#elective mastectomy

[butch-reidentified]

> gets gender affirming surgery

> hates trans women

make it make sense

normally I try to be polite but I've had an absolutely shit day and honestly, you're fucking vacuous beyond what I previously thought possible, so fuck that.

BOTH of those are factually incorrect assertions I have extensively addressed with great detail on this blog on multiple occasions, but you sent this ask without doing even the slightest bit of informing yourself about me or my views. you could have answered your own question lmfao. again, absolutely brainless.

my bio says "got top surgery as a proud woman." y'all believe woman is a gender (I don't, for the record). so if woman is a gender, and I call myself a woman, and "top surgery" is considered gender affirming for "non-women," then what someone needs to make sense of is how on earth you think that my elective mastectomy served a "gender affirming" purpose. this is a tier of irrational stupidity that earnestly causes me to feel a deep dread for the future of the species.

I don't hate trans-identified males, and I have broken down why that narrative is straight up BS propaganda nonsense many times, and I have dived onto the nuance about this and about my feelings toward trans-identified males many times. I hate many trans-identified males I have interacted with or read the misogynistic ramblings of, but I hate them for their misogyny in exactly the same way I hate any other misogynist. I do not start out by hating them for being trans-identified. I start out giving everyone a fair chance to be a decent person (unlike y'all lmao). If it seems like I hate trans-identified males just off rip BECAUSE they're trans, either you're misinformed by your own propaganda/making assumptions OR there might be a bit of a misogyny problem in the modern trans community that causes me and many women to wind up hating a large number of trans-identified males for being misogynists, but instead of perceiving that that's what's happening, y'all will just point and screech at the evil witches bc doing the former requires a modicum of critical thinking. it's just so much easier to shout "feminazi bitch!" and call it a day, isn't it?

If you really think that there's just no possible way that other people could simply not subscribe to gender identity ideology (GII) without it coming from a place of hate, you've crossed into religion. "Atheists are inherently on Satan's side" type mindset fr. I don't subscribe to any religious faith, and actually have outright criticisms of patriarchal religion in any form it takes, but I've never heard anyone on the left claim that not sharing in religious beliefs - or even having criticisms of misogyny and other bigotry within religious spaces - means I hate everyone who does and want them all dead; I only see that from devoutly religious conservatives. Yet the narrative we're all supposed to believe without question is that you either fully subscribe to gender identity ideology - which is inherently faith-based* - or you must hate trans people; you must literally want trans people dead. [never mind the absurdity of the belief that hating something or someone inherently entails desiring its total destruction. tell me, do you want every person you've ever hated to be murdered? do you want every concept you despise, every item you personally can't stand, wiped from existence? if yes, please seek help!]

*It is inherently faith-based because the foundation of gender identity ideology is how people feel. We are required to accept a male's "I feel like a woman" as proof that he literally is a woman, and that his motives are pure must never, ever, ever be questioned - even if this male does nothing to "transition," is wildly misogynistic, openly fetishizes his perceived womanhood, and/or blatantly takes advantage of being welcomed into women's spaces.

We are required to reject material reality and the actual definition of "woman" in favor of the materially meaningless circular definition "a woman is anyone who identifies as a woman." We are not allowed to ask for clarification as to what exactly he is identifying with that indicates womanhood.

We are expected to fully accept and preach the Gospel of Gender Identity: Every person has an innate Gender Identity. If one claims not to have an innate sense of Gender Identity, that person is either a liar or simply wrong about their own internal experience (note that this is the ONLY time it is okay to question someone else's internal identity!), and we are encouraged to "correct" the individual in question. Everyone can be accurately categorized as either Cis or Trans. Not only does everyone have an innate Gender Identity, but we are born with these - but also, your gender identity can change over time or be fluid! Everyone has an innate Gender Identity, but also, gender is inherently fluid. And above all else, one's Gender Identity must absolutely NEVER be questioned no matter the circumstances.

[deeisace]

.

[marzipanandminutiae]

(Colette is the femme one in the photos, and she was not a lesbian in the modern, exclusive sense- she was also attracted to men, which I'm not here for erasing)

(de Morny often went by "Max," rather than her full name, and it's uncertain which she preferred and for what reasons. also sometimes Missy, or its reverse spelling Yssim. I use she/her pronouns only because it's what she seems to have used in life; many elements of her story resonate with transmasc people today, though it appears she never transitioned in the manner of the era, as such. that is, she never attempted to be known as a man by others, which plenty of AFAB men did at the time)

Colette and mathilde de morny <3 every day I go ham for belle epoque lesbians

[caintooth]

Please don’t get a mastectomy. You are clearly not making a sound mental decision. Genuinely do not have an elective amputation that is entirely unnecessary. Do not permanently remove a functioning healthy body part because you hate your body. Your feelings may change one day but you can never have your body parts back again

not only am i going to get my tits cut off, i’m going to enjoy it the entire time. i’m going to get off on it. and after i’ve enjoyed the intentional, erotic dissection of my flesh, i’m gonna go to the beach. and i’m gonna take my shirt off to show off the scars where they cut into me, and i’ll laugh so fucking hard. and when i laugh, stranger, it’s gonna be at you.

[missmastectomy]

I was hesitant to write this post, but I want to talk about why so many women and teenage girls are getting double mastectomies.

The justification a lot of trans people use for elective double mastectomies is that "top surgery" helps people feel comfortable in their bodies. Traditionally, this surgery was restricted to transmen. In the recent decade, however, nonbinary identified and even non-trans identified women have been getting mastectomies. I remember clear as day when my coworker (who identified as a "cis" woman) told me that at 18 she was planning on saving for top surgery. I myself got my breasts removed when I identified as nonbinary, having been on testosterone for 2 years.

It's important to remember that no person is born wanting surgery. Society creates conditions that are hostile to women, GNC, and gay people, and this hostility encourages a dissociated state. The body is removed from the mind - instead of the body being an intrinsic part of your personhood, a mechanism through which we experience the world, it instead becomes ornamental. This is perfectly represented by all forms of non-reconstructive cosmetic surgery, which risk people's health for entirely aesthetic reasons.

So, why do teen girls want to remove their breasts? For those of who experienced unwanted sexual advances from a young age, the answer is intuitive. Breasts are inherently sexualized. They are not seen as a vital organ that contributes to bodily function and health, but as a decoration, the only purpose of which is to attract men and feed babies. In this way, a woman's breasts do not even belong to her. When men openly gawk at a woman without a bra, when relatives grope at her as a pubescent girl, when we are exposed to an endless stream of hyper-sexualized images of women with their cleavage out, a message is sent loud and clear: existing in a female body is unsafe.

