Wednesday, 18 April 2012
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Gender Identity Disorder vs. Gender Dysphoria
After a post I read, a piece written by a woman that talks about how she and her ex-husband/boyfriend had a lesbian experience, I had a serious attitude problem. At that point in time I read enough -- and enough was enough! I read this post and knew nothing about G.I.D (gender identity disorder), or G.D ( Gender Dysphoria); all I read was a man and a woman had a, "Lesbian experience", what? Come on!If you're born with a penis how the hell can you have a lesbian experience? This is ludicrous! So, I told this woman in a comment, in not so many words that, no, that was not a lesbian experience blah, blah, blah, and then I got bombarded by people who read up on G.D (by the way, the meaning of Gender Dysphoria according to the information I read in reference to Gender Dysphoria is, "-- discontent with their biological sex and/or the gender they were assigned at birth." Wikipedia is where I learned the gist of the difference of G.I.D and G.D) and they bombarded me with all this knowledge they have about this insanity, or so I thought at the time.
I don't like being ignorant and so I read up on it. Without getting too into it (feel free to read that link I provided in the above text if you want to know more), I found that gender can in fact be wired in such a way that causes a man or woman's sexual identity to differ from the sex they were born. And just because a person was born with a vagina or a penis doesn't mean that they are comfortable living in sync with that one part of their anatomy.
"Recent medical research on the brain structures of transgender individuals have shown that some transgender individuals have the physical brain structures that resemble their desired sex even before hormone treatment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity_disorder)."
That one sentence that reads above this paragraph had me thinking twice about my comments and attitude towards the idea of a man thinking he's a woman. If a person born male has the same physical brain structures that resemble their desired sex even before hormone treatment, then who's to say that man hasn't had a lesbian experience in some shape or form? Because of findings such as these, many people have denounced the terms, "Mental illness" or "Disorder" from this phenomena most call Gender Dysphoria.
One of the only and most practiced treatments that I read about was physical modification. Syncing the body with the particular individuals gender identity, opposed to the other way around. And this treatment is really more of a way for someone to feel more comfortable with the identity he/she identifies with, and believes to be.
These are my findings on the subject. Today I read a little bit about the difference between gender and sex because I wanted to educate myself a little more on people who have the right to be who they are. But in many ways, they have and are being ridiculed for doing just that. I give every good human being love and praise as long as they are willing to sit at the same table as me and not judge me for who I am, and what I do.
I guess the main point of what I'm saying is, just because I don't understand something doesn't mean it's wrong or ridiculous. I don't have the right to write off someone else's perception of their gender; I do have a responsibility, at least I think so, to keep an open mind and learn something about other people.
Would you be willing to date someone whose gender differs from their "sexual identity" at different times?
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- From: ctaretz@xanga
- Name: ctaretz
- About Me: I work hard and have devoted my life to finding success. I have a lot to say and want to be heard so I keep keep writing.
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Comments (32)
Thanks, you're indeed a great person. Any other would have close the mind and judge the topic as ridiculous just because affects to a smaller group of population.
Why I married my ex husband knowing he perceived him/herself as a woman? Becuase I was in love with his/her soul, it never mattered really which role male/female he was expressing, it was the same heart, the same soul and the same mind, those were the things I loved about him/her so the physical features maybe are not that huge deal for me once I'm in love.
Oh yeah and we got a divorce cuz he fell in love with another woman, nothing to do with his/her gender at all.
This is not letting me rec so I'm sharing the comment.
Mr. Carsten you definately come across as a very cisgendered heterosexual male, and with that being said, I thank you for your leadership in cyberspace by being open minded about these subjects without being patronizing about them so to speak.
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - I am glad for your sake that when it was time to move on from that relationship which you're describing, you did so without more anger or bitterness than necessary. From the way that you write about your ex, I just get that feeling, I guess.
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - I still find your story so fascinating. And who he was physically versus who he was sexually. You have got to be one of the most open minded people I know. Yet the dichotomy is you are also such a traditionalist. You rock Nadia!
Great post. Props for going back and researching.
Always very interesting stuff. Wanted to rec this but couldn't.
I agree with your conclusions.
@TheCellOfDougMoe@xanga - Thanks, well it was a very honest relationship and as long as the truth is over the table there's not much place for bitterness or harsh feelings. After all we were married for 12 years, I sitll care for him just not the same way :)
@ccrider17@xanga - Love isn't logical Carlos, I don't know how would have been my reaction if I wasn't so in love. Not open mind, I just was like any other woman in love :)
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - I respectfully disagree. Many a woman would have left and decided that while the heart was willing, the body / mind is too big a conflict.
@ccrider17@xanga - lolmaybe I'm the ilogical one...my heart always wins those battles you know and it's often not a good deal :P
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - But you stayed true to yourself. I so admire that in you. Therefore, my comment earlier "You rock Nadia"!
Great Post. I can not rec either...
