By Jessica Hopper and Meghan Frank
Rock Center
Jin Xing is one of the brightest personalities in China today. She’s a film star, talk show host and celebrated dancer, but it’s her life off stage that’s propelled her into the spotlight. She was the first person to have a sex change operation in China, and go public with it. Seventeen years later, she’s become a cultural icon in China and the government even uses her as an unofficial ambassador of the arts.
“They want to tell the world, ‘We do have an independent, free artist like Jin Xing,” Jin explains.
Jin recently embarked on her first U.S. tour with her company, Jin Xing Dance Theatre. The premiere was in New York City, the place where she studied modern dance 20 years ago. Now 44, her return to New York fulfilled a promise she made and kept for two decades.
“When I left New York, I said, ‘I only come back [to] New York with my own dance company. I don’t even come back [to] visit,” Jin told Rock Center’s Kate Snow.
Her return to New York was also the first time she experienced the city as a woman. The last time she was here, she was a man.
From an early age Jin loved to dance and perform, but he felt different from the boys around him. He preferred playing with girl’s toys and wished he was a girl like his sister. One night during a thunderstorm, he ran outside in the hopes that lightning would strike him and transform him into a girl. To his dismay, nothing happened.
When Jin was nine, he was selected to attend a military school for dance, but his parents didn’t approve. When they refused to send him, he went on a hunger strike for two days.
“It worked. Then my mom said, ‘Okay, if you made a decision, you have to write a paper, promising you won’t regret your choices and you won’t put that regret on your parents in the future,” she said.
At the military school, Jin learned to fire a machine gun and blow up a bridge using a bomb, but most importantly, he learned to dance. The dance instruction was strict. The military instructors would tie each student’s leg to a vertical column so that they were forced into the splits.
“We are screaming and shouting, but the teachers, our teachers, are sitting there reading a morning newspaper and looking, ‘five more minutes.’ I think, according to America or western law, this is completely child abuse, no doubt,” she said. “But in China culture, you have to sacrifice.”
Jin threw himself into dancing. He thought if he could only become a famous dancer, people wouldn’t pay attention to his personal life. By the time he was 18, he had won acclaim as the best male dancer in the People’s Liberation Army. He was selected to come to America to study modern dance in New York City. He arrived barely knowing any English and said at first he felt overwhelmed.
“I was standing on Madison Avenue with my backpack…I see people rushing beside me. Then I say, ‘Wow, this is my city,” she said. “I [felt] a little bit lost because I was the best dancer of China…[but] nobody knows.”
Jin quickly found his footing, training with top tier dance companies and emerging choreographers like Mark Dendy.
“Jin Xing was amazing, is amazing, still amazing,” Dendy said. “There’s always a look in the eye when someone’s really, really great and we just say, ‘They’ve got it.’”
Dendy said that Jin’s speed and ability to use space set him apart as a dancer.
“Pirouettes, grand jetes… he had, she had amazing air,” Dendy said. “It’s the ability to go up in the air and have a cup of coffee and come down.”
Jin describes this time in New York as liberating but confusing. He began to date men but something didn’t feel right. He had big questions about his sexuality and his identity as a man. He wasn’t sure if he was gay, or if he was transgender and what should he do about it. He left New York for Europe, but after a few years he made up his mind to return to China and undergo sex reassignment surgery. Jin was 28 when he underwent the operation.
Jin’s mother struggled with her son’s decision. She was worried the surgery wouldn’t go well, and afraid for her son’s future. Jin was even more scared to tell his father, a former military officer and member of China’s secret police, about his decision to become a woman.
Jin told his father, “I become a woman. I become your daughter.” Jin’s father was silent for a moment, then he got a cigarette out and said, “Okay, finally matched.’”
Her father said, ”Strangely enough, 20 years ago, I look at [you], I was wondering, I have a little boy, but you behave everything like a little girl. So after 28 years, you find yourself, congratulations.”
Jin Xing became one of the first people to have a sex change operation in China.
The surgery went well, but there were complications. The operation damaged Jin’s left leg and she feared she might never dance again, but three months after the surgery, she was back on stage in Beijing.
Her performance prompted some to complain about Jin to Beijing’s cultural bureau.
“The best male dancer becomes a female dancer,” she said. “I think people tried to find different ways to find an explanation for me.”
Following her surgery, some said that Jin had sacrificed her body for dance or to make it more acceptable for her to date men. Jin quickly dismissed those claims.
“It’s completely for myself. This is my life. I have to [be] honest with my life,” she said.
