diff --git a/public/gdb/es/_disclaimer.hbs b/public/gdb/es/_disclaimer.hbs new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c17780f --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/_disclaimer.hbs @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +
+ The Gender Dysphoria Bible is a Living Document +

The contents of this site will change over time as new additions and revisions are made to further expand upon the full breadth of Gender Dysphoria. In its current iteration it is severely lacking in AFAB narratives, non-binary, agender & genderfluid specific dysphoria, and Third Gender narratives. The GDB is an open source and publicly funded project, content and fiscal contributions are extremely welcome.

+
diff --git a/public/gdb/es/_images/bimodal.jpeg b/public/gdb/es/_images/bimodal.jpeg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1441917 Binary files /dev/null and b/public/gdb/es/_images/bimodal.jpeg differ diff --git a/public/gdb/es/biochemical-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/biochemical-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..457b826 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/biochemical-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,141 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Biochemical Dysphoria" +description: "The very real and biological factors of Gender Dysphoria that cause mental disturbance." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1215716438972993536' + - '1215736608055537670' + - '1215738145473474560' + - '1215740224325783553' + + - '1222738910821978113' + - '1222739427312750594' + - '1222740261178105856' + - '1222742135067303937' + - '1222743360034758656' + - '1222743749920464896' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/physical-dysphoria + prevCaption: Physical Dysphoria + next: /gdb/social-dysphoria + nextCaption: Social Dysphoria +--- + +# Biochemical Dysphoria + +The primary sexual features of the body begin development during the 8th week of human gestation. Typically by week 11 it is possible to determine the genitals of a fetus via ultrasound. The brain, however, forms itself in [between weeks 14 and 24](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989000/#Sec5title). Current prevailing understanding of neurological development suggests that it is during these 10 weeks when the brain will either masculinize or feminize based upon the presence of testosterone in the infant's bloodstream (initiated by the SRY gene on the Y chromosome, or introduced from other sources). This process locks the brain into a pattern of either desiring estrogens or androgens. + +If your brain is wired for one gonadal hormones (such as testosterone) and your body produces the other hormone (such as estradiol), this can result in a biochemical malfunction within your brain chemistry. This produces a sort of brain fog, a reduction in mental capacity, and a general state of anxiety and unease. This is the source of the first two symptoms that often alleviate with medical hormonal therapy, Depersonalization and Derealization (DPDR). + +{!{ +
+ +
+
+
+ Brea + theredgrrl +
+
+ {{#with images.brea_eyes}} + {{alt}} + {{/with}} +

+ #TransformationTuesday - As I’ve often said on posts like this, our eyes reflect our lives. The biggest difference I see in how trans people look after transition is always the eyes; often looking sad or distant in the past, and being bright and full of life in the present +