I want to make it very clear that an elective mastectomy and the practices of breast ironing are very different, but there are commonalities in the attitudes behind both. Breast ironing is done to pubescent girls in order to "prevent" her being sexually assaulted or harassed by men, sometimes including male relatives. When I hear stories of girls in the West starving themselves and binding to hide their chests, I can't help but see similarities. When I was binding and restricting calories as a 15 year old, I would have said I was doing it so that I could pass as a man. But I would have been lying to you. I was lying to myself. I didn't hate my breasts because I was "born in the wrong body." I hated my breasts because they were used to justify my sexualization. From my perspective they put me in danger.

We often hear that women's rights in the West have been secured, but you need only look at the war on women's bodies to see that that is a fantasy. When young girls constantly receive the messaging that your curves and boobs WILL attract men and that you will be objectified for it, many will try to opt out.

Take Liv Hewson, for example.

She says herself that her anorexia was a manifestation of "gender dysphoria," but the question remains - where did this dysphoria come from? Why would anorexia develop as an outlet for it? What makes more sense: a young woman was born hating her body and her breasts because she has a gendered, non-female soul, or that same woman hates her body because she has been conditioned as such by a patriarchal society, the same society that encourages extreme self harm and body modification through a multi-billion dollar cosmetic industry?

Gender dysphoria in young women needs to be demystified. It's not special, it's not unique. It is NOT evidence that she needs invasive surgery or steroids to feel comfortable in her body. It is evidence that she is in pain. In order to address the rising rate of transition in young women, we must first acknowledge the conditions that nurture this form of self-hatred.

Transition IS a feminist issue. It is just as relevant in Western feminism as tackling the beauty industry, female sexualization, and violence perpetrated against women through porn. All of these issues are deeply interconnected. When we approach dysphoric women with compassion and encourage them to perceive their bodies as a part of themselves that deserves to remain intact and whole, rather than as their enemy, we take a necessary step towards female liberation.

[magnetothemagnificent]

"Why would you want to cut off perfectly healthy breast tissue???!!!"

First of all, I don't have perfectly healthy breasts. I haven't had healthy breasts since they started growing. I have macromastia and chronic fibrocystic breast tissue, which means that when I was 14-15 my *doctor* was the one to even bring up the idea of having some kind of breast surgery. She had breast reduction in mind, but the top surgery I want really isn't that much different than the reduction surgery I would have if I didn't have chest dysphoria. I would still likely need nipple grafts, the recovery time would be pretty much the same, the scarring would be pretty much the same. I was always going to remove my breast tissue, it was always on the table for me, the only change is how much breast tissue I'll be having removed.

Also here's the thing: you don't know for sure if breast tissue even is "perfectly healthy" until you do a biopsy. That's why it's standard procedure to perform a biopsy as part of double mastectomy top surgery, just in case there was something like cancer in the breasts requiring more follow-up.

And cis women get double mastectomies, even if they don't have something like cancer. Cis women who've discovered they have a high risk of developing breast cancer might elect to get a mastectomy before any cancer could develop- they were cutting off "perfectly healthy" tissue then. They were getting their breasts removed to improve their medical futures and to put their minds at ease. Are trans men getting top surgeries not doing exactly the same thing?

[a-5-m-0-d-3-u-5]

Scar Tissue (Price x Trans Masc! Reader)

Contains: Tooth-rotting fluff, completely SFW, FTM reader intended but should be safe for masc leaning enbies too, 2nd person POV, reader has a singular double mastectomy scar as is very self conscious about it, ambiguous warm drink cuz I don’t like tea or coffee lol, \obnoxiously self indulgent in my opinion but I hope it resonates with others

A/n: Woof I’m nervous but I do really like how this turned out. It’s cute and it even made my partner blush despite him being cis lol also Price is your husband because it’s cute and I said so. Be gentle with this one, yeah?

Although this is safe for all ages, I ask minors please refrain from interacting with me and this post, and any other posts. This is a space for adults.

The night always made things tougher. Something about the quiet, the darkness, the otherwise calm atmosphere made it harder to chase away the more negative thoughts. Insecurities burned hot in the cold of night as you stood outside on the small veranda of your little English apartment in the crisp wintry air to try and chase them away. The rain had only just stopped pouring down in torrents. The sound of wet tires driving below you accompanied the familiar, gentle smell of rain. It was comforting. Not enough to dull the pain, unfortunately, but comforting still.

You didn’t pay attention to the time, doing so usually just stressed you out during these moments, so you hadn’t noticed how late it was until your husband had sidled up behind you with a warm mug he’d made just for you. He handed it to you silently. He learned a long time ago what being outside this long this late at night usually meant. He wrapped a warm arm around your chilled shoulders and gently pulled you against him. Finally, you started to slowly pull away from your negative thinking just long enough to quietly speak.

“Thank you,” was all you could manage, but Price didn’t mind. He knew that for you, your words carried more weight than they seemed on the surface.

He hummed in response, giving your shoulders a small squeeze to say ‘you’re welcome.’

“Doin’ alright?”

A playful glare was all your husband got in return. He was happy to see you at least still had the heart to joke a bit with him.

“Right. Stupid question. Sorry, love.”

Eventually, you’d take a sip from your mug. He always prepared your drinks to your preferences. It made your chest warm.

“Wanna talk about it?” He was looking at you now. That gentle expression always comforted you.

You shook your head and took another slow sip, “Just insecurities again. Nothing major, I’m fine.”

“That why you've been out here on the veranda staring out at nothing the past couple hours?”

You took another sip, electing to say nothing. You did make it extra noisy though, pulling a rumbling chuckle from Price’s chest in the process.

Eventually, he guided you inside. You were as cold as the dead when he’d gotten to you. He wanted to warm you up and, if you’d talk, he wanted to know what was wrong. Knowing it was an insecurity of yours narrowed it down, but not enough to pin it. He needed to know a bit more.

You sat on your small couch, Price quickly following you. He took your hand in his. The callouses that littered his palm and fingers were always grounding. You were certain if you were blindfolded and told to guess which hand belonged to him, you’d guess correctly without fail. You knew every dip and ridge in his skin like your own.

You’d finished your drink after a while. You sighed, leaning into your husband’s chest. His heartbeat never failed to help your mind quiet down a bit.

“Just my scar again…” you mumbled, lacing your fingers in with his.

He kissed his teeth, the clicking noise it made bringing you out of the beginning of another spiral, “What did I tell you ‘bout that, love? You know I think it’s perfect.”

“I know,” you said, tucking your head under his chin, “‘Fraid I don’t think the same way, is all.”

His free hand rose up to hold your head and he pressed a soft lingering kiss into your hair, “That’s why I’m here. To think that way for you. C’mon, then, on your back.”

You groaned, pretending your melancholy face hadn’t broken out into a small grin, as you were guided onto your back. Price hovered above you and lifted your shirt up to your collarbone, kissing slowly up your belly as he did so. His kisses finally reached the part of your chest you couldn’t feel anymore. The scar tissue had faded quite a bit, but it was still clearly visible. One straight line stretched across your ribcage. It was uneven, thicker in some places than others. When your clothes were on, you often forgot about it. But when they weren’t…

You couldn’t feel much of the kisses that your husband trailed across the scar. His beard would drag across the area around it, your body unsure if it tickled or itched, but you could only feel the pressure of his lips through the numb skin. Still, you looked down and watched as he worshiped the ugly line that ripped through your skin. It wasn’t neat, wasn’t typical, wasn’t the ideal, but Price always showed he never cared about that.

