in crap weather. I wish I could say where I read it, but I recall a statistic indicating that upwards of 10% to 15% of all transpeople have a military history of some sort, including a former student of mine. (OUTserve maybe as the source?) And for those who do not join the military, how many of us take on risky jobs like firefighter or police? Either consciously or subconsciously, PART of the reason we took on danger assignments was to prove we were MANLY MEN. It doesn’t work – and I am a case in point.
I was regular army (medical corp) and identify as transgender. Turns out, the VA will cover the requisite counseling and hormones, but surgeries are out-of-pocket.
This data is no surprise, I fully agree with this concept, I know I had a time in my life, everyday, every hour, trying to prove that I wasn’t a ” fag ” or ” pervert” something that wasn’t a shame to my parents and family, friends etc. and I agree completely with the term “Hypermasculinity” if it wasn’t the military or police work, it was football, and the list goes on and on, I hated living the lie ! and still do, my parents knew that something was very wrong with me, at the age of 4 I asked my father (career USMC) when was I going to become a girl ? ) discovered many times wearing a dress and playing house, he hated me and the shame I brought on him, I overheard him tell my mother (who was NO HELP at all that he would rather have a sex changed daughter than a fag son, but she refused to allow the surgery, because the base doctors told them that I was a ” homosexual ” and might grow out of this disease pattern,
I can’t wait to read the complete paper from this man, thanks
Chriss
Thanks for all the comments — This has been a very educational topic for me and I’m likely to closely follow it in the future!
So do we all agree that the latent implicit social pressure for trans women to be “hyper masculine” is not a positive thing?
Of course, there is nothing wrong with being “masculine” per se, and nothing wrong with women, including trans women, being “masculine”, just like there is nothing wrong with being “feminine” intrinsically. But no-one, trans or otherwise, should be forced to be “masculine” or “feminine”.
The thing that comes to my mind now is that the last thing we want is for some evolutionary psychologist to create some kind of theory of trans women based on this data. That would truly be unfortunate.
I consider myself as CD, and have been in military service all my life (4 decades), including 2 decades of Reserve Police. I could never pass as female, but self identify as female inside.
You don’t have to pass to identify as female. Besides, sometimes one actually passes better than one thinks.
If someone joins the military because they actually want to do so themselves, regardless of their gender, I can respect that, even though I have problems with the imperialist NATO military machine for other political reasons so there is no way I would ever join myself. But if a trans woman joins the army primarily due to “social pressure” or an explicit desire to “be a man” so that she can deliberately hide her true gender identity I can’t respect that at all. There is nothing wrong with “masculinity” or “femininity” intrinsically but to force or pressurise people to conform to standards of “masculinity” or “femininity” is something I’m really against. We should actively challenge such latent transphobia and gender conformism in society. Personally I’m not a very feminine person intrinsically but sometimes I deliberately try to be “feminine” just be to a “rebel” against the social pressures on me to “be a man” simply because I was born biologically male.
I didn’t want to join the Finnish army. We have conscription system and the army is mandatory for Finnish men living in mainland. The exceptions are medical, religious (Jehova’s w.), living in demilitarized area (Åland Islands) and conscience (Civil service).
I have a NCO degree though I declined the reservist service. I had to attend 5 days with lectures, with a fully paid salary, in order to be accepted in civil service.
The women of my age were not allowed to go to the military service (but in the 90’s that was made possible). As I am one I do not want to belong to the military. But because of my marriage I have no right to access the legal female status. So I am inbetweenish, a NCO, a civil, a woman and a married husband.
I don’t feel feminine. I have my past that is burden as well as looting.
i joined the British Army and served 12 years and partly it was trying to prove i was a man if transgenderism had been more open then i would have come out much earlier but at the time i had never heard of it and thought i was the only one and tried to hide what i was, now i have come out and am living as i should have all my life i feel much better i am old at 58 to be going through this and doubt i will pass as a natural born female but i will still go all the way and hope for the best i cannot live as i have in the past, i believe there are a much higher percentage of transgendered people in the forces than in civilian life but most of them will not come out as transgendered and will suffer for it until it is accepted as normal and people just accept that some people were born with the wrong mind set to body sex i wish everyone who is transgendered to have the strength to do what is right for themselves and not just put up with what they believe other people want them to do.
regards Poppy Ann