Jin said at first, the Chinese authorities didn’t address her sex change.
“They stand back a little bit. One side, they appreciate me, still appreciate that I’m a good dancer,” Jin said. “But somehow, they have no comment, no opinion about my personal choices.”
In 2000, Jin Xing’s life changed again. She became a mother, adopting her son Leo, then her daughter Vivian and lastly, her little boy Julian.
She was content as a single mom, until she unexpectedly fell in love with a German man on a flight from Paris to Shanghai.
“I’m in the lounge and I’m waiting for boarding and a Chinese lady appears at the lounge. I wouldn’t say low key. She was wearing a long leather coat, miniskirt, leather boots, Louis Vuitton bag on one side and a Chihuahua in her hand,” said Heinz Gerd Oidtmann.
The two were seated next to each other on the plane and quickly connected. The next day, Oidtmann called Jin and asked her out.
On their first date Jin revealed to Oidtmann that she was once a man.
“I was shocked,” Oidtmann said. “This image of a sexy, attractive woman was gone and I was really confused.”
Oidtmann took a day to sort his thoughts but he returned to Jin and said that he wanted to continue to see her. A year later, he proposed and they’ve been married for seven years. But Oidtmann admits it’s still strange for him to see photos of his wife as a man.
“Somehow, I’m not really connected to that part of her life. I want to keep pure the female image that I have of my wife and it is very purely a female impression that I have of her,” he said.
It’s been 17 years since her sex change, and Jin Xing’s star continues to rise. In addition to dancing and choreographing, she’s acting in films and appearing on China’s versions of Dancing with the Stars and American Idol. Her popularity continues to grow and the regime that was once quiet on her sex change now pushes her out front as a cultural leader.
“They give me the space to become who I am in China as an independent artist and [at the] same time, I’m getting a lot of positive image [for China] as an artist, as a cultural ambassador for China,” Jin said.
The Chinese government, while more comfortable with Jin, still monitors her closely. She says the government watches what she posts on China’s version of Twitter and keeps a close eye on her dancing.
“In China, before all the performing arts are only used for propaganda use, but if the art form [is to] become independent, that takes a little time,” Jin said of China’s censorship.
And while Jin acknowledges that some people come to see her perform because of her personal transformation, it doesn’t seem to bother her.
“If my personal story can bring [the] public into the theater, I’m already successful,” she said. “Because after one and a half hour, they’re talking about my dancing, they’re not talking about my sex change.”
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Homosexual activist legislation forces everyone to entertain the delusions of a very small percentage of the population who define themselves based upon aberrant and mutable sexual behaviors. These laws lend official government recognition to conduct that every major world religion, thousands of years of history and uncompromising human biology have deemed both immoral and unnatural.
sorry Raymond, but thousands of years of fear, ignorance and power/rule by a corrupt and backward church have closed our minds to what science is just beginning to reveal if you have the courage to listen.
Sorry Donna, At present, there is no scientific evidence linking particular genes to particular sexual practices. But there is scientific evidence to the contrary. A sample of 90,000 identical twins (who have the same genes) shows no meaningful correlation of the sexual preference for twins raised apart. Fraternal twins had a higher correlation. If genetic determinism was true, there should be 100% correlation.
In contrast, a homosexual orientation seems to emerge in developmental stages. Individual choices and social environment profoundly influences the trajectory of development. Sexual perversions must be learned through experimentation and instruction. Such practices are subject to moral judgements.
I'm with Tarzan.....Military Dance?
I feel sadness and disgust but soon Jesus will be back to judge us all. Please come soon. This world has become Sodom & Gomorrah all over again.
Anais Zane, read my comments to Laureen below and repent of your unloving, hateful ways. May God not judge you with the same meanness you judge others with! Bless you :)
You're doing such a good job judging, Anais, that Jesus isn't going to come.
@Anais Zane (56) I totally agree. But have you noticed that whenever anything is said about God, people act as if you just said that you murdered someone? She said soon Jesus will be back to judge us all, and that this world has become Sodom and Gomorrah all over again. I'll add one more. The hearts of many have waxed cold. For Rick - 881466 (56.2) I hate to disappoint you and those who believe as you do, but Jesus is coming again.
We have lost touch with God...we are made male and female and resurfacing does not change our identity. Very sad for this man. Cultural derangement is what it is.
