What Is Being a Woman, by a Trans Woman
Penelope Guerrero, Spanish, originally from Jerez de la Frontera, in her TEDxRealejo shares with us her life journey when she wanted to undertake the transition to gender change.
The Woman Post | Maria Claudia Londoño
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Known as Penélope Tacones, she had innumerable sessions with psychologists, endocrinologists, and doctors from various specialties who always questioned her intention and personal experience because in society it is not accepted in the first instance that this happens in an increasingly explicit way.
She then raises the question of the definition of "being a woman" in our cultures and societies that causes frustrations, pressures, and impositions that are an enormous burden for all.
Penelope questions us if, in our opinion, being a trans woman consists of getting an operation, after all, that process of evaluations and physical and psychological concepts or being a man who puts on makeup and dresses in feminine clothes, wearing heels.
The truth is that if there were acceptance and tolerance of these situations, the path to being trans would be easier, and more viable and their self-esteem would not be affected by feeling rejected, singled out, and discriminated against in social, family, and even work environments.
In this sense, Penélope Guerreo in her talk affirms that feminist movements have opened their eyes and turned their gaze away, generating bills that favor trans women to claim their rights and the possibility of deciding about their bodies, since one of the most controversial points of the law is the one that proposes to allow the information on sex in the Civil Registry to be modified without requiring the multiplicity of hormonal treatments, as well as medical examinations to achieve it.
For her, the keyword, beyond being part of the feminism movement, is raising awareness about FREEDOM, that is, respecting the decisions of others, and promoting EQUALITY. She even questions the movements that are called feminist in favor of trans women, but that in the long run separate, increasing discrimination and social and cultural exclusion.
When such an opposing force exists, when fears of rejection are instilled, the person who in the end does not have the opportunity to continue their process leads a false, frustrating life, which undermines their self-esteem and their illusion of life and dreams. In her words “there is a constant struggle between your body and your identity” even when they are considered a sexual object or a fetish.
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Trans women find it difficult to find a job, find a partner, to have a role in society. Civil Registry is modified and changed without requiring the multiplicity of hormonal treatments, as well as medical examinations.
In the case of Penelope, today she is considered an artist, actress, and influencer with thousands of followers on her YouTube and Instagram channels. "What moves me is expression. “I consider myself an artist because communication is also art, like photography and makeup. I've always known what I liked, but not how to exercise it, and now I do it without having to spend five years studying to get a degree. Anything can be worth it if you have contacts and outlets, which is the way the world works. But if you have people skills, you learn and they listen to you, you can too, the other is not necessary."
