It’s time for our series of posts here at Jessica Who?, titled “Word of the Week”. In these short articles, from here on out published each Friday, I will explore the various labels and umbrella terms used to label us. By doing this, I hope to educate not only myself, but also anyone who may not be familiar with these terms. Feel free to add your own knowledge to each post by leaving a comment 
.
The label that we will be examining is: T-Girl
Standard Definition
Uhh, there is none, at least in an official English language dictionary. Definitions are readily available in internet user-edited wikis and dictionaries. Since none of these can be taken as conrete knowledge, there is no standard defintion for t-girl.
Derogatory?
Coming out of the mouths of ignorant people it can be dangerous, however it is also a preferred term for many crossdressers and transgendered folk.
What’s It Really Mean?
Simply stated, a tgirl is a mtf transgendered person regardless of transition plans or stage. The ‘T’ of course represents trans.
My Take
To be honest, I had never heard of this word until I saw it being utilized by internet users. I wasn’t (and still am not) familiar with the history of the term, and as such thought it was one of those forbidden, offensive terms within our community. However, as I started blogging and reading other great blogs out there, I noticed that many were using it to refer to themselves. How cool, I thought!
While this is not among the list of labels that I would use for myself, I think it’s great that those among us (and perhaps you) identify with it. The only reason I don’t use it for myself is because I still feel unfamiliar with the term, although this may change with time.
Oh, and by the way, I’ve seen various spellings of this word: Tgirl, T-Gurl, tGuRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrL and TGrl. So, there you go, take your pick 
.
Your Take
Have you anything to add? Please leave your take on this word in the comments section, I hope we can open up a dialogue and learn from each other while educating the masses.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I call myself a T-Girl and even use it in the tagline for my blog. I’ve found that out of all the terms I could use it suits me the most and doesn’t feel offensive or derogatory.
My reasoning is that I don’t like the “sexual” part in Transsexual as it gives too many people the wrong impression. Transgender is too vague and already mainly used as the umbrella term for any of us in any phase, and the biggest factor is the fact that it isn’t immediately clear what gender I am with either of those terms. MTF I wouldn’t even consider because it is rarely understood outside the T-community.
T-Girl is a short and to the point term that most people ‘get’ pretty quick. It seems to be catching on too. I like that it immediately shows that I am a girl (let there be no doubt), and when I do get people who don’t know and ask me about it I simply say the T stands for Trans or Transsexual.
I am a girl, I always will be, and I like that to be clear to all, so T-Girl it is.
Love! <3
Yes. The TGIRL is a use full word to explain things.
I use it in my taglines too. AND I use it to share with the world that I am one of the ONLY TGIRL drummers on the planet that is actually playing in an ALL TGIRL rock band in San Francisco.
We, Lipstick Conspiracy, are also politically and socially active in gaining equal rights for us and all transpeople.
Have a great Halloween Holiday…
Syndirella Heart
TGIRL DRUMMER
Hi Julie,
Thanks for the wonderful comment, thanks for adding your insight. I am glad that you have found it to be such a great word
.
it’s just a word, a shorter word of the term transsexual girl or transvestite girl. T-girl much shorter, see simple… how could you think it was a forbidden and or offensive terms?
The first time I heard the word it was used in a bad way, putting down someone. That’s why I thought it was offensive
Interesting,
I had always thought of the term a little unsavory becouse i dont feel anybody has the right to label us as people ,now i understand the need for a label (obviously how we find one another online or whatever ) but in general i find the term undesirable as i don’t feel i was born in the wrong body and should have been born t-gurl but instead i think we all feel it is a girl we should have been born and we feel the need to “correct” this mistake! So i guess what im trying to explain here is i think using these titles were somehow settling & exepting the LABEL put on each one of us to describe our “mental disorder” , while i dont mind other girlz using using this tag on me i refuse to accept it from main stream society!
ok ive rambled 2 long (i do this alot) just wanted to say hmmm, definatly makes you think and great to hear other opinions on this
Barbie
And thank you TGBarbie, for contributing to the discussion. Much appreciated
I don’t mind the term t-girl (I know some folk don’t like it) and it does figure in my blog title. I don’t feel much like a ‘girl’ per say, but t-lady makes me think of a woman with a refreshment trolley
It’s funny that my lovely wife is a lady, yet can still have a girl’s night out. At what age does a person of the female persuasion stop being a girl and shifts to being a woman or lady?
I wonder that as well. I hear many of the women in my life refer to themselves as girls, women and ladies.
My take on the term T-Girl is that it like any word based on the context of the sentence around it could be offensive. Mostly I have seen it used by transitioning MTF transsexuals or on Craigs list for gay guys that do not want to come out and are looking for sex with a guy in drag. Read the ads they are sometimes funny and you will understand what I mean. I do not use the word to describe my self as I am happy being male but enjoy and prefer the clothing most often associated with woman. I say it that way because once I buy something it is no longer woman’s clothes it is my clothes.
Interesting take, thanks for your input Gaven. I will have to check out those craigs list ads
Like you, I have only recently come across the term, but I do useT-Gurl to describe myself when I am Rianna.
As others have said, it is an easily understood term and seems to me to describe the journey that I am on to discover my transgender self.