onceburned -> RE: forced feminization (7/8/2005 4:15:05 PM)
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There are others here who can probably answer this better than me, but I will respond in the meantime. quote:
ORIGINAL: Omnesub You say they aren’t comfortable living the gender that they were born… but the gender isn’t anything more then a word. It’s a starting point for the world to base their perceptions on. I’m not sure that the presence of the male appendage is so life altering in day to day living (other then hormonal). Okay - You seem to be confusing gender and sex. Sex has to do with the physical body, gender is mental and psychological. Gender is more than a word - it has to do with how a person perceives the world (not the other way around). quote:
No amount of wishing or self hate or surgery is going to change the body build you were born with (though, you can change a few more cosmetic things…the frame isn’t going anywhere). "Self-hate" is a value-laden term. It is a charge that many would find offensive. quote:
This again comes back into perceptions of yourself…. There is a certain point where you just have to look at yourself and say “well…this is what I have…better make the best of it”. I think this is something transsexuals have to struggle with - how to make the best of an awful situation. Some commit suicide, some turn to drug and alcohol abuse, others attempt transition. Those who try to tough it out with their birth sex hope that they don't wind up killing themselves. quote:
Like I said before…if your characteristics are feminine then embrace what you are and be what you are (there is nothing wrong with that). If you feel a need to look nicer, dress better, behave outside the “norm” of your gender… those things are simply a part of who you are and they cant be “wrong”. Okay, now you are introducing the notions of feminine and masculine, which are different from sex or from gender. Feminine and masculine are cultural stereotypes of how male and female behave and think. quote:
then there is the issue of taking things to alter your characteristics… Hormone treatments, as was said before, would alter your sex drive and skin and many other points. The question is…is that really you? Or is that a you which you wish you could be? I think it is both. Taking estrogen or testosterone when your body doesn't produce it is an extreme thing. Its not something to do lightly. But it is the only treatment which has been shown to help reduce the disjunction between a transsexual's body and mind. quote:
instead chasing after an ideal vision of what you wish you were. That is another value-laden phrase. I don't think transsexuals are chasing after some ideal, some pie-in-the-sky dream. Rather, they are simply attempting to survive. Its basic quality of life vs non-life. quote:
To live a year as a female isn’t something I would turn down …but…in the end I know that’s not who I am (even if I could fool myself into accepting that new self as me). Then this all just a game to you. quote:
It makes me wonder if this is what happens here…as a young person matures and tries to see who they are…they see the feminine qualities in themselves. Trying to “diagnose” those into a label…they manage to identify with the other gender. If a person believes they are transsexual they should get professional gender counselling to help them sort through their beliefs, attitudes, perceptions etc. You may be unaware, but there are standards of care for the treatment of transsexuality.
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