”It made you happy, yeah? All that matters, then,” is what he’d always say.

All those mean thoughts finally started to melt away as he continued to kiss along your chest, further up to your collarbone. He pulled your shirt down so he could kiss up your neck, across your jaw, and finally up to your mouth. You felt him grin against your lips. You suppressed an annoyed whine as he pulled away to look at you.

“Better?”

“A bit.”

“I can keep going.”

“Would you?”

You fell asleep on the couch with your shirt pulled up to your shoulders and Price’s lips against your scar.

[kittyit]

This is a long and loaded ask so feel free to delete but it's completely earnest

I've been a radfem for about 3-4 years now (radfemhagen but I got termed) and honestly I still struggle w genuine dysphoria. All the reading, critical thinking, talking w detrans women is definitely eye opening and helped me but it hasn't healed me of my ~gender feels~ if you know what I mean. I remember trying to get tips from other blogs but all I remember was something about doing physical labor with other women or just being around other women but that isn't helping either, I'm so disgusted by my female body and how I'm seen (especially by men and especially as a lesbian) and it's just getting worse. I've been thinking about going on a low dose of T even but I know there's other options to coping, like there HAS to be SOMETHING. I can't just will it out anymore.

Help a gyn out

this and it's probably better saved for an essay but i felt moved to respond to you straight up. i'm going to explain three really important parts of my journey to a place where i almost never experience the intense and life-disrupting distress around my sex (diagnosed as dysphoria) except in times of extreme stress, and even then it's fleeting.

one essential thing i did was stop thinking of transition as an option for myself. this is something i see a lot of detrans/desisted women struggle with. i think this is a mental trap. "if i don't feel better in x amount of time or when i do x, i'll transition" removes the urgency and necessary nature of working through the distress around your sex. i've written in a few pieces about when my girlfriend max asked me to not do it 3 days before my first t shot, it genuinely felt like the last light in a dark harbor going out. i felt utterly hopeless. i felt like my last solution had been taken from me and i would never feel better.

i came to my decision to never pursue transitional medicine first through listening from my girlfriend and other detrans women. to take seriously the pain & trauma detrans women go through. to listen when they said this did not help me, this was not help, it did not fix these feelings of distress. to listen to detrans women is to understand that transitional medicine is an unethical practice being done by unethical practitioners. it's also to understand that this solution is not what it's presented as. taking these women's experiences and analysis seriously meant ruling it out as a coping mechanism for myself, ever. but there are so many reasons to make the decision not to participate in transition medicine - political & practical. not giving money to surgeons who traffic in literal female flesh. not wanting to risk all of the under-studied, ignored negative long-term health effects. not wanting to signal to the women around you that there is no way to survive as a woman like you without transitional medicine. defiance of new patriarchal expectations for women like you. defiance of the pressures that tell you that this is the thing that will make you feel better - like makeup, like labiaplasty, like breast implants, like an elective double mastectomy. defiance in general.

so the first thing was to stop thinking of transitioning as an option. i said no. the second thing was to stop thinking of my distress as dysphoria. to un-diagnose myself with this word that means i need to take T and get a mastectomy and undergo phalloplasty to have a chance of ever being happy. you mention disgust for your body, you mention disgust for how you're seen by men and as a lesbian. disgust for yourself on these points is anger at patriarchy, lesbian-hating society & men turned inward on yourself instead of the people who deserve it. it's an impulse of someone dealing with oppression to blame one's self for it and think there are things we can do to escape it. it's no different than a woman trapped in domestic violence obsessing over what she could have done differently to not set him off this time - the right dinner, place setting, clothing & tone. the idea that woman- and lesbian-hating can be escaped as easily as transitional medicine claims it can is simply not true. the experiece of a woman who passes as a man is another exerperience of womanhood, still under the bell jar of misogyny.

what helped me with these feelings of distress was pinpointing exactly where they came from and what they meant. i know this isn't helpful for everyone. but it's almost like going deeper and deeper on the feeling make it more and more clear what needed to be addressed. here's one spiral to the center: i want to chop off my tits → why? → i hate my breasts → why? → they feel ugly and disgusting → why? → i got them so young, they're so large and people stare → why does that bother you? → i feel so ugly and out of place → why does that bother you? → i feel so alone and worthless → how do you feel? → i feel lonely → what do you need? → i need connection.

"i want to chop off my tits" is not a coherent feeling - every human alive has complex reasons for the things they say, think and do. if you can get to the bottom of where these sensations and feelings and disturbances diangosed as dysphoria are coming from, you can figure out how to address them. what is the feeling at the bottom, what is going unaddressed? and quite honestly a lot of the time it's not an easy answer. sometimes the answers are super hard to grapple with. sometimes the need cannot be fulfilled or are very difficult to fulfill. but once you've decided that transition is not on the table, the quest to find those answers becomes a lot more essential.

this isn't something anyone is really meant to do alone. when i hear you say you hate being seen as a lesbian and how men treat you, i hear an inherent isolation in that. i could be wrong, i know a lot of people can still feel lonely when they have a strong support system, but i would say the majority of women do not have the kind of friend group and number of connections they need to be socially supported. so another big part of this is breaking out of isolation and being around other women who "get it" - whether virutally or in real life. humans are a pack animal and this is an isolating age.

so that's my three parter to your question

1. say no to transitional medicine

2. undiagnose yourself with dysphoria and instead figure out why you're feeling what you're feeling

3. seek out friendship, community, and ways of thought that can help you address those feelings

[detransition]

from missmastectomy

A mastectomy has physical AND social repercussions. A therapist or a surgeon might tell you the obvious, like that you can’t breastfeed and that your breasts won’t grow back post-mastectomy, but they won’t tell you about what the mastectomy *feels* like. They can’t. They have never experienced it.

I can tell you, though.

I am 3 years post double mastectomy (top surgery, not cancer related). It is nothing like having a naturally flat chest. Even without my incision scars, my chest doesn’t have the same fat distribution on either side, though it’s small enough to be noticeable to me and not anyone else. I have sensation, but it’s very much dulled, especially on my nipples. I’ve seen it described as the chest feeling like a black hole and I have to agree.

I don’t look like I have a “male chest,” and a big part of that is because I have curves. Males and females FUNDAMENTALLY have very different chests and removing your breasts WILL NOT give you a flat, girly look or a male look. That is highly unlikely. You are much more likely to look like a woman with scars and just a generally “off” chest.

There’s so much trans art out there that just doesn’t represent what a double mastectomy looks like in real life. It is highly romanticized and often portrayed as ✨ cutesy scars ✨ on an otherwise masculine body. No. No no no, that is not what this procedure does! I promise you that when you look up trans mastectomy results, you are going to end up seeing the “best ones,” the most successful ones, often on transmen who pass quite well and already have pretty masculine body types.

