What would you say to a "transage" person if you met them? Would you show support for their so-called identity or would you refer them to a psychologist? I personally would do the latter tbh. I'd tell them that there's no such thing as trans-age and they need to grow up and act like a mature and productive member of society.
If I just met them, I would probably just said "okay", "what do you mean?", then "uh huh". I have little desire to tell strangers what to do with their lives. Now, if they started demanding my support, or saying they were oppressed, I would say "fuck off and die" in the nicest way possible.
You might have wanted to put a definition in the OP because I didn't know what the hell transage was. I don't know much about it but I'd say they'd benefit from seeing a psychologist. Sure people act younger and are immature but you physically can't go back to being younger so if you have mentally then something has gone wrong. I don't think that telling them to "grow up and act mature" is a progressive way to go about it because if there is something psychologically or even physiologically wrong with them then telling them to "stop it" is going to do more harm than good.
I mean, I feel like that is a personal issue that they have, but it IS the way people used to view LGBTQA+ people, and I feel like a hypocrite saying that there is something wrong with them.
If it's like the 'adult baby' role-playing I've seen, I'd politely ask them to stop using the 'trans' label as people keep getting it mixed up with 'transgender' and it's obviously not the same. They're not actually a baby so I think they'd be able to understand that. That being said, I wouldn't ask them to stop the 'adult baby' role-playing as it's their life.
Everyone has the right to self determination, but facts are facts; show me the birth certificate. Maybe I would ask him his age, find a planet in the Solar System where their age would be approximate to what they feel they are (e.g. if they are 20 Earth years old and feel they really are an old soul, I would say that they are in fact 80~ (Mercury) years old).
Ditto. I don't like being rude to be. I don't like telling people what/who they can or can not be. But it's hard when a 40 year old is dressing as a 7 year old and demanding respect. Granted said person might have a mental condition, then that would be understandable. But someone who is of sound mind and says that is just fucking with ya
This is a bit harsh don't you think. Like if a gay/bi/lesbian person says hey transgender people, stop putting your T on the end of our LGB, your issue is gender not sexuality. Anyway you're not really a man/women etc. This wouldn't be acceptable in the LGBT community and so I don't see why discriminating against someone else is. But the T isn't for Transage! Nope and the B isn't for black but that doesn't mean that we accept racism in our community either. This rant partly stems from my dislike of the LGBT branding so don't take offence that I quoted you as my example but seriously do we as a group really need to go out finding others to judge and ostracize?
I probably wouldn't say anything since it's none of my business. At the same time, I wouldn't take it seriously and entertain the idea that a 40-year-old who insists they're really 8 should be admitted to the 3rd grade. There's a line between rationality and mindless indulgence of delusion. I'm also not of the belief that anything anyone does at any time is automatically deserving of respect.
Okay, serious question here: is this thread going to do anything other than serve as some vent for people to get riled up and point fingers at (not saying that I'm on either side, but jeez- I'm agreeing with Calf here.)?
Um, I probably wouldn't want to interact with them, to be honest. Like, I wouldn't be rude to them and tell them they are mentally ill, but I wouldn't acknowledge that they are the age they say they are either. I would not tell them to go consult, because I feel someone else would probably have said it already. On top of that, it's their life. I don't like getting told what to do, so I don't do it to others if they're not harming anyone.
I would ask some questions to figure out why they identify as an 8 year old and figure out what it means to them trying to be open minded and avoid hurting them, if they try to compare it with being trans, I would ask them when did they start identifying as transage and ask them will they still identify as transage in 8 years when they would technically be adults? How would their behavior change? Do they understand that some 8 year olds behave like adults and many adults behave like children and that certain behaviors are nothing more than stereotypical schematic behavior that is associated with children and very few children actually behave in such a way. I would go out of my way to defend children from being judged through demeaning and hurtful stereotypes that takes away their uniqueness as individuals and tries to cast them into certain socially constructed roles! Ok, to be honest, I would probably just avoid the subject and behave sweetly like I try to do with every person I interact with, adjusting my speech patterns and demeanor to how I perceive their psychological and emotional age.
I had to google transage to get any idea what it means. The question is a bit more complex than just yes/no. My reaction really depends on the mental state of the person. Do they actually genuinely believe that they are of different age than they actually are OR do they recognize the reality but just choose to do some kind of fantasy play (albeit taking it a bit too far to my taste). If their perception of reality is distorted by them actually thinking that they of different age I would consider this a psychiatric condition. If it is on the other hand just a play, then I don't see why to intervene if it makes them happy and they don't make the society pay for their hobby. It is likely that they probably have some kind of psychological problems to begin with but if the fantasy play makes them happy I don't think it's necessarily ethical to try to break their fantasy. However, I refuse to play along with a delusion: a 52-year-old man is not a 6-year-old girl.