Caitlyn/Bruce Jenner...

I thought Gender and sex where different. If they are why would one change ones appearance to fit into a Gender role ?

This is an interesting Cracked article about being transgender; Five Shocking Realities about Being Transgender that the Media Ignores.

From my reading of that, I understand the condition a bit better, but I'm still fairly unsympathetic. Until further scientific evidence and research indicates otherwise, thinking of yourself as male when you're female or vice versa is a psychological problem, like it or not.

I freely admit my gender bothers me; I don't ascribe to traditional female stereotype (as a huge amount of women like me also don't, I'm sure). Several posters here have been surprised to find out I'm female (in spite of taking my name from a wood nymph in Greek mythology)

If I were to indulge this fantasy that we can somehow be born the "wrong gender", what's to stop me from deciding now that I'm a man; damaging my relationships with my boyfriend, my parents, my friends and start trying to look like a man too? Where do I draw the line; cage fighting? Rape? I literally can't think of any serious exclusively manly pursuits... that's how blurred the distinction between genders has become. Oh, maybe w*nking, but even then I'd have to go as far as getting the operation to actually be able to do that.

All the evidence points to 'transgender' people being seriously deluded, and I don't think society enabling them like this is a good thing. Pumping oneself full of testosterone does not a man make, it makes a woman with a hormone imbalance which could potentially be harmful to their health. We're born a certain way, it doesn't matter what genitals we have and surgically interfering with our bodies should be reserved for actual medical cases where it is necessary. Psychological help is what is needed, but of course our septic, USA-led world has started pandering to anyone with a couple of quid and a mental illness without taking two seconds to evaluate whether the serious medical risk is worth it for an irreversible superficial change.

I'd love to know the statistics around how many post-op people have a change of heart after they've been mutilated beyond repair.

darkpagandeath wrote: »

I thought Gender and sex where different. If they are why would one change ones appearance to fit into a Gender role ?

It has nothing to do with gender roles

Lyaiera wrote: »

The science says transitioning is what works. And how that happens is individual to everyone.

Well that's because people are so stupid that they'll make a whimsical decision to cut their penis off and then regret it for the rest of their lives. It's like getting a tattoo; how will you know in fifty years if it was just a stupid phase you were going through at the time?

In the article I posted in my original diatribe, the transgender person says one of the treatments for gender dysmorphia is to discourage cross-dressing. To discourage it. Because if you spend a load of time looking at yourself as a stereotypical man/woman, you're obviously going to feel more strongly that you should be that gender. You're normalising your mental illness. It can be very difficult to come back from that sort of self-inflicted conditioning. It's like you're brainwashing yourself.

Chloris wrote: »

.. what's to stop me from deciding now that I'm a man; damaging my relationships with my boyfriend, my parents, my friends and start trying to look like a man too? Where do I draw the line; cage fighting? Rape? I literally can't think of any serious exclusively manly pursuits... that's how blurred the distinction between genders has become. Oh, maybe w*nking, but even then I'd have to go as far as getting the operation to actually be able to do that.

Rape is the second most masculine pursuit that comes to your mind?

Good Christ. Put down the Internet ffs.

The worlds most annoying family is very much still ........ the worlds most annoying family.

When is his obligatory reality TV show being shot?

Links234 wrote: »

I'll let you in on something, I don't think about it either. I go about my life and don't even think about my gender or sex or whatever, it doesn't really matter or factor into anything, I just feel normal. This wasn't always the case of course, I started HRT over 4 years ago now, and before that I felt what I can only describe as a state of constant distress that begun at puberty. I felt like something horrible was happening to me, and wouldn't stop, it just kept getting worse and worse. I can't possibly describe what that feeling was like, how painful it was to suffer through, and what an unbelievable relief it is that it is gone, that now I'm in a position where I don't really think about it.

That's what it is like being trans. I didn't go through everything I did because I sat around one day thinking "Hmm, well I really like to cook, so..."

Jesus Christ that's what happens to literally every teenager. You feel uncomfortable in your skin, you're awkward, you have identity issues. From the sounds of it, I should have gotten your treatment too. But I didn't, because we have the freedom to choose whether to power through and come out a more resilient person, or to rely on medication and hormone treatment and never know if we could have been a stronger person without them.

Stheno wrote: »

Maybe you should read your links before posting them to back up your argument?

The article states, fair enough, it's not a mental illness. It then goes on to emphasise that it causes severe stress, anxiety, depression... It leads to people to cut off their junk, to inhibit their sexual development - there's something questionable about encouraging that.