You are far less likely to hear about the botched surgeries, which thankfully mine is not. The surgeries where people need multiple revisions, the surgeries where people lose ALL sensation, the surgeries where people develop chronic pain.

When you get a mastectomy, you are removing a body part full stop. There are going to be side effects because this procedure is no joke, and mine are comparatively mild. I get itching on my scars sometimes and a mild burning sensation, which can be triggered by stress. Even if it’s elective and you think you want this, your body will remember it has lost a piece of itself. It doesn’t matter how dysphoric you are. There used to be something on your chest and now it is gone forever and nothing will bring it back, barre more surgery that is nothing but an imitation of the real thing.

I cannot express to people considering this surgery how difficult recovery is and living with it afterwards, even if you’re happy at first. I was happy at first. But then I detransitioned and realized I had been taken advantage of by a sociopathic, money hungry surgeon as a teenager. Even if I had persisted as trans, I would still deal with the fact that my flatness was not natural, but surgically constructed. My body could never forget the physical trauma of being sliced into like that, no matter how much I thought I wanted it.

You are not a Mr. Potato head. These are serious surgeries and they have serious, life long repercussions. Your breasts are not baby feeders or male attractors - they are a part of your body, your temple. And your body will feel the loss, even if (at first) you do not.

Do not get this as an elective procedure. These surgeons are lying to you. They don’t care about you. All they care about is money. The next time your dysphoria acts up and you’re considering a mastectomy, don’t think about the fantasy you’ve constructed in your mind where you’re just a male with chest scars. Instead, think about the fact that I’m order to achieve this “look,” you literally need to maim yourself. Think about the total loss of sensation, the dangers of the surgery itself, the feeling of complete and utter violation you will live with permanently if you ever regret your decision.

And then make your choice.

thinking of detransition? you are not alone

[cy-cyborg]

Writing amputees: Phantom limb sensation/Phantom Limb pain

This was something I got asked about a lot whenever I made videos about amputee representation, so let's talk about Phantom Limb Sensation (PLS) and Phantom Limb Pain (PLP).

TW: Description of surgical amputation process. section with this content can be skipped and the start/end will be clearly marked.

What is it and what causes it?

Phantom Limb Sensation is when you can feel a limb, even after it's been amputated. This phantom limb is a VERY common side effect of amputation, one that almost every amputee experiences at some point. Depending on how the limb was amputated, how old the person was at the time and the condition of the limb before amputation, it can last for as little as a year to being a life-long condition.

it's caused by the part of your brain responsible for proprioception - the sense of where your body is in space. Your brain has an internal map of your body and specifically your nervous system, and it uses this to determine where certain body parts are in space, even without input from your 5 main senses, meaning you don't need to look to know where, say, your leg or hand is (usually, though other disabilities like autism and ADHD can affect this and make it less accurate). Usually, the brain senses where your body parts are using a combination of this map and input from nerves. But if something happens to your body part, that internal map can have a lot of trouble updating, and when the internal map and the nerve inputs don't match, it can cause your brain to panic and fill in the gaps from the missing input signals, creating the sensation that a lost body part, usually a limb, is still there. For some, the limb light be locked in place, other might have the sensation of the limb "growing back" (though as I understand it, this typically only happens to very young children) and others feel as though the limb is perfectly fine and moving along with the rest of the body normally.

This sensation isn't unique to people who have lost limbs mind you: some trans people who have had top or bottom surgery, people who've had mastectomies, and even people who have had growths or tumours removed often report a similar sensation of their removed parts still being present, though it's not usually as intense and fades after a few months to a few years on its own with minimal intervention, leading to it being categorized as a separate phenomenon to Phantom Limbs in these cases.

Phantom Limb Pain is an extension of phantom limb sensation, caused by the body's more extreme reaction to the same phenomenon. The exact reason why it occurs isn't known, but in many people, instead of feeling a persistent pressance of a limb that's no longer there, they will feel discomfort or pain radiating from the lost limb. For some people, it might be an itch on the phantom limb they can't scratch, for others, the pain can feel like intense "pins and needles" all over the lost limb, others feel an electric "zap" running through the non-existent nerves, live they've grabbed a low-voltage electic fence, some people feel a dull, pounding pain, like the lost limb is being crushed or pushed into positions it shouldn't be able to go into (e.g. someone who had their knee amputated might feel the joint bending in the wrong direction). Some people experience all of these, some only experience one. Everyone will be different.

How is it treated?

Like with many things in life, prevention is better than a cure. certain measures can be taken to lessen the intensity of PLP and PLS before it can even start.

Gore TW: description of the process of surgical amputations, skip to the "----" divider to avoid.

People who have had amputations in the last 10 years will go through a slightly different procedure than those who had amputations before then. Historically, the limb would be amputated by cutting directly through the limb and either sewn shut or by having a skin graft where tissue is used to create a "cap" at the end of the stump. These methods worked, but left nothing for the nerves to connect to once everything was healed, leading the brain to think the reason for the lack of signal from the limb is that the limb was simply broken. Not only can this cause added intensity to the nerve pain, and increase the risk of something called a neuroma, where the nerves attempt to mend the "break" and continue to grow until they hit the surface of the skin, causing them to bundle up and get tangled, creating a feed back loop and amplifying any signal from the area to unbearable levels (including phantom sensations).

Today though, when conditions allow, amputations are done by cutting through the limb as before, then once the skin layers are reached on the other side, surgeons cut downward, creating a long tab of skin which is pulled over the bottom of the stump and reattached to the front. This allows the major nerve pathways in the limb to connect with each other during the healing process, creating a loop in the nerves and tricking the brain into thinking it's still receiving signals from the amputated limb.

Those who had their amputations prior to this change in the procedure can have a similar operation done to achieve a similar effect, though in both cases, it doesn't always work and can lead to the brain producing very very strange phantom limb sensations. In my personal case, it creates a sensation that I can feel my own skin in the region as though it was something separate from the rest of the body, almost like I'm wearing a sock. Very odd, and honestly kind of cursed lol.

------------------------------------------------------

If prevention isn't an option though, different treatments exist.

One popular method is through compression. what's left of the amputated limb (called the stump) will be either wrapped in very strong compression bandages or the person can wear a fitted compression sock on the stump. This is usually done for the first 6-12 weeks after the amputation, though it can be done for longer under the supervision of a rehab specialist in some circumstances. After 6 weeks, 6-12 weeks, the stump will have healed enough for a prosthetic to be fitted. After this point, the person is encouraged to wear the prosthetic or at least the liner, usually made from silicone in modern prosthetics instead of a compression sock/bandage. The liners of the prosthetic offer milder compression, as does the socket of the prosthetic itself, and the "snug" feeling can, for some, make the phantom pain more bearable and the phantom sensation less frequent (though some people experience the opposite and will have increased PLP/PLS while adjusting to the prosthetic, though it usually subsides eventually).

