Is a trans man really a man or a trans woman really a woman?

[ADigitalArtist]

I sometimes don't get the big deal out of people wanting a penis, vagina, or a set of boobs.

What's wrong with just being a tomboy or effeminate male?

I'd find that much more attractive than an artifically designed member through surgery or hormones. Hell, I think fake boobs on a woman is kinda nuts.

I don't get the big deal out of people wanting a prosthetic arm. Just be happy with the stump! Artificial arms look fake and usually aren't functional anyway.

I know that's an exaggerated metaphor but when you're dealing with people with body dysphoria, a clinical condition which can cause severe anxiety and depression, it's about your brain struggling with your body not matching the brain's expectation, much like phantom limb syndrome (or supernumerary phantom limb, where you feel like you have limbs you never did). It's not just 'wanting' a penis, vagina or boobs any more than phantom limb is about wanting the limb. The body and brain not being on the same page causes very serious damage.

 

[Tulipbee]

Doesn't it include instructions on how to treat your slaves, and suggest getting a sword?

today is 2016. catch up

 

[Tulipbee]

Yet another human claiming to speak for God
Tom

I spoke

 

[columbus]

I spoke

True.
And, as always, I was left certain that The Almighty would do better.
Were there such a being who cared about what I believe or do.
Tom

 

[Tulipbee]

True.
And, as always, I was left certain that The Almighty would do better.
Were there such a being who cared about what I believe or do.
Tom

God knows best

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I have heard that the brains of trans people are often different from those of their biological sex who are not trans. Is that true?

Yes. Someone who is transsexual, their brain looks more like the brain of the sex they identify as rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. Without having to weed through the garbage (the first page was filled with more lies, deceptions, and misconceptions than it was facts), if you use the @message thingy I'll get an alert and I can answer many questions.

 

[Father Heathen]

today is 2016. catch up

Exactly. Stop clinging to the words of dead goat herders and catch up.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

To put it in a good way, to the world all they have to judge what gender someone is is to go by what the person presents and identifies as. When transsexuals can start early enough, and have a fairly normal puberty for the sex they identify as, to the world they are that sex/gender because their really just isn't anyway to tell that person apart from a cis-member of their sex without having to learn about the person.

 

[Tulipbee]

Exactly. Stop clinging to the words of dead goat herders and catch up.

What goats?

 

[Tulipbee]

To put it in a good way, to the world all they have to judge what gender someone is is to go by what the person presents and identifies as. When transsexuals can start early enough, and have a fairly normal puberty for the sex they identify as, to the world they are that sex/gender because their really just isn't anyway to tell that person apart from a cis-member of their sex without having to learn about the person.

I was born with certian genitals and I plan on using them as is. The rest is in the mind. Start thinking like you have the opposite gentitals, then youll think you have them when you don't except for those that have both or neither. I think the laws should only apply to them. Yes anyone should use the chosen bathroom but abusing the rights of hemophites is wrong. Its like one claiming disablity when they're not disabled. Should be a law on that one. There are two marriages. A workdy one and a Christian one. Some abuse the christian one for fun

 

[Father Heathen]

What goats?

The ones herded by the bible buddies.

 

[SkepticThinker]

today is 2016. catch up

When did they change that in the Bible? Was it updated to reflect 2016 values at some point?

 

[Tulipbee]

When did they change that in the Bible? Was it updated to reflect 2016 values at some point?

When the women stop wearing hats and dresses and killing lambs

 

[Tulipbee]

The ones herded by the bible buddies.

I'm herded by my elders and pastor.

 

[SkepticThinker]

When the women stop wearing hats and dresses and killing lambs

Is that supposed to answer my question?

 

[Father Heathen]

I'm herded by my elders and pastor.

What a shame. Can't muster words, thoughts, and feelings of your own?

Do you think your god would've gifted you with the ability to reason if he intended for you to forgo its use?

 

[Twilight Hue]

I don't get the big deal out of people wanting a prosthetic arm. Just be happy with the stump! Artificial arms look fake and usually aren't functional anyway.

