While I certainly wouldn't consider being trans to be fashionable or
fun, the "born in the wrong body" language is not true of all trans
people. The definition I prefer to use when I do trans education[1] is
that a transgender person does not identify with the sex they were
assigned at birth. I don't like to create a litmus test of who gets to
use the transgender label beyond that. I simply want everyone to be free
and safe to live as their authentic selves.
- Pax
[1] Such as my Transgender Gap presentation at WikiConference North
America:
https://wikiconference.org/wiki/Submissions:2016/The_Transgender_Gap:_Trans_and_non-binary_representation_on_Wikipedia
On 1/13/17 10:11 AM, Isarra Yos wrote:
Sadly there's a lot of confusion about this, which seems to be caused
by a trend of... I guess you might call it fake allies? Where people
consider it to be fashionable to be non-cis, so they idolise being
trans, instead. This seems to go as far as those involved believing it
really is a decision, where if someone wants to be trans, they can be,
and they can be totally comfortable in their body and still be trans.
But that's not how it works. It's being born in flat out the wrong
body, which is neither fashionable, nor as I understand it, remotely
fun in any way.
And frankly this only makes things worse for those who truly do
experience dysphoria, to the point where people don't believe them
when they try to get help, or even come to believe the entire thing
isn't real. Not good.
On 10/01/17 20:21, Pax Ahimsa Gethen wrote:
Being transgender is not an "ideology" or a matter of "sexual
confusion", and many people detransition because they cannot fit into
the binary gender expectations of our society.
This is a cissexist post that contains language offensive to many
trans people (including myself). I am surprised to see it approved on
the Gendergap list (which I just joined recently).
- Pax
On 1/10/17 12:12 PM, Carol Moore dc wrote:
And if you think that's complicated, wait til all those transwomen
and transmen start detransitioning back to their "natal sex."
(Especially lesbians who decide that they've been pressured by sex
stereotypes and society to reject their butch nature and want it back.)
A topic that probably will be covered more in the future than here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexual#Regrets_and_detransitions
One bio where this sort of thing might be relevant is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Arquette where Alexis' well
known sister and brother (as well as boyfriend) stated to RS that
Arquette was beginning to reject the ideology and even to
"detransition." So if someone decided to take on that, obviously it
would be an interesting discussion of RS, rumor, accuracy of
sources, etc.
Of course, detransitioning will be more in the younger generation of
notable personalities. Older generations often had decades to think
about it before they took concrete transitioning steps. (Though lots
of RS keep waiting for Caitlyn Jenner to do it so they can make
money covering that side of the story.)
Today a lot of sexually confused young people have been led into it
by advocacy groups, school counselors, doctors - and even parents
who would prefer their child be of the opposite sex (sometimes
because they are terrified otherwise the child will be gay!)
Then as they go into their late teens and early 20s they are
becoming more independent and able to judge how much others
influenced them. Some already are considering lawsuits against
schools and advocacy groups they feel pushed them into a decision
they now regret.
So this is a whole new area with lots of personal accounts and
mainstream RS sources, though I'm sure it may be a while before
anyone safely could expand that section of the article, create a new
article, or write much about detransitioning celebrities.
--
Pax Ahimsa Gethen | http://funcrunch.org
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