For leg amputees specifically, they are encouraged to walk on their new prosthetics as much as possible, as the action of walking with the prosthetic will often trigger the phantom limb to start moving in time with the rest of the leg, and the sensation of walking can essentially trick the brain into using the phantom limb sensation to help the person walk more naturally and feel less unstable.

Another treatment is called Mirror Therapy, though this only works for single-limb amputees or arm and leg amputees who's amputations were on the same side (e.g. both left leg and left arm). The person puts their full remaining limb in front of a mirror and their amputated limb behind the mirror, then angles themselves so it appears that their full limb being reflected in the mirror is replacing the lost limb. If the person is experiencing an itch on their lost limb, they can scratch the full one, and look into the mirror. Eventually, your brain will feel the scratching sensation on the phantom limb instead.

If none of these options work, nerve pain medications such as gabapentin can be prescribed, though this is usually a last resort as these medications can have serious side effects and can prevent people from being able to do certain jobs or even drive depending on the dosage. As an absolute last resort, an injection can be given to the person to numb the stump. This does not stop the pain completely, but it does subdue it, though many doctors warn against this as it often means the person will not be able to feel if their stump is injured and can result in infected, untreated wounds.

Unfortunately, there is no "cure" yet, and many amputees just learn to live with PLP and PLS.

What things make you more or less likely to experience PLP/PLS?

There are some things that can make you more or less likely to experience PLP and PLS, and that can effect how intensely you experience them.

Your age when you lost the limb

People who are born without the limb almost never experience PLP and PLS, as their brain's internal map already knows the limb isn't there. Likewise, children who lost their limb very early in life don't usually experience PLS very intensely, or for very long, and are less likely to experience PLP at all. This is because when you are young, your brain is already updating that internal map because you're growing, so it has an easier time understanding the fact the limb isn't there anymore. Young brains are also constantly changing and growing, making them more adaptable in general to acquiring major disabilities. On the flip-side someone who lost their limb late in life is more likely to experience PLP and PLS for the rest of their lives. It can be managed, but it will likely always be pressant. Thier brains have not really needed to make any major updates to that map, often for decades, and are not really built to be able to do that, meaning PLP and PLS will likely take longer to go away, if they ever go away at all.

How you lost it and the condition of the limb before it was amputated.

If you lost your limb due to trauma, meaning events like accidents or major injury, the phantom sensation you experience will likely be much more painful, and could even feel like the injury or accident is happening over and over again. For example, someone who lost their arm to a shark attack might feel the sensation of the shark's teeth biting into it as well as the sensations described in the first section.

Alternatively, someone who had their limb amputated due to a pre-existing condition might continue to feel that condition even after the limb is gone. As a personal example, I've had multiple amputations throughout my life, but my most recent was due to a bone infection that formed at the bottom of my stump from a previous amputation. Now, when I experience phantom limb sensation, I can still feel where the infection reached the surface (where the nerves began to feel something was wrong). I had that leg amputated through the ankle as a young child, and when it was re-amputated higher up due to the infection, I didn't feel the whole leg, just the pre-existing stump.

Post Amputation Care

If a person does not receive proper medical care immediately after an amputation, their phantom sensation and pain will be significantly worse. My great Grandfather for example, lost part of his hand during WW2, but due to the situation, was not able to receive adequate medical care once he was established due to the medics being preoccupied with the actively dying. As a result of this and the traumatic nature of how he lost it in the first place, he experienced very intense phantom pain for the majority of his life. This is also important to keep in mind if your story takes place before the modern age, as it wasn't really understood how important post-amputation care was until recently, and many folks were left to just figure it out themselves.

Time

As with all things, phantom pain and phantom sensation fade with time. They may not ever go away entirely, but they do fade in intensity at least a little. This is especially important to keep in mind for characters with beyond-human lifespans. Your elderly grandmother character might not live long enough for their phantom pain to fade entirely, but your immortal vampire who's been alive for a millennia and lost their arm when they were human probably will.

Closing things to keep in mind

Wow, that was longer than I was expecting but I hope you found this all helpful. One last thing to keep in mind is that oftentimes, amputees who do experience PLS/PLP get pretty good at managing it, so you don't have to worry about it too much unless the amputation happens during the story itself or you want to make it a focus, this is just an explanation of what you can include if you like. Personally, though, I feel like it's an aspect of being an amputee that a lot of media rep overlooks, so it would be nice to see some more representation at least mention it. It doesn't have to be constant, but some brief comments or something of the like will go a long way.

[dhddmods]

Sex Alteration Guide (Bottom Surgery, Top Surgery, & Beyond!)

Hello! Just wanted to share our compiled list of sex alterations that can be performed. Thought it might be interesting for people who want to know.

If you want to learn about intersex types, we recommend reading our post here! And reblog it, please, to share awareness on intersex topics!

Trigger warning for mentions of genital mutilations on children, sexual activity, and sexual assault.

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Tracheal Shave: A procedure to shave down an Adam's Apple. This is done for aesthetic/personal reasons, or chosen by transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their Adam's Apple.

Feminizing Laryngyoplasty: A procedure to shave the voice box, reducing the size of the Adam's Apple and increasing the pitch of the voice. This is chosen by transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their voice, and elected for a permanent change instead of vocal practice.

Breast Lift/Mastopexy: A procedure to lift sagging breasts. This is done for aesthetic/personal reasons by people that were unhappy with their breasts.

Breast Augmentation: A procedure to (re)create breasts or reshape/increase the size of breasts, using implants or fat transplants from the thigh, buttocks, or abdomen. This is either done after a breast has been damaged/removed, for people with amastia or tubular breasts, or for aesthetic personal reasons by people that were unhappy with their breasts. It may also be chosen by transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their chest. It can also be done to create extra breasts if desired.

Breast Reduction: A procedure to reduce the size of a breast. This is done for aesthetic/personal reasons, due to injury/damage, or to reduce the weight of large breasts. It may also be chosen by cis-men with gynecomastia, and transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their breasts.

Mastectomy: A procedure to remove a breast. This is done for aesthetic/personal reasons, due to injury/damage, or chosen by people with accessory breasts that wish to have the spare breasts removed. It may also be chosen by cis-men with gynecomastia, and transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their breasts.

Areola Reduction: A procedure to reduce the size of the areola. This is done for aesthetic/personal reasons by people that were unhappy with their areola size. It could be reduction of the size they were born with/developed during puberty, a reduction after pregnancy and/or breastfeeding caused nipple stretching, or it could be done to someone who had nipple (re)construction and were unhappy with the size the surgeon created.

Nipple Reduction: A procedure to reduce the size of a nipple. This is done for aesthetic/personal reasons by people that were unhappy with their nipple size. It could be a reduction of the size they were born with, a reduction after long-term breastfeeding caused nipple stretching, or it could be done to someone who had nipple (re)construction and was unhappy with the size the surgeon created.

