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LadyPact -> RE: Prejudice in the lifestyle. (10/3/2017 10:09:12 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: bounty44
a website devoted to the "fucking idiots"
http://www.sexchangeregret.com/
Out of curiosity, did you read any of the site? Poke around any of the tabs or anything like that?
In my opinion, it's not entirely bad. I'm not big on any reference site that comes across as a promotional tool for an individual to sell books. I'm going to take that preconceived opinion off of the table for this. (I'm not big on anybody pushing their opinion as "research" when it's abundantly clear they are looking to sell their own publications.)
Other problems I had with it: Everything in the "Examples" tab was old, unsubstantiated, or had some problem at verifying. The one case that I could find independently, was a very specific example of Alan Lynch, who admits to having 'learned to give the right answers' to professionals in order to transition. Kind of blew it for me because if we're going to discuss potential regret, wouldn't we be better off talking about folks who didn't lie to the professionals that they were working with?
Horrid statistics. The owner of the site can't seem to pinpoint anything and has some of the worst percentage gaps I have ever seen. Direct from the "Research I've Learned" tab:
quote:
International research suggests that 3-18% of them (transsexuals) come to regret switching gender.
I didn't miss a character (number) there. That's a 15% gap. What kind of "research" can't get better results than a 15% variable? In addition, this is also based on an article that is thirteen years old. The article from which the page was based on specifically says, "Dr Hyde said: "The bottom line is that although it's clear that some people do well with gender reassignment surgery, the available research does little to reassure about how many patients do badly and, if so, how badly." That's not science. That's people throwing darts at a board and figuring which number they *think* it might be. In fact, two of the articles linked as references list the estimate as 5%.
The site makes no distinction in two important areas. One being that no distinction is being made between cases of individuals who use the recommended course of care for transition. The other is that other factors, (i.e., societal, familial, etc) are included for reason for regret, rather than focusing on the individual acceptance or refusal of the new gender identity. I understand that it's hard to do that because it's difficult to separate the issues, but I find the lack of such distinctions makes the data inconclusive.
I'm even going to go so far as to say this one. I'm a person of faith. At the same time, the underlying message of 'it' just a matter of turning to God' is NOT how we treat physical or mental health issues. It's just not a comprehensive course of action.
Those were just the big points. I don't even have the energy to go into the smaller ones.
As I said in the beginning, I am not saying that everything included in the site was wrong. I actually do agree that those with gender dysphoria benefit from proper care, rather than run out and get SRS without a treatment plan. While I empathize that the former, (a proper treatment plan) can be a hardship because it takes longer, it also has substantial benefits.
I also agree that we shouldn't look at gender dysphoria as a 'stand alone' condition. Whether we look at the entire thing as cause and effect or there are other issues that individuals are dealing with, we shouldn't look at SRS as a cure all or waving the magic wand so all associated conditions go away. It's way more complex than that. A person who is clinically depressed (chemical imbalance) isn't going to be "fixed" because the person takes the measures for their care regarding gender dysphoria. That's not even beginning to address cumulative experiences related to the difficulties of being trans* or how that person is going to face issues of lack of acceptance post SRS. It's not the golden ticket of 'all your problems will disappear'.
It was buried in there, but I find it to be correct that SRS is not the answer for everyone. Some people feel best with their own identity, treatment, and management decisions *not* to have SRS. It's really not the best decision for everyone and a person should evaluate the best way to deal with the condition.
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