@ Laureen...we are now finding scientific evidence that it is possible to be born this way (trans, gay, etc). Although the religious right does not agree (still even with scientific evidence), I as a (former) religious person, recently discovered my child was really a boy born in a girls body and I can tell you it redefined EVERYTHING I thought I believed. What would it feel like for you Laureen to have your child tell you this news? What would you tell a mother like me? Be careful where you place judgement... God rebukes those who judge others! Educate yourself, find out the facts before you jump to such harsh conclusions. I did and I am better for it, amen!
I thought god works in mysterious ways? How can we lose touch with something we don't really understand?
Maybe God's touch is what made Jin want to have gender-reassignment surgery?
thank you & bless you...
Well, she had balls.
just another boring news story about some weirdo
Why the sense of urgency in all of these hetero males to proclaim that there's no way they'd be attracted to this person? Who cares? It is about the journey and about the dance. None of us really care to whom you are and aren't attracted and I'm not sure why you feel the need to post about it on a public board. Respect this person's journey, even if you aren't attracted to her and even if it is far different from your own.
Then tell MSNBC NOT to post this garbage as well.
Gosh wouldn't it be awesome if MSNBC did a post / article about your journey trolling on boards and saying all kinds of derogatory things about people? Wouldn't that just make your family and God so proud to know of all the hate you spew?
You are an idiot John. God I trust, godless entities and people like you are morons and hate filled and therefore not trustworthy. Talk about "trolling", it appears you are the "troll" spouting hatred.
Hi Yoda & Ruken..I used to think that too..until my child informed me that she was transgendered (really a he). When something like this happens to someone close to you or (heaven forbid) yourself..you have no way of knowing what you will do. It has changed everything about what I believe regarding transgendered people. A trans-woman once said, "Do you think people would consciously choose this life?" And my answer is no...it is chosen for them. We can choose to stay in denial or ignorance or we can educate and liberate ourselves from fear and hatred of those born different from us. I hope you choose wisely as I have done.
She's chinese - who cares?!?!
NOT "Born This Way": Sexual Identity Confusion Related to Emotional Trauma
Peter Dimrock (MSW) said:
"Many men who were sexually abused (especially those abused by other men), are confused about their sexual/affectional preference."
(The National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization (NOMSV) website)
NOT "Born This Way": Sexual Identity Confusion Related to Emotional Trauma at Very Young Ages
Author and AIDS victim Jerry Arterburn said:
"I was involved in the homosexual world as a blatant attempt to obtain the affection from other men that I did not receive from my own father."
Due to his sensitive nature, he was more deeply affected than most boys when his own father rejected him early in life. Without a loving father figure, he yearned for affection from other boys by the age of six. His yearning became sexualized at puberty. He said being abused or severely neglected in childhood was "too common a thread to ignore" in the gay community and his female mannerisms were due to his mother, his only role model. He was NOT born gay.
Good for her,it must be torture to be trapped in body you know is not right..Anyone with any brains would not make a derogatory remark to me about anyone.Be proud girl,be very proud...
Ridiculous. People through all history made it through life without "sex change" operations. These kinds of people are mentally confused if not outright disturbed. They simply want attention.
Next we will have men undergoing sex change operations and wanting to compete with women in the Olympics, Tennis, and other arenas. And if you don't like it then they and other idiots will raise hell about it.
NOT "Born This Way: Emotional Trauma as Young as 4 Years Old Related to Sexual Identity Confusion
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 2009)
"One half of the victims...often linked their homosexuality to their sexual victimization experiences."
"The age at the time of the molestation ranged from 4 to 16 with a mean age of 10."
"Being supportive of the basic civil rights of self-identified gays and lesbians does not require a belief in the false notion that homosexuality is invariably fixed in all people. It is not. Patient self-determination, the cornerstone of all mental health professionals, must rise above the political debate."
"Like most psychiatrists I thought that homosexual behavior could be resisted, but sexual orientation could not be changed. I now believe that's untrue - some people can and do change."
(Archives of Sexual Behavior 2003: 200 Participants Reporting a Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation)
"Born This Way" is UNSCIENTIFIC
Gay activist and scientist Simon LeVay said: "It's important to stress what I didn't find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn't show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain." "Gay activism was clearly the force that propelled the APA to declassify homosexuality".
Lesbian activist Camille Paglia said: "Homosexuality is not 'normal.' On the contrary it is a challenge to the norm...Nature exists whether academics like it or not. And in nature, procreation is the single relentless rule. That is the norm. Our sexual bodies were designed for reproduction...No one is born gay. The idea is ridiculous..."
