I have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria but that doesn’t mean that I am dysphoric. An article from 2015 makes my point.
That doesn’t mean that I am stress free, the bigots does make life easy. Their hatred does cause pain, it is hard to realize that someone hates you but that is not gender dysphoria.
What are your thoughts?
Not All Transgender People Have Dysphoria – And Here Are 6 Reasons Why That MattersFor me once I transitioned my gender dysphoria went away, once I transitioned and living my life in my true gender the stress went away.
Everyday Feminist
By Sam Dylan Finch
August 13, 2015
I remember talking with a friend of mine who is transgender with the assumption that we both experienced dysphoria, which is the distress or discomfort that occurs when the gender someone is assigned does not align with their actual gender.
As I was talking, I could see their eyes start to stare off in another direction.
“Are you alright?” I asked, puzzled by their sudden disinterest in our conversation.
On an ordinary day, Kai and I could talk gender for hours. The only person who seemed more passionate about trans identity than me was definitely Kai.
But suddenly, in conversation that should’ve excited them, they seemed to be someplace else entirely.
“Well, I don’t…” Kai paused. “Don’t judge me or anything, but like, I don’t experience dysphoria.”
[…]
But in my years as an advocate, I continue to meet more trans folks like Kai who don’t experience dysphoria, and further, who are afraid to open up about it.
I’ve been lucky enough to learn from them, and I understand now why my gut reaction – to exclude them – was such a problematic one.
So why shouldn’t we define transgender people on the basis of dysphoria?
That doesn’t mean that I am stress free, the bigots does make life easy. Their hatred does cause pain, it is hard to realize that someone hates you but that is not gender dysphoria.
What are your thoughts?
Many years ago, in a galaxy not far awa, l experienced on occassion, what we now refer to today as Gender Dyphoria...l was at odds with myself and existed on an island, remotely in my cocoon of self banishment,my laboratory in essence. MY CLOSET. During my experiments l traveled many roads, aterall they were experiments and with no guidebooks, l found that sometimes, came up with less then perfect answers or results..for example in clothing stores l found that l needed to try on ever pair of jeans, trying to find the one that pleased me, this was an absolute exercise in futility. At the urging of a friend, l crossed the line into the ladies department.l tried on a pair of tight designer woman's jeans ahhh ahhhh l loved them, l was giddy with comfort my heart was beating my mind churning Slowly and surely as l built up my wardrobe, the incongruence fell off me as soon as those male clothes that bound me, hit the floor.There was much work that was needed to be done, for l felt to live day after day in anguish was not going to be an option for my future . Whenever family or work related functions arose and l was forced to 'drab it up, l became highly nutso and uncomfortable with my forced gender look. One mistake thay l made which distorted my values, was pairing my gender expression with my sexual proclivity. I would come to realize that for me although closely related we're actually seperate. Originally my Gender Dysphoria was a painful equation that l existed in. Removing myself from that equation and replanting myself was the ultimate answer.l moved a thousand miles away. There, l continued to experiment, to gro, to become strong, and develop outside the so called ' Normal lines' A more honest persona arose Out of that pressureful 'norm', l assimilated. And became happy and content, knowing that l allowed myself to BE... Not to be so verboseso i'll stop here by saying that l know many folks out there are always or a times plagued by GD. My GD subsided once l left the equation. I hope you all find a way to do just that�� peace��
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