Nipple Excision: A procedure to remove a nipple. This is done for aesthetic/personal reasons, due to injury/damage, or chosen by people with accessory nipples that wish to have the spare nipples removed. It may also chosen by transgender, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their nipples.

Nipple (Re)construction: A procedure to create or recreate a nipple, using the skin from the chest, abdomen, inner thigh, buttocks, or (if present) previously existing nipples. This is either done after a nipple has been damaged/removed, for people born with athelia, or for those unhappy with inverted nipples. It can also be done to create extra nipples for aesthetic/personal reasons, or for non-binary or altersex people that wished for their body to have a specific appearance. When created from scratch, tattoos can be given for pigmentation of the nipple.

Vastectomy: A procedure to snip the vas deferens, in order to prevent the release of sperm (or eggs, in some cases of ovotestes.) This is done as a form of birth control, and can sometimes be reversible.

Tubal Ligation: A procedure to tie or snip the fallopian tubes, in order to prevent eggs from being fertilized (or sperm from being released, in some cases of ovotestes.) This is done as a form of birth control, and can sometimes be reversible.

Salpingectomy: A procedure to remove a fallopian tube. This could be done due to injury/damage or as a form of birth control.

Orchiopexy: A procedure done to move an undescended testicle into the scrotum. It is done on intersex people as a way to prevent testicular cancer, preserve fertility, and/or prevent inguinal hernias. It is one of the few intersex surgeries that are acceptable to do on infants.

Gonadectomy: A procedure done to remove a gonad (ovary, teste, or ovoteste.) When done to an ovary, it is known as an Oophorectomy. When done to a testicle, it is known as an Orchiectomy. This is done due to injury/damage or as a form of birth control. It may also be chosen by transgender, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their gonads.

Hysterectomy: A procedure to remove the uterus. This could be done due to injury/damage, as a form of birth control, to stop painful menstruation, or to stop a uterus prolapse. It may also be chosen by transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that have no desire for a uterus, or have a uterus incompatible with pregnancy.

Trachelectomy: A procedure to remove a cervix. This is done due to injury/damage, a deformed cervix, to remove a hypoplastic cervix that does not release menstruation efficiently, or to remove a second cervix in cervical duplication.

Cervical (Re)construction: A procedure to create or recreate a cervix. This is either done after a cervix has been damaged, or for intersex people with cervical agenesis or cervical hypoplasia (to prevent menstrual fluids from getting trapped inside and/or to allow for easier pregnancy.)

Hysteroplasty/Uteroplasty/Metroplasty: A procedure done to those with a bicornuate uterus, septate uterus, or uterus didelphys to merge both sides/remove any blockage between them. This is done to lower risk of miscarriage and premature birth.

Prostatectomy: A procedure done to remove the prostate. This is done due to injury/damage.

Penis Splitting: A procedure done to split the penis (or ambiguous genitalia that has a penis-like structure) open. It could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons, for additional sexual enjoyment, or to assist with urination in those with a shallow, blocked, or absent urethra. It may also be chosen by trans-women & non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their penis.

It is also explored as a cultural practice in some Australian, Africa, South American, and Oceanic locations.

Meatotomy: When only the urethral area of the glans is split open.

Subincision: When only the underside of the penis is split open, but the top-side is left closed. This split can give the penis a labia-like appearance, and allow for easier time with sex toys that do urethral penetration. This could be only on the glans or down to the shaft.

Genital Bisection: When the penis is split open completely. This could be only on the glans or down to the shaft.

Perineal Urethrostomy: A procedure done to open a urethra beneath the penis, on the perineum. It could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons or to assist with urination in those with a shallow, blocked, or absent urethra. It may also be chosen by transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with the placement of their urethra.

Urethroplasty: A procedure to create or repair a urethra. This could be done due to injury/damage, because of urethral blockage or an tight urethra, chosen by those with metoidioplasties/phalloplasties or vulvoplasities, or chosen by intersex people with urethral traits. For intersex people with urethral agenesis, it is necessary for urination.

Circumcision: A procedure to remove the foreskin. This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons, due to injury/damage, or to assist with urination and hygiene if urine was consistently trapped in the foreskin. It is also done as a cultural practice in several African and Oceanic cultures, as well as a religious practice for Jews, Muslims, some Christians/Catholics, and a couple smaller Abrahamic religions.

Dorsal Slits: A procedure to remove a piece of the foreskin, leaving a slit on the upperside of the penis that exposes the urethra on the glans. This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons or to assist with urination and hygiene if urine was consistently trapped in the foreskin. It is also explored as a cultural practice by some Filipinos and Pacific Islanders. A Ventril Slit is the same, but on the bottomside of the penis.

Prepuitioplasty: A procedure similar to a dorsal slit, except the top of the foreskin isn't cut, and after the slit is removed, the foreskin is sewn back together. It is done to make the foreskin looser, to treat those with phimosis (foreskin that will not retract).

Hoodectomy: A procedure to remove part or all of the clitoral hood, or to reduce its size. This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons (for example, someone with a long clitoral hood may choose to reduce its size) or due to injury/damage. It may also be done as a form of circumcision or dorsal slits for transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people who wish to indulge in those practices.

Labiaplasty: A procedure to remove, reduce, or create labia (usually the labia minora, but this could apply to the labia majora too.) This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons (for example, someone with labial hypertrophy or stretched labia may choose to reduce its size) or due to injury/damage. It may also be chosen to create labia for transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that wished for more neutral/feminine genitals, or alternatively to remove labia for transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that wish for more neutral/masculine genitals.

Labia Stretching: A procedure to stretch out the labia minora, gradually increasing its length. This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons or for additional sexual enjoyment. It is also explored as a cultural practice by some African communities.

Vulvectomy: A procedure to remove part or all of the outer vulva (labia, hood, clitoris, & hymen.) This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons or due to injury/damage. It may also be chosen by transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their vulva.

Infibulation: A procedure to stitch close the vulva, leaving open enough for menstruation and urination (and in some cases, penetration.) In some cases, the labia, clitoris, and/or hood may be removed as well. This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons, however it is sadly usually done as a form of genital mutilation of AFAB/AXAB minors in some African, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures.

Hymenotomy: A procedure to open up the hymen of an intersex person that has a imperforate, microperforate, cribriform, or septate hymen. This is either done because of menstrual/sexual fluids getting trapped inside, to allow for easier penetration, or for aesthetic/personal reasons.

Hymen Reconstruction Surgery/Hymenorrhaphy: A procedure to create or repair a hymen in those with a vagina. This is usually done as a way to fake virginity or "become virgin again", which is influenced by the logical fallacy that hymens break/are stretched during penetrative sex (which is not always the case. They could remain intact, or be stretched by activities like stretching, gymnastics, yoga, horseback riding, etc.) It is sometimes done as a therapeutic procedure for victims of sexual assault/abuse that experienced hymen tearing/stretching during the attack.