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - @Cookstergirl88@xanga -@AmorVomnia7@xanga - @ccrider17@xanga - @TheCellOfDougMoe@xanga -
@sandww1 -
LMAO!!!!! What? This gets ridiculous sometimes... Go to a fuckin' dating site bitch! How's that for, "honesty, trust, love, caring, truth & respect...".@ctaretz@xanga - You know you are dealing with absolute spam when one of these try to seduce a general love-themed site. It's also a shame some spammemrs try and bring Yahoo int othis, too.
@mynameisblueskye@xanga - Seriously! Damn! I mean Chris, the rec button wasn't working for so many people for the post, including myself, and now I'm being freakin' spammed by a far from articulate spammer! LOL! I can only laugh and pray it gets better by tomorrow;..
Agree. Fear of what they cannot understand is what fuels so much bigotry. Just because I don't know what it's like to think I'm a man, does not mean that feeling is INVALID, DYSFUNCTIONAL, or WRONG.
I am starting to learn more about differences in life, though I have been aware of them in over the years. One being Asexual. It hit me pretty hard when I discover the existence of it and the meaning for it and I am still learning.
The hard part about understanding it; is it really medical problem or mental problem? Same goes for this as well. It is sad a lot of people aren't happy with who they are and what they are. We are born this way, there is a reason for it. Why change? Be who you are meant to be.... But people cannot accept it and look else where, which is their own choice. It is only sad for me to know people are like that.But I am not judging, I feel that way sometimes. I don't like being short but I accept it. I look another good way of being short. I can get into places that tall people cannot. ^,^Good post!I think you learned an important lesson... just because you don't understand something doesn't mean that it is wrong. I tend to look at the real results of something... if a person feels they are the opposite sex, what harm is that person causing others? I can't think of any real harm at all. For example, making your mom cry because she's confused that her child wants to be the opposite sex, isn't real harm. That's your mom's issues. She just doesn't want to change her thinking.
No, I probably wouldn't date someone born a woman. I would like to think I'd be that open-minded, but I tend to be attracted to men with really masculine features and I don't see that happening.
Liked this post. I didn't know that about the brain, thanks for educating me.
Yes actually I would date someone with gender issues, I imagine it would be challenging but if I liked them then yes I would give it a go.
I'm fairly certain that both of those terms are not accepted by most of the trans community. I could be wrong, but I think it's slightly offensive.
As for whether or not I would be in a relationship with someone who is trans, I kind of already am.
@Saridactyl@xanga - It's not offensive, they have made this terms the base of their struggle to earn legal recognition and health coverage at least in Cuba and Mexico where it's legal to change your sex and you need to make all the paperwork. Also Cuba has included sex reasignement into the healthcare coverage so the terms are needed.
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - Every single transgender person I have met does not like the term and finds it offensive. It makes them feel like there is something wrong with them, or they're abnormal (which is what the word disorder means.) I used to see no problem with it myself until I started talking to more people about it. I'm not saying it hasn't opened some doors in some places, I'm just saying that my experiences with it have been offensive.
@Saridactyl@xanga - that's why I let clear it was in the places when sex change is legal and has health cover as it's the areas I've studied and lived the topic. If there's no clinic diagnose they'll lose the right for the state to cover the treatment. That doesn't happen in US as no one has health care up there as a basic right. So they have nothing to lose if the diagnose is taken out of the clinic table, but here they've gained some rights so without the dignose it'd be impossible for them to get the sex reasignement.
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - Yes, which is what I clarified at the end of my comment. It does not mean that it shouldn't be revised and treated differently than it is. As of now, it's considered an abnormality.. which is what is offensive about it. Not trying to argue, it just seems that you've missed my point entirely.
@Saridactyl@xanga - I just find the argument dangerous and misleading, I'm realy not trying to be stubborn but this is a topic that affects my family deeply and that's why I really can't drop it. Even the trangender comunity has been placed within the sexually diverese community cuz it shares some of their struggles there're main differences between the biological roots of the trangender deal, this differences need to be treated separatelly from the LGB comunity as they don't have the same necesities and some of them can be even contradictory.
Transgender comunity do need medical treatment, they do need an extense therapy treatment, hormones, and surgery. Also gender dysphoria has both physical and psychological repercutions that need to be treated medically. Non of this aplies to the LGB comunity as a group and the discourse can't be the same or we risk to affect the chances of people to get the treatment and legal acomodations needed to improve their life quality.
LGB comunity is right to fight against the "disorder stigma" as they don't have biological differences to be "fixed" or treated as they also don't need to change the "sex/gender" and name in every document they have, they've made clear that it's a preference they make prodly and exercising their freedom of choice. So not the case of the transgender comunity, they do suffer with their condition till is treated, they do need this "dysphoria" to be recognized as a clinical illness to get the treatment, otherwise society would say is just a tantrum so why tax payers have to pay for it.
SO yeah I see the LGB discourse is against the diagnose because in their case a clinical diagnose would be wrong. Gender disorders are a very different thing and they're not even linked remotely to sex preference so the struggle of the sexual diversity community it's not even close to this.
I hope you can see my point as the lack of proper English makes difficult for me to ilustrate this the way I wish. Saying it's not an ilness it's a very dangerous thing.