A few days ago, I have rediscovered one of my favorite YouTube bloggers, Princess Joules (Julie Vu). Princess Joules has been documenting her transition from male-to-female for about 3 years. About 5 months ago, she went under sex reassignment surgery and made a complete transition. What I love about her videos is that she is honest about her experiences. In the video below, she tells us about her feelings as she is an hour away from surgery.In class, we’ve read about how a transgender person must have a psychological assessment done before they are approved for sex reassignment surgery. I personally felt that it was upsetting that they had to prove that surgery was necessary; society should not be able to police our bodies, especially when we know ourselves best. However, Princess Joules tells us the truth about her feelings – something that most of us would not expect…
After seeing this video, a few questions came to mind:
- Before Princess Joules came out as transgender, she came out as a gay male. I want to know if surgery changed her perception of her own sexuality. Because she believes that, internally, she is a female and belongs in a female body, and she is now a legal female, is her sexuality labelled as straight?
- How do most transgender people define their sexuality after their transition into their true selves?
- If we completely got rid of gender roles, gender, and sexuality (LGBT), how would we define our self?
She also discussed how sex felt after her transition.
I find her journey absolutely fascinating, and makes me think about how greatly society affects how we define ourselves and experiences.
Unruly Bodies 
I think a lot of people who aren’t trans or haven’t been around a lot of trans or queer people ask the same questions you’re asking. I can’t answer your questions for her, but I can offer you some more things to ponder:
-gender and sexuality are two very different things, but we often use gendered terms like gay vs lesbian to describe sexual preferences. Why do we do that and what does that mean for trans and queer folk?
-Trans people transition in thousands of different ways. Is there really a definitive “end” to transition? Do trans people have to transition in order to be their true selves? How are we even defining transition?
I challenge you to think outside the normative narrative of transness and remember that no two transitions are alike.
Cis people often ask those questions. I can answer them again, because I actually kind of like answering such questions, but for myself.
Sexuality is a very tricky slope, but one simple way is to observe them. If someone who said they were a gay male before transitioning to female, if they only date men, then they may be straight. If the inverse is true, where they begin only dating women, they may still be gay. Gender and Sexuality are not the same but they are very linked.
There is no definitive end to transition for most, except for the Final Curtain. But, mostly, people say they are transitioned when they feel they are.
Getting rid of gender roles would be useful, but many people like gender and sexuality. People like labels, as they may see them as useful for themselves.