Vaginectomy: A procedure to close, tighten, or remove a piece of the vagina. This could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons, due to to injury/damage, or to to block of prolapsing organs. It may also be chosen by transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their vagina.

Vulvoplasty: A procedure to create or repair a vulva. If this includes the creation or repair of a vaginal entry, it is called a Vaginoplasty. This could be done due to injury/damage, or chosen by transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their genitals. Labiaplasties and clitoroplasties are often a part of these procedures.

A Phallus-Preserving Vulvoplasty/Phallus-Preserving Vaginoplasty is when a person with a penis chooses to have a vulvoplasty/vaginoplasty, while keeping their penis intact.

Clitoroidectomy: A procedure to remove part or all of the clitoris. This could be due to injury/damage or for aesthetic/personal reasons. It may also be chosen by non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their clitoris.

Clitoroplasty: A procedure to create or repair a clitoris. This could be due to injury/damage or genital mutilation. It may also be chosen by transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their small or absent clitoris. For those that had a penis/psuedophallus pre-surgery, either the head or the shaft is used to create/repair the clitoris. For those that lost their clitoris, the recreated clitoris may just be for appearance - it can only be sexually stimulating if the internal clitoral tissue remained sufficiently intact. For those born without any phallus (clitoris, penis, or pseudophallus), the clitoris is created from the labia or scrotum, and is only for appearance.

Metoidioplasty: A procedure to "release" a clitoris enlarged by androgens, by cutting the ligaments that attach it to the pubic bone, allowing it to stand taller when erect, like a typical penis. They can choose to have a scrotoplasty (possibly with prosthetic testes) and/or a urethroplasty (where the urethra is opened on the head of the phallus) if desired. This procedure can be chosen by transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that had a large clitoris.

Phalloplasty: A procedure to create or repair a penis. When done only for the glans, it is known as a Glansplasty. When done only for a scrotum, is is known as a Scrotoplasty. This could be done due to injury/damage, or chosen by transmasculine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their genitals.

For those that had a vulva (or vulva-like genitals) previously, they can choose to have a scrotoplasty (possibly with prosthetic testes) and/or a urethroplasty (where the urethra is opened on the head of the phallus) if desired. If they had a clitoris/phallus previously, the penis is crafted using either some or all of the nerves to induce sexual sensation. If erection is not naturally possible, an implant is placed inside of the penis, in order to activate it manually.

Penectomy: A procedure to remove part or all of a penis. This could be done due to injury/damage or aesthetic/personal reasons. It may also be chosen by transfeminine, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their penis.

Genital Nullification: A procedure to remove the genitals, creating a smooth area in its place. Only the urethra (and optionally, sexually stimulating nerves) are left behind. If the sexually stimulating nerves are kept, they can be tactile (buried under the skin, but stimulated through touch) or visual (a lump of nerves, similar to a clitoris.) It may be chosen by transgender, non-binary, altersex, or intersex people that were unhappy with their genitals.

Genital Beading: A procedure to insert beads into the shaft of a penis/phallus or labia. It could be done for aesthetic/personal reasons or for extra sexual stimulation during intercourse (like ribbed condoms/ribbed dildos), almost like "built-in" sex toys. It may also be chosen by altersex or non-binary people that wished for their genitals to have a specific appearance. The beads could be any shape, though they are typically round.

[butch-reidentified]

why did you get "top surgery" ? (if that's okay to share that information)

Sure! I've actually talked about it a bunch on here. Here's one. I got it when I was 24, actually the same year I joined radblr I think. I started my personal process of intensive research, vetting myself, interrogating and picking apart my unconscious mind, and trying any alternatives I could come up with, at 19 or 20

I'm making a new tag for these sorts of posts/asks - NGAMT (see tags). I will add it to the other posts later since tumblr mobile is currently crashing when I try to search my tags lmao

[sapphsorrows]

hi i’m a teenager and trans. i find it absolutely abhorrent how many ppl my age are becoming radfems without (and even with) understanding the social ramifications of the ideology. it’s terrifying and i don’t know what to do to help combat it

social ramifications of trans ideology: sterilized gay kids. cosmetic double mastectomies for minors. elective hysterectomies, which will result in early menopause and possibly lead to early onset dementia. billions going into the pockets of big pharma. the definition of "woman" being changed. men invading women's spaces. lesbian spaces disappearing. conversion therapy rhetoric becoming common on apps like tumblr and tiktok. men invading women's prisons and sexually assaulting and impregnating them. women being unable to talk about our biological experiences. women being yelled over at events literally called "let women speak." women having to refer to their male rapists in court as "she." men invading women's rape shelters. kids being taken from parents because the parents won't let them medically transition. schools transitioning children behind their parents' back. mentally ill people - mentally ill kids - being told that if they don't transition they will kill themselves. radfem women regularly receiving death and rape threats. the waking nightmare that is jazz jennings' life.

social ramifications of radfem ideology: hurt male feelings.

[mintyeggs]

Do you have any Malevolent headcanons? :)

oh of course! It would take a lot of space to just list them all off though, so here's one of my favorites relating to our boy Arthur!

I think he has pretty extensive nerve damage all through his torso, resulting in twinging, pulling, itching, loss of sensation/overly sensitive to sensation, inability to feel hot/cold, etc.

With the amount of physical trauma to his trunk, there's gotta be some long lasting damage, even if he's able to heal a lot quicker than normal.

Fun fact: this actually stems from personal experience with the surge (bilateral mastectomy), and that sort of sensation while your nerves are trying to reconnect/regrow isn't actually all that uncommon to people who elect to have that surgery done! I relate it to somewhat of a phantom limb syndrome except it's, well, phantom tatas LOL

[shannendoherty-fans]

Shannen Doherty’s Untimely Death Sparks Important Conversations About Healthcare Access And Equity

By Janice Gassam Asare

Shannen Doherty, the actress best known for her roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed has died after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 53. In a 2015 statement to People magazine, the actress revealed her breast cancer diagnosis, stating that she was “undergoing treatment” and that she was suing a firm and its former business manager for causing her to lose her health insurance due to a failure to pay the insurance premiums. According to reports, in a lawsuit Doherty shared that she hired a firm for tax, accounting, and investment services, among other things, and that part of their role was to make her health insurance premium payments to the Screen Actors Guild; Doherty claimed that their failure to make the premium payments in 2014 caused her health insurance to lapse until the re-enrollment period in 2015. When Doherty went in for a checkup in March of 2015, the cancer was discovered, at which time it had spread. In the lawsuit, Doherty indicated that if she had insurance, she would have been able to get the checkup sooner—the cancer would have been discovered, and she could have avoided chemotherapy and a mastectomy.

