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Would you still feel dysphoria if...

Discussion in 'Gender Identity and Expression' started by Space Cat, Oct 25, 2016.

  1. Space Cat

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    If every single person you met perceived you as the gender you identified as, regardless of what you looked like, would you still feel dysphoria?

    I think mine would be lessened quite a bit in most aspects, but I would still want a flat chest and a straight figure...
     
  2. Vincentt

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    Yes, I would. I pass over half the time when I'm in public and actively trying. But no matter how many "sir's" and "him's" I get, it still leaves me dissatisfied to look down at my body and see a female.
     
  3. EverDeer

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    I'm not sure because, hypothetically speaking, if every person could tell just exactly how everyone felt all of the time and was accepting and validating of it, then I'm not sure "transgender" would exist, because there would be no reason for people to feel any kind of social disconnect. Perhaps, "transexual" would still exist, as just because you are seen as how you feel doesn't mean your body would be/feel right...but in a society where that was completely normalized, then maybe it wouldn't even be called dysphoria anymore, it would just be another facet of body dysmorphia because the mental identity part wouldn't be an issue, but I'm not really entirely sure.

    Interesting to debate I suppose; to anyone who disagrees, I mean no offense as this is coming from someone who experiences little to no body dysphoria and mostly just social dysphoria. To those who do experience body dysphoria, do you believe if you were always accepted as the gender you believed you were your entire life and were never told that your body was wrong in correlation to your gender, or if the subtle nuances of gender were so easily detectable that humans didn't even really need to discern biological sex and therefore it didn't matter (aka, if no human was ever taught that certain bodies were boy bodies and certain bodies were girl bodies) do you think you still would have developed physical gender dysphoria in relation to your sex? Because I'm not sure if I would've because if it just didn't matter to anyone I probably just wouldn't have even taken the time to think about it.
     
  4. Space Cat

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    I've been thinking about this lately, wondering what the world would be like if this was the case. That some people had these parts and some people had those parts, and that was that, with no such thing as being imposed a gender based on said parts. Maybe in the distant future people will look back at how they gendered everything and say, "Why did we make such a big deal about this?"

    It's interesting to see someone with similar views.
     
  5. SystemGlitch

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    Social dysphoria might not exist, but body dysphoria definitely would for many trans people. For a lot of trans people, their brain is telling them "no, you are meant to have THOSE parts, not these ones!" since their brain is hardwired into believing that they are male/female/NB/etc. Imagine it as if you woke up one morning and you now had three arms - the rest of the world is entirely convinced that it is perfectly okay for someone to have three arms, but you look at that arm and you KNOW it isn't meant to be there. It doesn't matter how many people say "that arm is fine, you don't need to get rid of it, it doesn't change who you are and we won't treat you differently than people with two arms"; you still feel uncomfortable and possibly embarrassed because of that third arm, because you just cannot reconcile in your head that you are meant to have three arms.

    So, while I think I'd be insanely more comfortable going out and interacting with people, I think I would still feel very uncomfortable in my body and feel dysphoric about my "third arm"s. I'd probably still want to alter my body to fit my brain's view of my body.
     
  6. tom rose

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    I think i would definitely still feel dysphoria. I don't get that bad social dysphoria in comparison to body dysphoria. i always think if i was on a desert island with no one around i would want hormones and surgery still for sure. in a lot of ways it would make it easier as I wouldn't have to deal with society's notions around what it means to be trans, or the fact that my sister's struggling with the idea of me changing.

    I once read being trans and associated body dysphoria, as like the experience of having a phantom limb (this is when someone has lost of limb and can feel it even though it's not there - this can happen even to people born without the limb). It's like that for (some) trans people, a body they can feel but isn't there. I don't think society's expectations are the reason people want to transition. though that's just my opinion tbh.
     
  7. Synesthesia

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    I don't think so, I have impulses and desires to do things sexually with body parts I don't have, meanwhile do not find the idea of doing things with certain body parts I do have appealing. I do plan to put up with that but... I don't think it's socialised at all :/
     
    #7 Synesthesia, Oct 25, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2016
  8. BrookeVL

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    That would definitely be nice, but not enough. I'd still have my brain telling me "You aren't supposed to have that, you're supposed to have this." So it would help, definitely, but I'd still have a desire to transition.
     
  9. EverDeer

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    Ah okay, that makes sense how it's more of a phantom limb experience then rather than an ingrained social correlation, I hadn't really considered that since pretty much any body dysphoria I feel is a result of how others view me.
     
  10. Space Cat

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    Everyone's different. Sometimes I find myself getting the phantom limb experience, and sometimes I don't. My physical dysphoria is pretty bad, but the social is generally much worse; maybe not for someone else. ^^
     
  11. ghostchiryou

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    My dysphoria would probably be lessened, but I'd still probably have some, due to wanting a flat chest ;v;
     
  12. darkcomesoon

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    I'd still have dysphoria, but it would be more manageable. Misgendering makes me think more about my physical dysphoria, which is why it makes me uncomfortable. If I never got misgendered and everyone saw me as a guy, I would have less reason to think about my physical dysphoria, but it would still be there.
     
  13. AmyBee

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    I'm not really sure. I'd love for the social dysphoria to go away and so that would be nice. At the same time, I have body dysphoria. But maybe if everyone went ahead and perceived me as my gender then I would be more free to express myself physically than I am. So maybe one would help with the other.
     
  14. Alder

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    It would be a lot better, definitely socially, but I would still feel dysphoria and want certain parts of my body to be different.
     
  15. Mihael

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    I don't feel dysphoria in the first place. Who cares about people? Let's blow this system up.
     
  16. hollabackboy

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    I think a lot of the gender-related dysphoria would go away, and I'd definitely wear more makeup. I'd still have dysphoria, though, in the sense that I wanted to look like all the male rock stars I look up to, with that straight, almost rectangular skinny figure. Absolutely the opposite of the chubby curvy hourglass thing I have going on right now. (I feel like there are so many girls who would probably love this body... wish I could just give it to them)
     
  17. Kodo

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    It would help to reduce social dysphoria, because that is what we are talking about here. However, I would still have a lot of personal and physical dysphoria that needed to be dealt with.
     
  18. Glowing Eyes

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    I still would.
     
  19. Gabri3l

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    For me, yes I still would. It all boils down to just the overall feeling of "being in the wrong body," and therefore having the wrong genitalia kind of deal; but that doesn't mean living in that kind of society wouldn't help me at all. It would definitely make the dysphoria more bearable, and I would feel more comfortable and safe expressing who I am.
     
  20. BenFreeman

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    Heres something for you to ponder...
    I don't entirely pass, especially not from the front. Now...I am kinda on the large side. But I bought an extra small packer: because I'm just shy like that. So I can wear it without anybody knowing that its there. But it makes me feel like a million dollars and I can't go without wearing it.
    I guess that self perception is just as important as how others see you...