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shocking ignorance of transsexuality.

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  • 24-10-2010 12:50pm
    #1
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    Sorry to the mods, I know the thread was locked but I can't let the shocking display of ignorance go unaddressed. in the thread if you found out your girlfriend was a transsexual what would you do, there's just so many arguments being put forward from people who really don't have any idea what transsexuality is or what trans people go through, and just being plainly wrong about what is involved in transition. and some silliness about a cat man. so I really have to clear up what misunderstandings I can

    I'll start with chromosomes,
    Cavehill Red said here:
    They're not women on the chromosomal level, which is the one that defines gender.

    it is a plain fallacy that chromosomes define gender. there's a great amount of variety in chromosomal makeup, it's not just XX and XY, but a number of others like XXY etc. you can't point to someone's genetics and say that they're male or female, the spotted history of gender testing in sports is a testament to that fact.

    here's an interesting read for you, XY woman gives birth to XY daughter:
    A 46,XY mother who developed as a normal woman underwent spontaneous puberty, reached menarche, menstruated regularly, experienced two unassisted pregnancies, and gave birth to a 46,XY daughter with complete gonadal dysgenesis.

    If you define male as someone having XY chromosomes, then you are saying that this woman is a man which would be absurd. for transgender people, it makes little difference. I may or may not have XY chromosomes, but I don't really care because it does not define who I am.


    next, there's plenty of talk about how transgender people should be encouraged to feel happy as they are, and that counseling is an option instead of transition, which is impossible and also assumes that they 'are' the gender they were assigned birth. psychological treatments for transsexuality have NEVER been successful, because it's not a psychological problem, it is something physical.

    there's a steadily growing amount of scientific facts to show this:
    Transsexual gene link identified
    Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus
    Male-to-Female Transsexuals Show Sex-Atypical Hypothalamus Activation When Smelling Odorous Steroids
    Regional Grey Matter Variation in Male-to-Female Transsexualism
    A sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate nucleus: relationship to gender identity.
    White matter microstructure in female to male transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment. A diffusion tensor imaging study.
    A Sex Difference in the Human Brain and its Relation to Transsexuality
    Gender Identity and phantom genitalia
    Typical female 2nd–4th finger length (2D:4D) ratios in male-to-female transsexuals—possible implications for prenatal androgen exposure

    Male to female transsexuals are female in a very real way, transsexuality has shown to be related to intersex conditions, and is considered by many a form of intersex. it is something that is present from birth, and cannot be altered or "fixed" with psychological methods. attempting to treat it as a mental illness has caused incredible amounts of suffering and subjects these men and women to torture. please read this article The Gender Gulag: Voices of the Asylum

    It is not a 'belief' it is a biological fact that transsexuals are men and women who are born with conflicting anatomy.


    now on to the straw man, sorry I mean cat man.
    you can't compare the cat man to transsexuality. as we understand transsexuality, it is something that happens in fetal development where the body is only partially masculinized. all humans start out female with internal genitalia, some will later become male or stay female. sometimes the brain doesn't become masculine along with the body, or sometimes the body stays female and the brain becomes masculine. there's many ways that people can be born not typically male or female.

    in order for the straw man comparisons (sorry, cat man!) to be serious, there must be some biological stage of fetal development where the body develops as a cat, and that the body image wired into the brain prenatally is that of a cat. which is why the cat man comparison is just silly nonsense, a sensationalist straw man.


    but in reference to the cat man, Cavehill Red has said here:
    Cat Man has had extensive surgery to more resemble what he truly believes he is. This process is identical to that undergone by transgender people.

    this is just completely wrong and shows total ignorance of the process of transition. there's also constant references to surgery, mention of silicon tits, and this just seems to show the common misunderstanding that what trans people go through during transition is purely surgical. it's not, and many trans people will not have surgery at all for a variety of reasons. it's very sad that people hold this kind of misconception. there's also a lot of ignorance about how much of your body is shaped by your hormones.

    What needs to be understood is that hormone replacement therapy changes the body significantly.

    For a male-to-female transsexual what happens during HRT is that breasts will develop the same way that a cisgender woman's breasts develop during puberty, and will take 4-7 years to fully develop, there will be no biological difference between the breasts of a transgender woman and a cisgender woman, and the trans woman will even be fully capable of breastfeeding a child.

    other changes include body weight redistribution, where the body fat distributes more to the hips and thighs, so that the body shape becomes typically female. skin completely changes, becomes soft and feminine. body hair reduces and becomes softer. body odor, pheromones and the oils that the skin produces become typically female. muscle mass decreases and overall musculature becomes typically female, even bone density changes. many, many changes happen, all having the effect that the body becomes female in every capacity bar reproductive. a transgender woman who has undergone hormone replacement therapy will smell and feel female.

    none of this has anything to do with surgery!

    the Olympic games allow transgender people to compete as their identified gender after that have completed their transition. a transgender woman has no physical advantages over a cisgender woman. transgender woman Mianne Bagger is a professional golfer who competes with other women.

    you can see some of the physical effects of HRT in my thread this is what the transition looks like when a boy becomes a girl.


    and lastly
    to anyone who thinks it's clever to call transgender people "it" and joke about hurting them, trans people suffering enough abuse and bullying every day without you smart alecs adding to it. being called an it isn't funny when a transgender person is attacked in a bathroom and 'it' is carved into their chest. I'll just say to you:

    HATE KILLS

    sorry again mods, but this needs to be said.
    Tagged:


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