Sex and Meaning

Like most sexuality professionals, when I first heard that Dr. Phil chose to highlight the issues of transgendered individuals on his show, I was cautiously optimistic. I was looking forward to having this topic handled in an insightful and sensitive manner. I was unfortunately disappointed.

Throughout the show he kept confusing the terms sexual orientation with gender identity (who you are attracted to versus what gender you feel you are). Then Cameron — the shows guest who is female to male transitioning, was regularly referred to as “she” although he obviously presents as a male. In another segment Dr. Phil confuses the concepts of cross dressing with a person who is male to female transgendered.

It was as though Dr. Phil in all of his wisdom had no training in the subject (of course he didn’t) in addition to not at least prepping for the show with someone in the field who could help him identify such sensitive topics as how to refer to his guests appropriately and the definitions of the actual issues he was presenting on. Prior to this, I have written to the Dr. Phil show several times suggesting he contract with a sexuality expert to help him navigate these topics. This is not the first time he has botched a segment on an issue related to sex. While it is important that these topics get attention in the media, sometimes that notice can do more harm than good.