Three things more than anything deter transsexual women from transitioning - money, the reaction of their family (parents, wife, children, partner ...), and passability. Sadly, money does matter - a lot, and there is no doubt that the careers and income of many transsexual women suffer badly from the moment they transition. Whilst a few successfully transition in the same job, most either change jobs when they transition, or will do so soon afterwards. Unfortunately, the new job is rarely an improvement or step upwards compared with their old job as a man, and thus income is often reduced at a time when outgoings have often increased greatly (medical bills, cost of a new wardrobe, probably setting up a new home, possibly having to start paying alimony, ...). A bitter reality is that is often necessary to down-grade one's career aspirations and this income after transition - and this must be considered when deciding whether to transition.
When transitioning, five options exist from a work perspective:
For young and passable transwomen there is a final option:
Transitioning in Your Old Job Transwomen who choose this route
always claim to do so with their eyes wide open,
but the reality is that their expectations is almost always wrong.
Optimists believe that they can take
hormones for a year, take a couple of weeks off for surgery in
Thailand, and then arrive
back at the work wearing a skirt and lipstick, to be accepted as a woman.
The reality is that this
approach is rarely successful. Whilst work colleagues
may do their best to accept as a woman someone they previously knew as a
man, it seems to be a nearly insurmountable obstacle to mentally overcome. For the transwoman
too many days' end in a mixture of tears and anger - while work social events where
drink loosens tongues are can be traumatic.
Transitioning
and a New Job The
temptation is to go even further and try to hide that you are
transgender. But this is really hard to
get away with.
Going stealth without a lot of prior preparation and practice means you
are likely to be
quickly out'ed as sadly VERY few transwomen are totally
convincing and passable right from the day that they transition full
time.
The
Past is Hard to Hide
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of identity related items that
need to be tackled in the months around transition - with varying
probability of success.
For example, in the UK it is possible with some effort to get formal
academic qualifications (i.e. ranging from GCSE Certificates to PhD
Scroll's) changed over in to a new name, but it can often be impossible
to get vocational qualifications and training course certificates
changed - sometimes the only solution is to take the course again, or at
least re-sit the exam(s). Even if you think you have done a
thorough job on the name changes, it is all too easy to be quickly
caught out by say: a background check for a security clearance, the need
to provide an old P.60 (a UK tax certificate), your old (male) NI Number
on a document, a problem with a reference who didn't immediately recall
your new name, an enquiry about your pension plan, an unexpected
encounter with an old colleague who knew you as a man, etc, etc.
However, the kind of positions that don't involve a danger of being
"outed" are not likely to pay well - and may not met
your financial needs. And this is before we consider the issues of
discrimination (intentional or unintentional) against transsexuals, and
the fact that women are often simply paid less than men in similar
jobs.
Career Stereotyping
Many transsexual women, particularly younger women, are very socially stereotyped in the type of job that they want to apply for, these often being traditionally female job such as secretary, hairdresser, nurse ...
The 21st century
has undoubtedly seen huge advances in gender equality in the workplace.
Nevertheless a 2008 survey by the USA Department of Labor shows how
woman still dominate certain jobs:
The old but still interesting book "Man & Woman - Boy & Girl" by John Money & Anke A. Ehrhardt (1972), shows a similar employment picture for transsexual women to that given above. Janice Raymond in her notorious book the "The Transsexual Empire" (1979) also points out, and indeed emphasises, the fact that many transsexual women want to be housewives and not work, she also quotes a one small study by Thomans Kando in 1973 in which almost all of the 17 the participants who were not housewifes (four) had "stereotypical feminine jobs: secretaries (three), waitress (one), dancers (four), hairdressers or beauticians (two), actresses (two), university-affiliated research scientist (one)." An American report presented in 1996 doesn't suggest much change, the occupation of 51 transgender women being:
The occupation "Show Business (Actress)" is stretched to include jobs such as a night club pole dancer!
In 2019 I conducted brief survey of the social media accounts of transwomen and this revealed a huge bias towards them working as a Model, Hair Dresser, Beautician, Actress, Singer, Hostess, Companion, ... with just the occassional mention of other jobs such as Politician, Engineer, Software Developer, Pilot, Surgeon, Soldier and Project Manager. I soon concluded that there was a strong bias - which was further exagerated by an associated raised levels of followers and likes - in on-line profiles towards the earlier occupations. This seemed unlikely to accurately reflect the employment of transwomen in general.
Air Hostess and Cabin Crew From the 1930's to the 1960's, one of the most glamorous jobs that a young woman could obtain was that of an Air Hostess with a major airline such as Pan-Am or BOAC.
