#i like receiving questions about this stuff btw. i don't bite! i'm just opinionated

[shrimpmandan]

I honestly can’t tell if the modern definition of transmedicalism (or just the community around it) has changed, or if MY own opinions have changed. It’s a surreal experience seeing people talk about transmedicalism like from the 2016-2018 era, but then in my own groups I don’t see any of that associated behavior hardly at all (or the people who do show that behavior are treated as clowns).

I already put a biiiig thing clarifying my stances in my Carrd, but I figured I’d also plop it here since I don’t want anyone to assume what I believe in just because they see the funny buzzword discourse label.

So:

- You DON'T need to medically transition to be trans. Or “do” anything to be trans. There’s no real barrier for entry; it’s just whatever helps you to feel more comfortable with yourself. The only “barrier” is the presence of dysphoria, which is what that discomfort is-- feeling like something is missing, feeling like you’d be happier as the opposite sex, wanting to be treated as another gender. That’s all dysphoria!

- People who genuinely fake being trans are a minority of a minority, and nothing good will come out of restricting trans healthcare further.

- I'm antsy about research (especially neurological research) into the brains of nonbinary people and may reblog things both in support and against the identity, but I respect them regardless. Consider me to generally lean pro.

- The psychological community does not understand trans people and conflates the concept of gender nonconformity with being trans, under the label of “gender expansive”. I (and many others) find this conflation to be inaccurate and offensive, and it also bleeds into public understandings of what a trans person is.

- MOGAI kids and nonbinary people are not responsible for our oppression and to say so is fucking stupid. My reasons for being anti-MOGAI have more to do with the creator and the fact that I don't view gender as being solely a social construct.

- Dysphoria does not mean suffering, nor does it mean hating your body. Go here if you wanna see the diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria.

- TransID is ableist and racist. I shouldn't have to explain why.

It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. By all means I don’t agree with the sentiment of “you don’t need dysphoria, gender isn’t real, go nuts”, because it feels like it stems from misinformation about what gender dysphoria means and also disregards the biological components of gender that DO exist. But I also can’t fucking stand the flop/cringe crowd that scrutinizes everything a trans person says. I’ve definitely been on the receiving end of “oh you have DYSMORPHIA, not DYSPHORIA” before and it was extremely irritating, not to mention a blatant misunderstanding of what body dysmorphia is. It also shoves “actual trans people” back into the closet because imposter syndrome is a bitch and while insisting people to know absolutely 100% for certain that they’re trans is advice given out of a good place, it ultimately ends up not being helpful for those who have fluctuating dysphoria, imposter syndrome, OCD, or any amount of other conditions that can make them go back and forth on it a lot.

I wish there was more of a middle ground between the two extremes instead of it feeling like you just have to dig around for the transmeds who aren’t exceedingly insecure and/or malignant. And you STILL get kicked out of most trans communities anyways because they’ve (understandably) built their walls up so high that it goes really far in the direction of accommodating one type of trans person, while utterly alienating another, which is how we get transmed spaces (and echo chambers) to begin with. 

I think my opinions will always lean transmed because I’m someone who puts a lot of stock into psychology and neuroscience-- those are my special interests, moreso the former than the latter. I feel like psychologists and doctors in general have failed trans people on a lot of fronts, but is that the fault of kids with atypical identities? No, not at all, for as much as I find the whole “meowgender” business to be dumb. But also going out and starting debates or god forbid harassing random teenagers and young adults because you think you’re entitled to know every little thing about their identity is JUST as dumb, not to mention pathetic. The transmeds who don’t think that way are the ones I agree with. The ones that do are just as bad as the ‘tucutes’ they criticize, and both contribute to dividing the trans community further. And yes, BOTH. This whole discourse was started by a tucute cis girl pretending to be a trans girl, lest we forget. Transmeds aren’t evil and neither are tucutes. Tumblr discourse just makes an ass out of everyone.