Under the IRS, actors are often classified as independent contractors, which comes with its own set of challenges. Although it is unclear what Doherty’s situation was, for many independent contractors, obtaining health insurance can be difficult. Trying to get health insurance as an independent contractor can be a costly and convoluted process. A 2020 Actors’ Equity Association survey indicated that “more than 80% of nonunion actors and stage managers in California have been misclassified as independent contractors.” A 2021 research study revealed that self-employment (which is what independent contractors are considered to be) was associated with a higher likelihood of being uninsured.

Doherty’s tragic situation invites a larger conversation about healthcare access and equity in the United States. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” was signed into law in 2010 and revolutionized healthcare access in two distinct ways: “creating health insurance marketplaces with federal financial assistance that reduces premiums and deductibles and by allowing states to expand Medicaid to adults with household incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.” The ACA helped reduce the number of uninsured Americans and expanded healthcare access to those most in need. It also helped close gaps in coverage for different populations, including those with pre-existing health conditions, lower-income individuals, part-time workers, and those from historically excluded and marginalized populations.

Despite strides made through the ACA, healthcare access and equity are still persistent issues, especially within marginalized communities. Research from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) examining 2010-2022 data indicated that in 2022, non-elderly American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN) and Hispanic people had the greatest uninsured rates (19.1% and 18% respectively). When compared with their white counterparts, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) and Black people also had higher uninsured rates at 12.7% and 10%, respectively. The Commonwealth Fund reported that between 2013 and 2021, “states that expanded Medicaid eligibility had higher rates of insurance coverage and health care access, with smaller disparities between racial/ethnic groups and larger improvements, than states that didn’t expand Medicaid.” It’s important to note that if a Republican president is elected, Project 2025, the far-right policy proposal document, seeks to upend Medicaid as we know it by introducing limits on the amount of time that a person can receive Medicaid.

When peeling back the layers to examine these racial and ethnic differences in more detail, the Brookings Institute noted in 2020 that the refusal of several states to expand Medicaid could be one contributing factor. One 2017 research study found that some underrepresented racial groups were more likely to experience insurance loss than their white counterparts. The study indicated that for Black and Hispanic populations, specific trigger events were more likely, as well as “socioeconomic characteristics” that were linked to more insurance loss and slower insurance gain. The study also noted that in the U.S., health insurance access was associated with employment and and marriage and that Black and Hispanic populations were “disadvantaged in both areas.”

Equity in and access to healthcare is fundamental, but bias is omnipresent. Age bias, for example, is a pervasive issue in breast cancer treatment. Research also indicates that racial bias is a prevalent issue—because the current guidelines in breast cancer screenings are based on white populations, this can lead to a delayed diagnosis for women from non-white communities. Our health is one of our greatest assets and healthcare should be a basic human right, no matter what state or country you live in. As a society, we must ensure that healthcare is available, affordable and accessible to all citizens. After all, how can a country call itself great if so many of its citizens, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable, don’t have access to healthcare?

[aroace-musings]

My Agender Journey

I never understood this thing called gender. Never did I feel "girl" nor "boy". I just felt like me. An individual. A person. A homo sapiens. Just someone existing on this great blue planet called Earth.

As I kid, gender roles utterly baffled me. Why did these colors signify "boy", yet those colors signify "girl"? Why did these set of toys appeal to "boys", but those set of toys appeal to "girls"? Why were "girls" expected to behave one way and boys another? Societal rules and expectations were a total enigma to my younger self.

In first and second grade, I would often use the "boy's" bathroom because it was closer to the classroom. Many times the nun and principal would scold me. And many times they made me walk laps around the gym or write lines on the chalkboard. I no longer remember what they made me write. Probably something along the lines of "I will only use the girl's bathroom".

Then came the puberty talk, and my whole world shattered. Boobs? Why would you want those? Period? Oh, hell no! My brain seemed adamant that these things would never happen to me.

At eleven, puberty shattered my denial like a hammer smashing through a window. I remember that horrible day most vividly. I wore burgundy stretchy pants, and all of my thoughts were focused on beating Ganon, the final boss in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. But a weird pain in my belly distracted me. Using the bathroom, my worst fears had come true. I had hoped I would be one of those who couldn't get a period, but alas, this was not to be. It took my mom hours to convince me to use a pad.

Then came the boobs. And when the boobs came, gender dysphoria really sunk its teeth into me. I remember crying in the shower trying to push the breast tissue back into my chest. I did everything to hide this abomination on my chest. I wore tight fitting sports bras and baggy shirts.

I told nobody but my friend in high school of my feelings. Only to him did I tell of how horrible my chest and period made me feel. That I didn't want either, for it signified a gender that I didn't identify with, not in the slightest.

It wasn't until uni that I discovered the word agender in a psychology journal. With the discovery of this word, all my experiences suddenly made sense. What a relief that I could now encapsulate them all into a single, solitary word. A word that conveyed a lived experience difficult to describe otherwise. A lone word instead of an entire army of them.

Going onto the internet, I found others like myself. A whole community of individuals with similar experiences and struggles. Upon finding this community, I felt a flood of relief. Others felt as I did. I wasn't alone. I wasn't crazy. I was just agender!

It was also during this time that I discovered the term gender dysphoria. A term that resonated with me deeply. I self-identified as suffering from it years before a psychologist officially diagnosed me with it.

Shortly after these life-changing revelations, I learned about top surgery. Well...not top surgery per se. But I did learn that you could get an elective double mastectomy. I learned this when I read Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg for a queer literature class at uni.

The instant I learned that such a thing as top surgery existed, I knew that I wanted... No, not wanted...needed. I knew that I needed top surgery if I ever hoped to alleviate the gender dysphoria that plagued me constantly.

Looking into it, my hopes sunk like an anchor thrown overboard. At that time...this was in the mid noughties...my state required that you take testosterone for six months before a doctor could approve you for top surgery.

Since I knew that I didn’t need testosterone to alleviate my gender dysphoria, I resigned myself to the fact that I may have to live with these lumps on my chest for the rest of my life. Many days, I felt deformed and unnatural.

After a fifteen year wait, my state finally got rid of the six month testosterone requirement for top surgery. I can’t describe the utter joy I felt on that day. When I read the news, I flapped my hands and squealed in excitement. I even did a little jig around my bedroom.

It took a few years to get all the pieces in place, but it eventually happened. On 18 October, I finally got top surgery at the Madison Surgical Center. Dr. Gast performed the operation. I had a double incision mastectomy with free nipple grafts.

Two weeks post op, all is going well. I can't wait until it's all healed, and I can go shirtless as I did when I was a child!

And the best part of all? My insurance covered it! I did have to pay some expenses, but thankfully, I didn’t have to cover the entire cost. Also, two kind souls donated to my gofundme, and these donations helped cover some of my travel expenses. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them.

Now, I only experience dysphoria when I get my period. Something that should sort itself out in the next decade or so. Am I the only person on the planet excited about menopause? Everyone in my life thinks me insane and unhinged.

Seriously, I don't think it can be as bad as everything that comes with a period: PMS, period flu, cramps, bloating, and gender dysphoria. Can it?

Well that’s all I have for today. Until next time, take care and stay curious.