The first known instance of a transgender 'Air Hostess' is when in 1982 British Airways allowed a male cabin steward (Peter Ball) to transition and report to work as a female stewardess (Victoria). Since then, British Airways has received many kudos for its transgender support, and in 2019 its senior pilot is a transwoman - Catherine Burton. Whilst the glamour had definitely faded by the 1990's, there were still some kudos associated with being offered a position as a Air Hostess (aka Cabin Crew, Flight Attendant and other politically correct titles these days). For example, after transitioning and having SRS, a 20 year-old British transwoman applied in 1994 "just as a bit of fun" for a position as female cabin crew with a Middle Eastern airline. To her surprise she was selected and after passing her Wings course she then spent three years doing everything from cleaning up sick in the toilets to partying on luxury yachts. She had to pass in often intimate circumstances (e.g. sharing a hotel room) as she quickly realised that she would be abused and sacked if there was any hint that she was transgender.
In the late 1990's the Dutch airline KLM admitted that it employed transsexual women as female Flight Attendants but did not provide any details.
In 2001 Air France agreed to one its stewards (Bruno Colliaux) becoming an air hostess (Andréa) after two years on hormones and SRS. A condition of this was a test of her passability, which found that Andrea was perceived as a woman by all passengers. In 2011, Thailand based airline PC Air gained extensive press coverage when it announced that it had recruited four male-to-female transsexuals as cabin crew - with opinion highly split as to whether this was exploitation or a positive development for transgender equality. Unsurprisingly the new employees were very positive; Phuntakarn Sringern saying “I like a job where I can show my ability and I love to wear beautiful suits”. In early 2020's, it only needs a quick Google to reveal transwomen who's social media accounts list their occupation as being cabin crew, e.g. Kayleigh Scott (United Airlines), Jacqueline Angliss-Gillies (Virgin Australia) and Eleonora Mazza (Ryan Air).
Gender Bias The first part of this article seems to show that transwomen are very likely to choose feminine image jobs, indeed it's perhaps more likely than for genetic women.
Unsurprisingly secretarial, receptionist and other office jobs top the list in the two surveys described above, being the occupation of about 19% of the participants. These are jobs that still require minimal qualifications.
"Nurse" comes surprisingly low in the ranking (at most 4% of participants), but there are big obstacles to this career for a transgender woman, unless it was already begun as a man. In the UK, a Registered Nurse undertakes long and expensive professional training. State (i.e. NHS) supported hospitals and universities take most trainee nurses straight from school or college, age 17-19. There is no formal upper age limit on entry, but in practice 29 seems to the absolute limit - which is less than the median age (30 in 2020, albeit significantly lower than 35 in 2020) of a British transsexual woman at the time of her transition. The surveys completely omit the category "Human Resources" (aka HR), a career path which many transwomen seem to choose. "Receptionist "is also oddly not mentioned, an easy to enter job that is availed for a few years by many young transwomen. My personal impression is that they also significantly underestimate the size of the categories "Housewife" and "Teacher" (or child minder), and the extent of participation in the sex trade industry and prostitution is not honestly represented. It's impossible to ignore that many transwomen are working in - and many more are actively seeking - jobs that largely rely on youth and physical beauty for initial success: model, showgirl, actress, ... even prostitute. For every transsexual woman that manages to make a viable living as say a photographic model, far many more will be disappointed. The reality is that most transsexual women are at a disadvantage when competing for these jobs with often younger and prettier and just as determined to succeed genetic "girl-girls". However, it easy to over-emphasise the situation in the manner of Ms Raymond. It is perhaps essential to point out that many transwomen are very realistic about their career and work prospects, and also that youngest and thus most passable 'transgirls' seem to follow career paths as diverse as 'XY' CIS-girls.
Modelling is a common career choice for young transgender girls - it's glamorous, sexy, apparently fun, and can pay well. They also usually have two significant physical advantages compared to genetic girls - greater height and longer legs. Breast implants, plastic surgery and make-up can deal with most other physical disadvantages. As for large feet and hands - most supermodel's (e.g. Cyndi Crawford) wear at least a size 8 (UK), and a size 10 is common (e.g. Ellie McPerherson). The Elite model agency lists 5% of its models as having a shoe size 11 (USA, 10 UK) or greater.
