Introduction

The field of transgender studies has emerged in the context of an ongoing debate over terminology within trans communities. Struggles over names include debates over whether to use transvestite or cross-dresser, whether to spell transsexual with one s or two, whether transgender is a broad umbrella term or is simply a term to describe non-operative transsexuals (á la Virginia Prince), whether a person is transgendered or transgender (i.e., can transgender be an adjective, identity noun or both?) and whether transgender is an umbrella term with broad or narrow scope. To understand these tensions over names, it is useful to remember that naming is an action imbued with power.