I know that's an exaggerated metaphor but when you're dealing with people with body dysphoria, a clinical condition which can cause severe anxiety and depression, it's about your brain struggling with your body not matching the brain's expectation, much like phantom limb syndrome (or supernumerary phantom limb, where you feel like you have limbs you never did). It's not just 'wanting' a penis, vagina or boobs any more than phantom limb is about wanting the limb. The body and brain not being on the same page causes very serious damage.

I'm not entirely convinced.

There's a HUGE difference between actual physical dismemberment and an otherwise healthy body that has no mental or physical deficiency save for the feeling one is sexually trapped in a wrong body. . I can't however think of a single mental issue that warrants a kind of drastic surgery or body changing hormone therapy, aside from from that of a lobotomy of the brain.

It seems to equate that there is a serious enough mental issue that makes a sex change a type of "lobotomy" to pacify that particular mental issue, soley by attaching a penis, vagina, or a set of boobs to cure said condition.

I've oftentimes felt that i am a person who feels trapped in the wrong race. Should I get a race change because I mentally feel I'm a wrong color?

Personally I don't care what people do to themselves one way or another. If you feel happier, go for it and I don't hate anyone who makes personal decisions for themselves.

I just don't understand how attaching a penis, vagina, or boobs cure a person's mental deficiency. That's basically what it boils down to in actuality.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Hey everyone. I am not asking this question out of a desire to offend anyone but out of a desire to learn more. I have heard many people say that a trans man is really a man and a trans woman is really a woman but this is something that I do not understand. How is it possible for a trans man to really be a man when this person's chromosomes say that this person is a woman? Also, how is it possible for a trans woman to really be a woman when this person's chromosomes say that this person is a man?

The answer seems highly subjective depending on how one defines "man," "woman," "is," and "really."

I expect my personal opinions on the matter are as irrelevant to transgendered people as their opinions on the matter are to me. In the unlikely event that I do find myself having to interact with a transgendered person in real life, I will do what I do with everyone else and simply treat them with decency and respect as an individual, unless otherwise warranted. I leave the cultural rhetoric and silly labeling to the insecure loudmouths and busybodies.

 

[Wirey]

today is 2016. catch up

Please, somebody, tell me you see the irony in this!

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I'm not entirely convinced.

There's a HUGE difference between actual physical dismemberment and an otherwise healthy body that has no mental or physical deficiency save for the feeling one is sexually trapped in a wrong body. . I can't however think of a single mental issue that warrants a kind of drastic surgery or body changing hormone therapy, aside from from that of a lobotomy of the brain.

It seems to equate that there is a serious enough mental issue that makes a sex change a type of "lobotomy" to pacify that particular mental issue, soley by attaching a penis, vagina, or a set of boobs to cure said condition.

I've oftentimes felt that i am a person who feels trapped in the wrong race. Should I get a race change because I mentally feel I'm a wrong color?

Personally I don't care what people do to themselves one way or another. If you feel happier, go for it and I don't hate anyone who makes personal decisions for themselves.

I just don't understand how attaching a penis, vagina, or boobs cure a person's mental deficiency. That's basically what it boils down to in actuality.

There's really not that huge a difference. Body disphoria is, in fact, a disorder where the deficiency is a serious disconnect between the brain and body. To call it 'just a feeling' is really understating the suffering of these people. Like telling a clinically depressed person they're just 'feeling down.'
And no, your race example isn't comparable because there is no hugely different often crossed brain chemistry and hormonal chemistry that differs between races like there is between sexes. We can actually observe the difference and the anxiety from that difference in transgendered individuals that nobody claiming racial or fantastic disphoria have been able to demonstrate.

Other psychological disorders (except other body disphoria including phantom limb) don't warrant surgical alteration (including lobotomy) because they don't actually treat the problem. Sex changes are hugely successful at treating both the dysphoria and underlying serious anxiety disorders.
And its nowhere comparable to a lobotomy which not only didn't treat psychosis but often made things worse for the patient (due to brain damage). There's no evidence of the same for post OP Trans folk. Quite the contrary.