For some models who out themselves, their career as a female model is irredeemably compromised, and they join the list of acknowledged "sex change" celebrities such as Roberta Close, Caroline Cossey and Amanda LePore. Claudia Charriez was perhaps was the last to suffer this fate when in 2006 she disqualified from the reality TV contest America's Next Top Model at the semi-final stage when the producer's discovered that she was "not born biologically female". The resulting negative publicity was undoubtedly a factor that influenced the producer's decision to allow transgender woman Isis King to participate in the 2008 series. However, when Alicia Liu was out'ed in 2010 her modelling career continued, she said seven months later: "To go public with my sex change was more of a help for me than hindrance, and it had not affected my life".
An important development in the early 2010's has been the emergence of openly transsexual models, and the acceptance of these by fashion houses and photographers. Agencies such as Models UK suggest that "designers are no longer required to hire female models for womenswear and male models for menswear as the definition of gender is being challenged. ... It is an exciting time where gender roles are challenged and freedom is welcomed!". According to Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler: “The distinction between man and woman is disappearing, aesthetically at least. This is a big facet of our culture right now.” The early 2010's has seen an explosion of highly rated transgender models - led by Lea T and Andreja Pejic -whose XY genes has not obviously hampered their modelling career. Adriana Mazzarini, Valentijn de Hingh, Stefania Visconti, Vicky Eriksson, Stav Strashko and Michalina Manios are other examples in Europe. In addition, a flow of androgynous male models from Eastern to Western Europe has led to complaints on social media from local female models that they are being undercut on rates and can't compete on physical characteristics such as height and leg length.
Looking outside Europe, just a small sample of other transsexual models who have enjoyed some success in early 2010's includes: Hari Nef, Patrícia Araújo, Fabiana Oliveira Melo, Carmen Carrera, Ana Carolina Marra, Non Poy, Geena Rocero, Kayoh Sato, Florencia de la Vega, Carol Marra, Valentina Sampaio and Liu Shi Han. Caveat - Many female models take liberties with important facts such as their age. Transgender models often take this a stage further. Amanda Lear is perhaps the best case of where it is impossible to reconcile all the claims and records. Transgender Supermodel - Andrej Peji became by far the most famous transsexual model in the world when in July 2014, she announced that she had a sex change, and had changed her name to Andreja. Three years earlier, she - still physically a "he" - had been ranked no. 98 in FHM magazine's '100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011'.
The Non-Earthquake - Teddy Quinlivan
Born in 1994, Teddy transitioned age 16 and then went to what she calls "extraordinary lengths to appear CIS [female]". This includes starting to take estrogen hormones age 17. Age 21 Teddy was "discovered" as a model in 2015 by the Creative Director at Louis Vuitton. She hadn't yet had SRS and recollects the horrendous problems that she faced in her first photo shoots:
Just a year later, age 22 and now post-SRS, she soared to a top 20 ranking by Model.com. Leading designers and fashion houses such as Monse, Gucci, Valentino, Dior, Caroline Herrera, Jason Wu, Jeremy Scott, Maison Margiela, Giambattista Valli and Marc Jacobs all competed to use the newcomer to model their collections.
In her early modelling shots, 180 cm (5ft 11 in) tall Teddy (right) has minimal breast development - her overall appearance is that of a rather lanky and skinny teenage girl, i.e. the perfect clothes horse. She later (left) had small breast implants of perhaps 150 cc. When Teddy outed herself as transgender after two years continuously as a top-100 model, she admitted that this may have harmed her career, and that she now expected to be "referred to as a transgender model, instead of simply a model". However, the modelling world seems to have taken to and protected Teddy in way that few, if any, other transgender models had previously achieved. She later recollected in an interview that for a few weeks photographers and show directors would congratulate her on coming out, but in the very next sentence they would still rush her off to make-up! There is also the possibility that transgender models are simply no longer big news, and that the industry has become accustomed to the fact that a substantial number of its top "female" models are transgender or intersex, but would prefer not to advertise this too much.
Acting
One rare exception is male actor Eddie Redmayne who unexpectedly appeared in the lead role in the film The Danish Girl - the story of the world's first post-SRS transsexual, Lili Elbe. Actress Nichole Kidman was previously expected to have the lead role. A gem for trivia buffs is that a female nurse was played by transgender actress Rebecca Root. Transwomen who have achieved some success as an actress include: Italian born Eva Robin's in films such as Belle al Bar (1994); Candis Cayne in several roles - most notably as the transwoman Carmelita in the television series Dirty Sexy Money; Pascale Ourbih in films such as Thelma; Aleksa Lundberg in several Swedish television series; whilst Spanish director Pedro Almadovar has frequently used transsexual actresses in his films, including Bibiana Fernández and Antonia San Juan - who emerged to fame thanks to her role as Agrado in Todo sobre mi madre. (All About my Mother).
