Kim Petras
Encyclopedia
Kim Petras is a German teen pop
singer. She creates electronic dance pop music and is signed to independent record label Joyce Records. She has been the subject of extensive worldwide news media reporting regarding her transgender
medical history in the context of her young age.
In 2008 she released two more of her compositions, this time produced by Görg. The first, "Last Forever", was released online and became popular on YouTube
and MySpace
. A few months later in September 2008, she released her first commercially available CD single, "Fade Away", into the German market. The title track from the single was also made available for download worldwide via a number of online electronic music retailers.
Joyce Records has announced plans to release a debut album for which Petras is currently working on new songs.
On 17 April 2009 the previously free promotional track "Last Forever" was made available on iTunes Germany.
center) in Hamburg
by Dr. Achim Wüsthof. However, it wasn't until the following year, aged 14, that Petras gained worldwide attention from the news media. This came about after she appeared in a German television documentary and a talk show in a push to get permission for early gender reassignment surgery
at age 16. According to German law, a person must normally be at least 18 to be allowed to undergo this kind of surgery.
The publicity generated from the 2007 TV appearances resulted in many news articles about her gender transition at age 12 and describing her as the "world's youngest transsexual". This assertion, however, is inaccurate, as gender identity disorder
is often diagnosed in early childhood and transition by children under 12, though uncommon, is not unknown. However, Petras may have been one of the youngest people at that time to receive female hormone treatments.
In September 2007 she was a model for a nationwide chain of German hair salons.
Petras turned 16 in 2008, and announced in a November 2008 post on her blog that she had recently completed her gender reassignment surgery. The story hit the news media on 4 February 2009 and appeared in newspapers worldwide, even making the front page of some. A common theme of these articles is that Petras may be the youngest person in the world to have had gender reassignment surgery
Petras is very adamant that her gender has always been female. In an interview about her surgery she stated "I was asked if I feel like a woman now - but the truth is I have always felt like a woman - I just ended up in the wrong body".
Teen pop
Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards teenagers. Teen pop copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop, country and rock....
singer. She creates electronic dance pop music and is signed to independent record label Joyce Records. She has been the subject of extensive worldwide news media reporting regarding her transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
medical history in the context of her young age.
Early life
Kim Petras was born on 27 August 1992 as Tim Petras. Her parents, Lutz and Konni, have said that from the age of two, she began insisting she was a girl. It slowly became apparent this was "not just a phase" and so her parents tried to be supportive but made her wear gender neutral clothes in public. Eventually her parents sought professional help but struggled to find people who were knowledgeable on the subject. In time they found Dr. Bernd Meyenburg at Frankfurt University who was head of a clinic for children and had studied transsexuality since the 1970s.Music career
In 2007, Petras recorded a few home videos of herself singing, and uploaded them onto the internet. Her videos, which included some of her own compositions, were seen by German music producer Fabian Görg. He subsequently signed her to his independent record label, Joyce Records.In 2008 she released two more of her compositions, this time produced by Görg. The first, "Last Forever", was released online and became popular on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. A few months later in September 2008, she released her first commercially available CD single, "Fade Away", into the German market. The title track from the single was also made available for download worldwide via a number of online electronic music retailers.
Joyce Records has announced plans to release a debut album for which Petras is currently working on new songs.
On 17 April 2009 the previously free promotional track "Last Forever" was made available on iTunes Germany.
Extended Plays
| Year | Information |
|---|---|
| 2011 | One Piece Of Tape
|
Singles
| Year | Information |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Boomerang
|
Die For You
|
|
Last Forever
|
|
| 2008 | Fade Away
|
Publicity
In 2006, Petras, then aged 13, made her first significant media appearance in a story on Stern TV, a German television current affairs show. In it, she described her "gender transition" and the medical treatment she received at the Endokrinologikum (endocrinologyEndocrinology
Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions called hormones, the integration of developmental events such as proliferation, growth, and differentiation and the coordination of...
center) in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
by Dr. Achim Wüsthof. However, it wasn't until the following year, aged 14, that Petras gained worldwide attention from the news media. This came about after she appeared in a German television documentary and a talk show in a push to get permission for early gender reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
at age 16. According to German law, a person must normally be at least 18 to be allowed to undergo this kind of surgery.
The publicity generated from the 2007 TV appearances resulted in many news articles about her gender transition at age 12 and describing her as the "world's youngest transsexual". This assertion, however, is inaccurate, as gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...
is often diagnosed in early childhood and transition by children under 12, though uncommon, is not unknown. However, Petras may have been one of the youngest people at that time to receive female hormone treatments.
In September 2007 she was a model for a nationwide chain of German hair salons.
Petras turned 16 in 2008, and announced in a November 2008 post on her blog that she had recently completed her gender reassignment surgery. The story hit the news media on 4 February 2009 and appeared in newspapers worldwide, even making the front page of some. A common theme of these articles is that Petras may be the youngest person in the world to have had gender reassignment surgery
Petras is very adamant that her gender has always been female. In an interview about her surgery she stated "I was asked if I feel like a woman now - but the truth is I have always felt like a woman - I just ended up in the wrong body".