Passing
From T-Vox
Passing is a person's being regarded as a member of a social class other than his or her own, such as a different sex, race, or disability status, generally with the purpose of gaining social acceptance or of comporting with the person's own identity cultural or gender identity.
History
Etymologically, the term is simply a clipped form of the phrasal verb pass for or pass as, as in a counterfeit passing for the genuine article or an impostor passing as another person. It has been in popular use since at least the late 1920s.
Uses
In the Trans community, passing describes a Transgender person's ability to be accepted as their preferred sex, to have an appearance that causes one to be assumed by strangers to be a cisgender man (for transmen) or woman (for transwomen). The term refers primarily to acceptance by people the individual does not know, or who do not know that the individual is Transgender. Typically, passing involves a mix of physical sex cues, like hair style and clothing, as well as behavioural attributes, comportment and mode and style of interpersonal communication. For example, a person who is physically female and is attempting to pass as a cisgender male may be dressed in men's clothing and walk in a masculine manner, but if they speak with a woman's voice or using a traditionally feminine speech pattern, they will not be accepted as a male.
The endeavour of trying to pass is most often practiced by transvestites and transsexuals. Because most performers, drag queens and those drag kings who consciously perform are open about their natal sex and are not actually trying to appear to be the opposite sex, they are not typically referred to as passing, even though some may be able to or may actually do so at other times. As RuPaul once said, "How many women do you know who wear seven inch heel heels, four foot wigs, and skintight dresses?"
Similarly, while most cross-dressers and transvestites who venture out into public areas do try to pass, unlike transsexuals, they do not (usually) undergo any permanent physical alterations or live full-time in order to make passing easier. They should be referred to with whatever gender-specific pronouns they wish, but they do not consider themselves the opposite sex or expect others to.
Conversely, almost all transsexuals will attempt to live and work as their preferred gender and be fully accepted as that sex rather than their natal sex. Therefore, passing is not just an option but is seen as a necessity. The majority who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery or who are past the transition stage do not usually refer to themselves as passing, since they now consider themselves to actually be that sex. Those who are completely accepted after transition often choose not to disclose their natal sex and instead live in stealth, a term used because they are so completely invisible within the population of their current sex.
Transgender people who do not describe themselves as either cross dressers/transvestites or transsexuals may have different attitudes towards passing. For example, they might not try to pass at all, they may send consciously mixed signals, or they might be able to pass but do not hide the fact that they are Transgender. Personal views on passing and the desire or need to pass are independent of whether an individual has had medical treatment or changed their name or legal sex.
The failure to pass is called being read, being clocked, or being made. A person might say, "When I was out shopping, I could tell that sales girl read me, but she didn't say anything." However, even though a person may be read as being "cross-dressed," it is usually impossible to tell whether the person is actually a cross-dresser, or is actually a non-passing transsexual or another kind of Transgender person.
Compare the terms passing and stealth with in the closet, and being made or being read with being outed.
In the Transgender community, some of those who pass avoid those that they feel will be more easily read, because there is a perception among many that when one person is read, anyone with that person will be assumed to be Transgender by association. (This is often not the case, but some Trans people do not consider themselves Trans - they feel that they are simply male or female and have a medical condition - and it is very important to them that they not be recognised as Trans.) This is one reason why people living in stealth rarely, if ever, associate with other Transgender people.