Despite the complaints about cis women acting the role of a transwoman, there does seem to be an increasing prevalence of transgender actresses winning cis women roles. For example, Josie Totah as Lexie in Saved by the Bell, Hari Nef as Bex in Assassination Nation, and Jamie Clayton as Tess in The L Word: Generation Q.
By far the most commercially successful is German born Kim Petras, who had GCS age 16. In 2017 (age 25) she moved to the USA and was soon being called "the new Princess of Pop" by American magazines. Whilst she has a huge LGBT+ fan base, it's also certain that the vast majority of listeners to her songs (Clarity, Broken Glass, Villian, ...) aren't aware that she is a transwoman.
The
Sex Trade
The motive for going into the sex trade is usually financial. For many pre-operative women advertising themselves online, in the small ads or on the street becomes a reluctant but very lucrative option - particularly at a time when their normal day-time career maybe faltering and medical costs and other outgoings are soaring. It also allows savings to be quickly accumulated for expensive feminisation surgery such as breast augmentation, facial feminisation and gender confirmation surgery. Because of the financial attractions of the trade, and the potential loss of earnings after GCS, surgery is often deferred. Indeed, in Europe it is uncertain how many of the thousands of "shemales" from Africa and South America that ply this trade can really be regarded as transsexual, many revert to leading a "gay" but clearly male lifestyle as age catches up them.
Whilst there's much heated academic debate about the topic, the reality is that there are many instances of non-transsexual gay men living as a pre-GCS 'shemale', often working in the sex trade. Some such men eventually decide to go all-the-way and have GCS (often but not always eventually regretted), while others stop taking female hormones when they reach a certain age, get any breast implants removed and transition back to living as a man. A further uncomfortable reality for academics is that some post-SRS transsexual women actively seek and enjoy a life as a female prostitute, it combines sexual pleasure as a woman with financial reward.
One avenue of employment that until recently was effectively closed to transsexual women is professional sports. Transsexual women are not competitive in men's events, but were barred from women's sports due to sex tests. However, in May 2004 the International Olympic Committee decided to allow transsexuals to compete in their re-assigned sex, and governing sports bodies around the world have since been busy changing their rules to conform to this. Many Olympic events (e.g. running, wrestling, shot-put and martial arts) and professional or semi-professional women's sports such as tennis, golf, football (soccer), basketball and cycling now face a gradual influx of top-ranking women who are transsexual, although their transsexuality may not be public. The potential for an amateur sportsman who has a sex change operation in her 20's or even 50's to then make a good living as a professional sportswoman has been proven by the examples of Fallon Fox (martial arts), Mianne Bagger (golf) and Alicia Rowley (tennis).
Beauty
Pageants Rumours that Miss France 2001 - Elodie Gossuin - was a transsexual woman were unfounded. However there is an increasing expectation that before long the winner of a major beauty pageant will be a transsexual woman - if it hasn't actually already happened.
However, the ever increasing legal recognition around the world of transgender women as ... women, has made it difficult to enforce a "natural woman" rule . Most competitions have already given up on disbarring contestants if they've had cosmetic surgery as detecting and enforcing this has proven to be impossible. Even defining cosmetic surgery is problematic - where do you draw the line when faced with everything from a minor nose procedure to major surgery to create a vulva. Threatened by legal challenges, in 2012 the organisers of the Miss Universe and Miss World pageant began accepting transwoman as contestants.
"Housewife" is not technically a paid job, but traditionally associated with a woman whose main occupation is caring for her family and managing household affairs, whilst her husband or partner goes out to work. I once made the huge mistake of suggesting - based on my life after marriage - that "housewife" was a rather boring and repetitive role, and unfortunately implied that it was not a real job. In return I received a barage of criticism from many women, one pointedly stating that "I am not just a housewife, I am an accountant, nurse, negotiator, cook, and driver". Nevetheless, a surprise since 2000 has been the upsurge in woman deciding to adopt the traditional housewife (tradwife) role, despite (or maybe because?) all of the feminism and equality campaigns that discourage this. Transwomen are certainly in the lead in this regard, with many who were well paid professionals pre-transition becoming post-transition housewifes, homemakers and carers who earn little or nothing themselves, and are financially dependent on their husband. A married transwoman who had previously worked as a very stressed social worker told me that "transitioning and becoming 'just' a housewife saved me, I've never been happier".