Lesbian activist and biologist Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling, referring to the "born gay" argument, said: "It provides a legal argument that is, at the moment actually having some sway in court. For me, it's a very shaky place. It's bad science and bad politics."
"Born Gay" is UNSCIENTIFIC
"There is no support in the scientific research for the conclusion that homosexuality is biologically determined."
A. Byrd, PhD, Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine
W.C. Holmes, MD said:
"Abused [male] adolescents, particularly those victimized by males, were up to 7 times more likely to self-identify as gay or bisexual..."
The article was confusing because it kept calling the man "her" and "she".
To the people debating the brain-gender nonsense, brain-gender isn't a scientifically definable sex-characteristic. It's like asking if I'm an honest person. As a sentient being, I can say whatever I want the researcher to hear. Biology defines gender in our society.
With the above psycho-babble garbage, and make no mistake about it, psychology isn't even a science, any man could say he's a woman inside and go compete in the LPGA or WNBA. It's the most ingorant, attention-whore seeking bullcrap I've ever heard in my life.
Start a 3rd league for these mutants.
Well guys this one sounds like a man ...not sure about the one for the beauty pageant....i guess when u go out ..clubbing....u should make the girl provide a birth cetificate to prove sex at time of birth and it must be an original NOT A COPY OR NEW ONE
all of you are missing the true gem in this story. it's not about some guy getting his junk rearranged it's about his parents getting in writingthat their child who maybe about to make bad choice put it on paper that they would not come back on them later and bitch and complain because they f'ed up.it taught him/her whatever responsibilityfor their actions and to pardon the pun man up and own their decisions.i applaud his/her parents for providing that priceless bit of information.every parent that has a kid in college taking basket weaving 101 or dead languages sign a similar document promising not to mooch off their parents when they are unemployable later.
What would Mr. Rogers say?
Would you be mine.....
Once again, those who disagree are ignorant.
Do those of you who espouse this constant party line realize how far over the 'freedom for all' line you've really gone?
We are ALL given the right to an opinion, and NO, to find this idea of not being comfy in your own skin, and actually having things changed, does NOT make anyone ignorant.
It makes them happy in their own skin, and left wondering at the idea that a man would have things removed. No one's stopping anyone from doing this to themselves, so stop with the YOUR IGNORANT statements.
You can't fathom people being happy with how they were born, that's your problem. You constantly try forcing your opinions on the rest of us, and deride us when we don't agree. You accomplish the opposite of the eutopia you imagine possible by doing so. What a bore life will be if that ever happens.
I'm not a man. I've known a transgender. Found myself very curious, and spoke at length to "her" about why she did it, especially at age 58. She was a jet mechanic, and constantly had huge bruises on her arms, much more so than someone else in the same age group. While I can say sure go ahead, it doesn't affect me in the least, I do wonder how her sons handled it. She said they were fine with it, as was her ex wife. But man, what a mind bender that had to be initially.
We used ID badges, and we were all in the habit of referring to them as a man number. NO one complained, not even the female mechanics. Only this trans gender made an issue of it. I thought about that, and realized it spoke volumes about personal happiness, and demands for acceptance.
I also happened upon this thought. While it's trite and maybe not the best statement made in mixed company, I'm going to do it anyway.
Don't DEMAND I consider you a woman when you've never had the pleasure of even one monthly period.
Now go voice your opinion, and let everyone else do the same.
GOOD FOR THE FATHER OF THIS CHINESE TRANS-WOMAN! HE ACCEPTED HER AFTER HER OPERATION SO WHY CANT HALF THE PEOPLE ON THIS POST? Cmon people..educate and liberate yourselves from ignorant, harsh, judgemental thinking..I did!
A wonderful story about how a woman's perseverance pays off, especially in the face of her own personal struggles.
But, of course, on these boards, it denigrates into the lower denominator. Yeah, I used to feel similar thoughts about Trans folk...heck, I was raised to feel visceral hate for anyone not firmly in their male/female 'box'. Bit of a shame really, as I wasted several years of my life mired in bigotry. Nice to see someone not deterred, and in China, no less.
For those of you filled with disgust and loathing…you’ll only succeed in crushing your own spirit, and further magnify your insecurities, and fears. Not a pleasant way to go through life.
btw - I am transgendered.
"Chinese dancer returns to US as a woman"
LOL! Woman? A man who had his penis cut off is just that: A Man Who had His Penis Cutoff!
Wake up America! The media is programming us so that we will become indifferent to these stories and eventually accept this lifestyle "choice" as normal. Nope.
Hilarious; the fact that you are 20 to 30 years behind!