Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"You Know You're Trans* When: One of your Facebook friends posts the message 'It's a boy!' and your first thought is 'how do *you* know?'." -- from the You Know You're Trans* When... Tumblr, 2011-08-28

"You Know You're Trans* When: Someone introduces themselves by the name of 'Maab' online and for a split second you think they're telling you they're MTF." -- ibid., same date, different post

['MAAB' and 'FAAB' are used as abbreviations for "male-assigned at birth" and "female-assigned at birth", especially (but not merely) when we want to de-prioritize natal gender assignment in the larger scheme of gender history and identity without ignoring the significance of trans or cis personal history. So someone who was FAAB and identifies as female is a cis woman, and somebody who was FAAB and identifies as male is a trans man. Some trans people describe themselves using the "I was a ### but now I'm a @@@" model, and others use the "I was never a ### even though they told me I was; I've always really been a @@@ and now I can present that way" model. By putting the emphasis on natal gender as assigned, the MAAB/FAAB accomodates both ways of thinking without delegitimizing either, as well as covering intersex people whose status was not detected at birth, or was detected but the doctor said, "gotta pick M or F to write on the birth certificate". The first quotation makes a point about assigned gender similar to what I've explained in this footnote, less clearly (but more funny) than a more recent post on the same Tumblr account:

"You Know You're Trans* When: You see a trashy magazine cover with a picture of a pregnant celebrity and the title 'It's a boy!' and you are amazed at this technology that they have that can determine the identity of a baby that isn't even born yet, let alone talking!" ( 2012-11-04)