My Employment Experience
I was working as a fairly well paid IT professional when in late 2000 I made the "definitely this time" decision to transition. I sent my CV with my forename name changed to "Annie" to several job agencies. Just a few days later I was contacted by a London based bank and arranged to meet a representative in connection with a short-term contract. The interview was awful - I was terribly nervous and having to tell him that I was a transsexual woman nearly had me in tears with stress and worry, but I got the job! I started my job just after New Year 2001, and for the first time I was living, working and socialising as a woman 24 hours as a day. However, whilst I knew that I was doing a good job workwise, it was also obvious that I was not passing. My voice was an immediate give-away and I became afraid to speak, whilst the skin of my face and neck became just a large rash from excessive close shaves. Compliance with the female dress code also involved tucking my penis for 12 hours, using a padded bra with adhesive tape to prevent it riding up during the day, and wearing shoes that were agony to walk in by lunchtime. It also took me two hours (including a workout) to get ready for work, so I was having to get up at 5:30 am in order to be there by 9:00 am. I was also half starved as I tried to keep my 5ft 9in frame to the ideal 140lbs weight recommended by magazines. If I was lucky I would be back to my flat by 7:30 pm. Then a low-cal dinner, perhaps some TV or all too often work, before preparing my outfit for the next day. In bed by 10:00 pm. It was a nightmare life - but I didn't have the time or energy to think about that!
In early April 2001 I took a substantial pay cut and joined a computer company in Ireland as an Account Administrator. I was still far from confident as Annie, and it soon became obvious that it was widely known by other staff that I was transgender. Unfortunately, business was badly hit by the tragic events of 11th September 2001 (aka 9/11) and in November I was again made redundant. At both the bank and the computer company my CV, qualifications and references had clearly revealed my background and despite promises that "aspects" would remain confidential, I wasn't sure that the promise had been kept. Unemployed yet again, I completely revamped my CV, cutting it down and removing from it details and references that would bring out my former male past, and instead emphasising employment by several companies which handily no longer existed, and post-transition references that I knew to be safe. Whilst my CV was now consistently female, my "value" on the job market was greatly reduced. I next had a short and disastrous period as a Teacher's Assistant at a small Nursery School. It seemed a good idea at the time as I wanted to work with children, but the timing was poor due to the laser treatment that I was having to prevent beard growth. The other staff yet again quickly realised that I was a transwoman and reacted rather badly to that, indeed their comments and remarks upset me a lot. I left after just six weeks, very depressed and without the encouragment of my boyfriend may well have de-transitioned.
I was finally starting to become happy with my life when unfortunately my boyfriend was told by his company that he would be relocated in early 2003. In December I reluctantly resigned from the college job and moved yet again. A few months later I began a part-time job as a Sales Assistant at a large toy shop. Over the next decade I worked myself up to the gidy heights of Assistant Store Manager, before eventually leaving for health and family reasons. Looking back, my income declined dramatically as result of my transition. At one point it was less than a third of what I had earned in my final year living as a man, and allowing for inflation it never rose back to more than half. Without the financial support of my boyfriend (now husband), my standard of living would have declined enormously.
UK Vocational
Qualifications Many
Colleges of Further Education, Adult Education Centres, and
commercially run education institutes offer part-time (including
night-school), full-time or intensive "fast-track" courses in a huge
variety of subjects which lead to recognised exams and qualifications.
Try to start obtaining
these qualifications before you transition full-time - thus
potentially avoiding months unemployed. Post-transition, the
college or education centre will reissue the certificate in your new
name if you have a Gender Recognition Certificate. (P.S.
this is a case of do so as I say, not do as I did!). |
If
you have any questions, or perhaps just want to know more about me,
please feel free to email me.
(c) 2000 - 2024 Annie Richards
Please send any comments, feedback or additions to:
Last updated: 13 November, 2020
Lea T
(left) was
born in Brazil in 1981 as Leandro Cerezo.
Andreja and Lea T laid the ground for meteoric rise in
2016 of
transgender model Valentina Sampaio. Five years younger
than both, by 2017 Valentina already had a collection of Elle
and Vogue front covers that any super-model would be proud of. 
In
1998-2000 the BBC real-life documentary Paddington
Green featured post-GCS transsexual 
It then took several months of job hunting before I was finally
offered a reasonably paid administrative position at a local college.
I started work in May 2002 and to my amazement, everyone was really nice
to me and I had no problem
integrating in to the nearly all female office environment. After
over
a year of brutal experiences, my passability - helped physically by an
orchidectomy, completion of laser hair removal, and the long-term effects
of hormones - was incomparably better than when I first
transitioned. What had been very scary 18 months earlier was now just
routine -
wearing womens clothes,
makeup, long hair, some jewelry, painting my nails ... . I
also had ceased to
go OTT, e.g. trousers and sketchers shoes became my default work wear.
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