If being transexual is so dangerous, why would anybody go in for that lifestyle?

[Drathnoxis]

Whenever there is a thread on transsexuals, people always bring up how persecuted they are. How you can get harassed, assaulted, raped, or murdered just for being trans. In a recent thread someone listed some numbers. I didn't fact check them or anything, but here they are.

http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf

This might go a little further towards establishing a trend.

35% of trans people surveyed have been physically assaulted during K-12, 12% have been victims of sexual violence. 61% have been the victim of physical assault, and 64% have been victims of sexual assault at some point in their lives.

1/6 transsexual students have changed schools because of harassment (by students and teachers).

To my knowledge this is slightly higher than normal.

So, if being trans will get you such horrible treatment, why even do it. It's not like there isn't a choice, nobody is forcing trans people to trans(EDIT:transition). You can either have an incredibly high chance of being persecuted or just don't get the surgery, don't take the treatments, wear clothes that society deems appropriate for your birth sex, keep your head down and blend in.

Sure, you may not get to live your life with the body you want to, but is it really worth all the time and money when all you get out of it is harrasment and abuse? It's not like it comes as a surprise how poorly treated trans people are.

So why would anybody look at all the mockery in the movies, abuse stories in the news, read all the horror stories on the forums and then think "yeah, I want in on all that"?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I know right? It's almost as if they don't feel like they have a choice, and aren't simply doing it to be whimsical.

Crazy world.

 

[Queen Michael]

Well, why do people do crystal meth, or get drunk in dangerous areas, or keep smoking a pack a day? People have a tendency to think "It won't happen to me."

And it's not as simple as "Live a trans lifestyle, get killed. Don't live a trans lifestyle, don't get killed."

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I don't like the idea of living in a world where we can't learn to let people live freely and honestly. No laws are being broken,[footnote]Humane laws that is, there are exceptions everywhere when it comes to social policy enforced by the police... -.-[/footnote] no lives are being taken away and no tax dollars are being spent when someone decides to transition. It is a social taboo and, just like homosexuality, its going to take time for it to be recognized as acceptable.

There is a lot of work to go towards making this a safe world for trans people obviously. It isn't a safe world for homosexuals yet, we still see conversion therapy talked about in troubled households. I can't speak for the transexual population but the biggest reason I see people willingly taking the decision to transition and risk the persecution is because lying to oneself and others for years is a prolonged ordeal whereas at least they can be who they are when they open up. We are capable of making the changes to make the world safer for the people who already live in it. This isn't a population that just came out of nowhere, they've been underground for far longer than most would acknowledge.

So while I'm not going to say 'everyone who's finding themselves' should take the plunge to swap genders immediately; I would hope that we can at the very least get to a place where if that is the path to an honest and happy life, they can do it. When they do transition, it would not be an unreasonable expectation that they can live their life as an individual and be seen as one without being buried in a stereotype or being abused whenever they let their guard down.

We don't have that world yet but as a part of the population that isn't touched by the issue personally I still find it morally wrong to suggest being who you are is something you should hide out of fear.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Because people wanna do what they wanna do

You can't keep a person from doing something because usually that's even worse

People gonna people

 

[Sleepy Sol]

I know right? It's almost as if they don't feel like they have a choice, and aren't simply doing it to be whimsical.

Crazy world.

Damn, Guppy. You shut this shit down immediately. Fierce.

This thread feels like pretty low-quality bait, but yeah. That's probably about all that needs to be said.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I'm more confused about the concept as a whole. Most of the people who would supposed transsexuals are also the ones who say that gender is only a social construct. What does it mean to 'feel like a woman' if feminine archetypes are only a product of society? How can you 'feel like a man' if masculine traits vary wildly between any two given societies?

It seems more like people who claim to be transsexual just feel like they lack the stereotypical male/female traits that most people exhibit or expect and conclude that they're the one who is flawed as opposed to the distinction between men and women being mostly arbitrary as far as personality goes.

 

[Evonisia]

This makes the choices seem like:

"Reject the person who you truly are, and suffer by concealing your identity to everyone, and hell maybe even yourself. Chances are you're going to get mental issues off of doing this."

or

"Be the person who you are, and suffer because society sucks right now. Chances are you're going to get mental issues off of doing this."

 

[JimB]

What does it mean to 'feel like a woman' if feminine archetypes are only a product of society? How can you 'feel like a man' if masculine traits vary wildly between any two given societies?

That's a question I had for a very long time too, Kopikatsu, until someone explained it to me this way. Are you familiar with the phenomenon of phantom itch? If you're not, it's a sensation experienced by some amputees, who get the obviously mistaken but still undeniable sensation that their missing limb is itching. Who the hell knows for sure why that should happen, but one theory is that the human brain has a map of its own body, and when the body doesn't match that internal map, it can cause some people enormous distress, be it physical or psychosomatic or what have you.

