I think some transmed views stem from a sense of false scarcity. People think that including individuals who don’t have dysphoria will create a shortage of treatment options for those with dysphoria. This is false.
There is no shortage of hormone therapy or treatment. The availability of medicine will increase with demand. So others seeking treatment will actually increase available treatment options over time.
Other transmeds seem to be taking a stance that I call the “oppression olympics”. Saying “I have it worse than you because ____”. The philosophy is “I had to suffer so others should suffer like I did” instead of “I had to suffer so I don’t want others to suffer like me”. I get that on some levels. It can be really hard to see someone easily navigate the road that you have been down. Except when you went down that road it was a mess of your blood sweat and tears. Maybe you feel bad about yourself, maybe you feel like you’re not good enough because it was so hard for you but so easy for them. I get that, but also you should take a step back from your hurt feelings and think. It’s not bad that they had it easier than you. It’s bad that it had to be so hard for YOU. It should have been better for you but it wasn’t. You can’t change that. What you CAN do is try to make it easier for everyone coming after you. Or...you can be a transmed and try to make it harder.
Honestly I think the most major and necessary factor of trans medicalists is internalized transphobia. On some level you think being trans is wrong and bad. So you need to see people suffering enough to be allowed to transition. If being trans was completely acceptable you wouldn’t be policing it like you are.
Well, being trans is not bad and wrong. We shouldn’t need to suffer to be trans. I hate my dysphoria. It has made my life so much worse and there is nothing I can do about it. If one of my children was transgender I would hope that they didn’t have dysphoria. I would not teach them that they needed to be in constant pain before I let them seek treatment. I would listen to them and give them options and let them choose how they want to proceed.
I also think the transmed view is harmful to people with dysphoria. People socialized as female are taught to hate their bodies to the point that even cis people experience dysphoria. Cis men are catching up to cis women in body disturbance, too. Meanwhile Transmeds set up this weird dynamic that keeps people from exploring their gender and finding what is right for them. It keeps people from being satisfied and finally enjoying their body and coming to terms with what they can’t change. It’s elitist and ignores transgender people in poverty or trans people who can’t safely transition for any other reason.
Furthermore there is safety in numbers for all of us. We have such a small community. The suicide rate in our community is obscene! Not to mention all the violence directed toward our community. The rejection our community members experience leads to more mental and physical health problems and poverty and death than ANY other demographic (those numbers become equal to the rest of the population if they have a supportive environment). We don’t need to perpetuate rejection INSIDE of the community. I for one will welcome every single trans person under this umbrella. We need everyone. We need the weirdos, we need the as*holes, we need the fashionistas, we need the people that can’t be bothered to present traditional genders, we need the lazy people, we need the advocates, we need the guy that changes his name every two weeks, we need the trans people that perform drag, we need the trans folks with dysphoria and we need the ones with gender euphoria.
Being trans is great and I demand more trans people!
08 Jun 2019, 3:35 pm
to all.
