• PolarPerspective@discuss.online
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    1 year ago

    People didn’t talk about wanting a sex change, but loads of us hated our bodies and wanted to wake up in different ones. Given the option and institutional support and reassurance that transitioning would help us, many of us probably would have been convinced to do so

    This is actually one of my primary concerns regarding transgenderism in the modern day. I think it’s a tool in the toolbelt for when it’s necessary. I also think it’s a tool we reach for much more often than is necessary.

    The comparable example I like to give is adhd. It isn’t binary. You don’t just have it or don’t have it. Some people have symptoms that need no intervention. Some people have symptoms but are misdiagnosed as adhd. Other people get by with therapy alone. Yet others find medication necessary to be functional.

    Giving gender affirming care to all people with gender or body dysphoria is like giving high dose Adderall to all people who have trouble paying attention in history class. It’s the nuclear option, and you’re using it on someone who may not even have adhd, or may not require such a strong intervention.

    I know everyone hates this word, but starting with more conservative treatments first is the norm throughout healthcare for exactly this reason. We’ve made an exception for transgender people for political reasons, not scientific ones.

    • breadcodes@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      You already have to go through tons of therapy and other conservative treatments before you get a sex change operation. That exists TODAY. Same with abortion.

      No one can get it on a whim. Doctors require requisites to make sure it’s right for you, and it should stay up to the doctors’ discretion.

      It’s nonsense saying it’s overused as if doctors and the patient don’t know what they’re about to go through.

      • Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I’m not the guy you responded to, but I have a similar concern…not with institutional gender affirming care, I don’t know enough about that to comment on it. My concern is with the social aspect, especially with kids. There’s no such thing as a feminine man anymore; now if you’re anything less than hypermasculine there’s pressure to announce yourself as trans. It’s silly, and it’s a fad, and I hope (and assume) our medical/therapy professionals are willing and able to see past it.

        • bane_killgrind@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          This isn’t the divide between the Catholic and Protestant church.

          Socially, strict gender roles are losing relevance. A well groomed man with long hair is just that. Nobody thinks it means he wants to be a woman unless they harbor the misogynistic opinion that women are defined by long hair.

        • chumbalumber@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 year ago

          What you’ve said doesn’t really seem to me to be true in the slightest. There are many, many role models of feminine men around (F1nnst3r for a very obvious example), and the nuances of gender expression allow this so much more than in the past. We have clear conceptual differences between feminine men, non binary people, and trans women, and people are more than allowed to fit into any category they like (or build their own!).