So this might be controversial, but I've been thinking, and I feel the need to ask a question to transgenders, so here goes:
Why do you feel it necessary to indentify as the opposite gender, instead of just being a feminine guy or a masculine girl? Is there something else which makes you trans other than your interests or personality being masculine/feminine?
It has nothing to do with interests or personality. The reason we transition is because we experience dysphoria with our bodies.
> Is there something else which makes you trans other than your interests or personality being masculine/feminine?
Yes...
>"Our study is the first to show a female brain structure in genetically male transsexuals and supports the hypothesis that gender identity develops as a result of an interaction between the developing brain and sex hormones" - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7477289
>"A limbic structure of special interest in this regard is the sexually dimorphic central subdivision of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTc), because its size has been related to the gender identity disorder transsexuality" - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11826131
>"In the human brain, structural diferences have been described that seem to be related to gender identity and sexual orientation" - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15724806
>"We propose that the sex reversal of the INAH3 in transsexual people is at least partly a marker of an early atypical sexual differentiation of the brain and that the changes in INAH3 and the BSTc may belong to a complex network that may structurally and functionally be related to gender identity " - http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/131/12/3132
>"These findings provide new evidence that transsexualism is associated with distinct cerebral pattern, which supports the assumption that brain anatomy plays a role in gender identity." - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2754583/?tool=pmcentrez
>"Our results show that the white matter microstructure pattern in untreated FtM transsexuals is closer to the pattern of subjects who share their gender identity (males) than those who share their biological sex (females). Our results provide evidence for an inherent difference in the brain structure of FtM transsexuals" - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.05.006
>>6316902
>"The present findings of somatostatin neuronal sex differences in the BSTc and its sex reversal in the transsexual brain clearly support the paradigm that in transsexuals sexual differentiation of the brain and genitals may go into opposite directions and point to a neurobiological basis of gender identity disorder" - http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/5/2034
>"The responses of our twins relative to their rearing, along with our findings regarding some of their experiences during childhood and adolescence show their identity was much more influenced by their genetics than their rearing" - http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2010to2014/2013-transsexuality.html
>>6316905
So you would support making brain scans a requirement to get HRT/SRS, if and when we have the ability to identify these features in the brains of living individuals? Would probably save a lot of headaches for people who end up regretting transition.
>>6316916
diff anon but Yes I would, it would basically finally separate us from the queer fucks who give us a bad rep but currently the only way to know so far is to dissect the brain as brain scans are not high tech enough to detect it.
>>6316870
Pretty much this. All the social bullshit is peripheral and not central to gender dysphoria. Being a male or female gives us intense emotional pain and distress so we transition to make our bodies less like the sex we were born. Being perceived and treated by cis people in the same condescending and disdainful way they treat gender nonconforming men and women feels really fucking shitty when you identify as the opposite gender.
>>6316916
If it was proven by studies that transition regret rate and lack of those features correlate, probably, yeah.
>>6316916
>Would probably save a lot of headaches for people who end up regretting transition.
Transition regret is seriously overblown. Transition regret is *maybe* 1/100 cases. Furthermore, in the majority of those cases what people describe is not the realization that they're cisgender, but the realization that their life has gone to shit because society is fucking disgusting in its treatment of trans people and they pine for easier times. As such, actual false positives for treatment are at most *fraction of a percent* of all cases. An MRI of the head runs $1k-$5k. Mandating such a test is ridiculously cost-inefficient at that price to catch a fraction of a percent of people, especially when HRT already weeds out the majority of people who are actually cisgender long before they reach surgery.
>>6316986
well also MRIs can't detect the part of the brain that shows if you are trans or not because the resolution/tech is not good enough.
You know what? I don't know. I just do. I definitely get the worry about us just enforcing stereotypes and I'm determined not to be a stereotype. I just want this. Does this makes sense?
Yeah, I've moved past caring about why I'm trans because it doesn't particularly matter. If there was some breakthrough treatment that cured all trans feels I'd still probably rather just transition because I'm content living my life the way I am. It sucks sometimes, sure, but I honestly don't think that's anything inherent about being trans so much as it is being treated like trash by society at large and internalizing some of the awful things people say.
>>6316986
I'm gonna shitpost right here...
https://thirdwaytrans.com/2015/06/29/regret-rates-are-not-the-sole-measure-of-outcomes/
Can't speak for every trans person, but I tried the feminine guy route. It worked for a while but ultimately it wasn't enough.
What really opened my eyes was one instance where I took part in an amateur drag show. Being referred to as a woman, even in that context, felt really good, and really... I don't know, right. Not too long thereafter I went to therapy and got on hormones. Haven't looked back since.
So yeah. It's like...being trans is more than just liking girl stuff over boy stuff, shit like that. There's so much disconnect between mind and body.
>>6316916
No because fuck that. People can do whatever they want with their own bodies. I dont need or want some doctor to give me permission. There's already enough gatekeepers for trans people seeking treatment.
>>6316847
I don't "feel like a girl in a man's body" or any of that crap, I just like having tits, and having people call me girl names, and dresses and makeup and nails.
It's just easier fit in if I say "I identify as a woman".
>>6316847
>identify
the legit way of getting toward SRS (and HRT) requires me to identify that way on paper
i don't want to get into a romantic/sexual/spiritual relationship while lying about myself
being a fem guy is still a guy, still lying and invalidating about myself
i want all the people around me to stop talking about how i'll be a wonderful boyfriend/husband and keep introducing me to girls every so often
>trans
please look up the criteria for gender dysphoria diagnosis in the DSM
>>6316847
>Why do you feel it necessary to indentify as the opposite gender, instead of just being a feminine guy or a masculine girl?
because playing pretend got hard and I can't be someone's boyfriend or some child's father like the rest of society expects me to be because of how I look and not how I feel
>Is there something else which makes you trans other than your interests or personality being masculine/feminine?
literally everything about my life since I was small.