As it has been explained to me, gender dysmorphia is related to that body-mapping mechanism in the brain. The brain has an image of the self that the body doesn't match up to, and that incongruity feels...well, no one has ever explained that feeling to me in terminology I can relate to, but it seems to be pretty damned unpleasant if thousands of dollars of elective surgery to turn one's genitals inside out seem like the preferable solution.

 

[Angelblaze]

You're essentially saying that people should stop being who they are because society sucks.

In that case, speaking as a black woman, if being black is what's going to get you shot and killed/tortured by police, why be black?

Oh right. Because what I am is not a crime and what I am is who I am and it does no harm to anyone, but the people shooting people like me because of ignorant behaviors and the fact that they can get away with it because there are people in society with a-lot of power who are like minded (at least, when the cameras are not on them) is despicable.

Your post is, in my opinion, just another way to shame those people for their lifestyles and choice by implying that if they do change and get attacked, its their own fault. If they don't change and get mental illness because they don't feel right about themselves, live a life riddled with unhappiness due to a disgusting amount of society being okay with their oppression, and live how you say is 'safe' (despite the fact that everything you said could also be implied as living as anything other then a majority group in society, in this case a white heterosexual male and even then you are not totally and completely safe.) then they are 'living correctly'. Hating themselves, things around them and the life they are forced to have because the world would hate them any other way, but hey, they are alive right?

 

[Skatologist]

So, if being trans will get you such horrible treatment, why even do it.

I don't know, same reason gay people do it(being gay) I would suppose, just being yourself.

It's not like there isn't a choice, nobody is forcing trans people to be[footnote]FTFY[/footnote] trans. You can either have an incredibly high chance of being persecuted or just don't get the surgery, don't take the treatments, wear clothes that society deems appropriate for your birth sex, keep your head down and blend in.

That sounds like a rather sad state of affairs when you'd likely not want to do any of that and I'm guessing promoting such an attitude toward transfolk would likely cause or reinforce suicidal thoughts and tendencies. You're essentially saying these people not only don't have any hope but will never have any in the future.

Sure, you may not get to live your life with the body you want to, but is it really worth all the time and money when all you get out of it is harrasment and abuse? It's not like it comes as a surprise how poorly treated trans people are.

Regarding your 1st sentence: I don't really think it is for myself as a non trans person to dictate how trans individuals should value all the issues regarding their gender and sex and will therefore not encourage them to basically "stay in the closet" for their entire lives when in a (more) just world, they wouldn't have to do such a thing in the first place.

As for your 2nd sentence: I've been fairly surprised by it, at least coming from someone who feels gender identity ought to be as mundane a thing as something like eye color or shoe size and not something that can essentially excuse your murder case in 49 out of 50 states. Yes, I'm not only surprised by the things trans people face, I'm livid enough to give half a damn and want such things to cease.

So why would anybody look at all the mockery in the movies, abuse stories in the news, read all the horror stories on the forums and then think "yeah, I want in on all that"?

Yes, because obviously those things made people want to be trans, they weren't, I don't know, trans in the first place? Revolutionary idea, I know.

 

[xmbts]

Well most of the lazy metaphors have been taken so I'll just say it bluntly, burying an aspect like that to the point of self denial is emotionally damaging to the point of severe depression, many trans people do keep a lid on it for long periods of time and most suffer for it.

And beyond that ignorance shouldn't be tolerated to the point of forcing people not to live their own lives, more exposure could help people learn more about it, which would in turn would lead to more widespread acceptance. You can already see this happening in the gay community.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Yeah, you seem to have some misconceptions on what it means to be trans. This thread comes across very much like "Have you tried just not being gay?"

Being trans is something that you are. Transitioning is something that you choose, via hormone therapy, surgery, or whatever.

Why do trans people transition given the difficulties they'll face? Better people than me to answer that question, but it's pretty evident that they must decide that the discomfort of living as the wrong gender is worse than what they think society will deal to them. I don't have the statistics, but I remember reading that transitioning reduces suicide rates a lot more than trying therapy trying to accept their biological gender. Which is largely why the US has banned it as a form of treatment.

EDIT: Ninja'd a couple times it appears

Gonna be honest, I think you might actually be trying to be savvy here and are playing devils advocate. Directly bringing parallels to old "Why not just not be gay?" thing from decades ago.

Decades ago? I've seen it here in my time on the Escapist. Sometimes I forget just how fast societal perceptions change

 

[Asita]

Anyone else's mind flash to X2? Because my mind flashed to X2.

Spoiler

Or to be a little more blunt about it, I'm sure that most people would choose not to have gender dysphoria if given the choice. They aren't given that choice, however.

 

[Dalisclock]

I think a better question is: If someone is trans, why is it anyone elses concern? What are they doing that is so terrible that nessicaties (some people) persecuting them, harassing them and/or murdering them? How hard is it for people just to let other people live their own damn life the way they choose? You know, instead of blaming the victim?

 

[Erttheking]

You might as well ask "Why would you be gay?" To some people not being able to be yourself is worse than death. That's what happened with Leelah Alcorn. She couldn't be herself, she couldn't be accepted by her family, so she killed herself.