+

+ +

+ +
+}!} + +**Depersonalization** is a disconnect from your own body, an inability to believe that the person you see in the mirror is actually yourself. You feel like you are watching someone else in your body. You may find yourself not caring about what happens to your body, lack of concern with weight changes or improving your fitness because you have no ownership of this fleshy vehicle that transports you around your life. + +Zinnia Jones [gives these descriptions for Depersonalization](https://web.archive.org/web/20190406141617/https://genderanalysis.net/2017/06/depersonalization-in-gender-dysphoria-widespread-and-widely-unrecognized/): + +- A sense of detachment or estrangement from your own thoughts, feelings, or body: “I know I have feelings but I don’t feel them” +- Feeling split into two parts, with one going through the motions of participating in the world and one observing quietly: “There is this body that walks around and somebody else just watches” +- Feeling as if you have an “unreal” or absent self: “I have no self” +- Experiencing the world as distant, dreamlike, foggy, lifeless, colorless, artificial, like a picture with no depth, or less than real +- Being absorbed in yourself and experiencing a compulsive self-scrutiny or extreme rumination +- Having an ongoing and coherent dialog with yourself +- Feeling like a veil or glass wall separates you from the world +- Emotional or physical numbness, such as a feeling of having a head filled with cotton +- Lacking a sense of agency – feeling flat, robotic, dead, or like a “zombie” +- Inability to imagine things +- Being able to think clearly, but feeling as if some essential quality is lacking from your thoughts or experience of the world +- A sense of disconnectedness from life, impeding you from creative and open involvement with the world + +You may put little care into your physical appearance, reaching for only the basic utilitarian needs in clothing and personal hygiene. Alternatively, you may hyperfocus on your appearance, attempting to try to spark some kind of joy, any kind of feeling of pride in your own body, only to be met with more hollowness. + +You may be unconcerned with the state of your body, perhaps not even fearing death, because you have so little attachment to your life. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1215716438972993536' + '1215736608055537670' + '1215738145473474560' + '1215740224325783553' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="oneblock" }}
}!} + +**Derealization** is a detachment from the world around you, a mental sense that everything you perceive is false. + +- Your surroundings seem alien or unfamiliar, even if you've always been there, like someone has swapped out your house for a stage replica. +- Moving through the world feels like you're walking on a treadmill, with the buildings moving around you instead of you through them. +- Feeling emotionally disconnected from people you care about, as if you were separated by a glass wall, or like they are just actors pretending to be the people they claim to be. +- Surroundings that appear distorted, blurry, colorless, two-dimensional or artificial, or a heightened awareness and clarity of your surroundings. Leaves on trees feel like they have extra sharp edges, for example. +- Distortions in perception of time, such as recent events feeling like distant past. +- Distortions of distance and the size and shape of objects +- Feeling like a passive observer in the events of your life + +If you found yourself strongly relating to The Matrix or The Truman Show, you might be experiencing derealization. This can also manifest as a feeling of otherworldliness, like you don't belong in this society. You're just walking around waiting for your super powers to appear, or for an owl to fly up with your letter to Hogwarts. As a teen I was obsessed with an episode of The Outer Limits where a boy discovers a spaceship under his house and learns that he and his parents aren't actually human. + +DPDR sometimes comes with an emotional stunting. You are able to laugh and find humor, but rarely ever genuine joy. Moments of sadness or grief cause you to just go numb, dissociated by the event that caused it. This can also go in the opposite direction, where the person is under so much anxiety that their emotional response is extremely disproportionate to the catalyst, resulting in severe crying or violent outbursts from seemingly small events. + +It's important to note that DPDR is not exclusive to Gender Dysphoria. This condition is co-morbid with several other mental health issues, including chronic depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder. DPDR should not be taken as a sign of Gender Dysphoria purely on its own, it's just a big alarm signal that something is very wrong. It's also usually pretty easy to spot externally, once you know how to watch for it. People with DPDR tend to have a mile long stare as they move about in the world; eyes so gloomy and dead that they look like a shell. One of the most common comments on transition timelines is how the eyes gain so much spark. + +### The Ebb and Flow + +The intensity of physical and biochemical dysphoria is highly influenced by other factors in the body. Because it is a function of endocrine balance, it is also manipulated by those balances. This means that it can rise and fall from day to day. For example: + +- If your blood sugar is out of whack, or you have a thyroid condition, it could cause your dysphoria to spike. +- If you are having dopamine withdrawl because of ceasing stimulants, that can make it worse. +- If you start on an SSRI Antidepressant and start running with more serotonin, that can make it less intense. +- Transfeminine AMABs (people assigned male at birth) with testicles experience surges in testosterone in relation to attraction and desire, which can make them more dysphoric. +- Transmasculine AFABs (people assigned female at birth) with unsuppressed ovaries experience rises and falls in estrogen and progesterone over the course of their menstrual cycle, making their dysphoria worsen and lesson based on what day of the cycle they are one. + +There are dozens of systems in the body that all work in tandem, and they all fluctuate from day to day, manipulating general mental state. This general dysphoria can amplify the affect of all other dysphoria. One day you can shrug off misgendering like it's nothing, and then the next it hurts like a stab in the heart every time. One day you see yourself in the mirror, the next you're staring at the old you. + +Some people experience this in a genderfluid way, with some days leaning male, same days leaning female, and other days not feeling any gender, or both. Others just feel it like a seasonal river; sometimes it swells because of rains up stream, sometimes it slows to a trickle because of drought. + +All of this is valid, and just because you feel very dysphoric one day and not dysphoric the next does not mean that you aren't really trans. + +### This Happens Both Ways + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1222738910821978113' + '1222739427312750594' + '1222740261178105856' + '1222742135067303937' + '1222743360034758656' + '1222743749920464896' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="oneblock" }}
}!} + +Sometimes you will hear naysayers suggesting that taking hormone therapy always improves mental health. I heard this myself when I came out to my mother. "Estrogen makes everyone happier." This is flat out false. When cis people are put on cross hormone therapy it always results in dysphoria. This is one reason why Spironolactone is rarely ever prescribed to men, because the anti-androgen factor causes mental instability. Five to ten percent of cis women suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a condition which causes the ovaries to produce testosterone instead of estrogen. Ask any one of them how their mental health has been, and they will give you an ear full. + +One very potent demonstration of this is the tragic case of [David Reimer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer). At seven months of age David and his twin brother were given circumcisions to treat a bad case of phimosis (a skin condition on the foreskin). David's went horribly wrong, and the penis was destroyed. The decision was made to perform vaginoplasty and raise him as a girl, including estrogen therapy at pubescence. By the age of 13 he was deep into suicidal depression and suffering greatly, as no amount of coaching and encouraging can make a boy enjoy being a girl. When his parents informed him of what had happened, he returned to a male presentation, switched to testosterone therapy, and over the course of his teen years had multiple operations in order to transition back to male. + +People know when they're living the wrong gender. + +Psychologist John Money oversaw David's case and was largely responsible for the decisions that were made in David's upbringing. Money, seeking to make a name for himself, massively misreported on David's case, calling it a complete success in his reports. The result of this echoes to this day, as Money's reports were used as an example of why performing genital corrective surgeries on intersex infants was an appropriate course of action. Fifty years later there are still doctors who believe that you can just change a child's genitals and raise them as that gender, and it will stick. + +This is the tragedy of the [intersex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex) community. Roughly one in every 60 births results in some kind of intersex condition (tho not all of these are related to genitalia). Often times the "corrective" procedures used on intersex children results in a loss of function and/or sensation. Far too frequently, doctors would opt towards forced female assignment because it was easier to construct a vulva than a penis. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/causes.md b/public/gdb/es/causes.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab322d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/causes.md @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "What is the Cause of Gender Incongruence" +description: "It's the hormones, baby." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - https://twitter.com/LisaTMullin/status/1224039568971710464 + - https://twitter.com/LisaTMullin/status/1224040716365524993 + - https://twitter.com/LisaTMullin/status/1224041800513380352 + - https://twitter.com/LisaTMullin/status/1224041800513380352 + - https://twitter.com/LisaTMullin/status/1224042620164296705 + - https://twitter.com/LisaTMullin/status/1224043995413639168 + - https://twitter.com/LisaTMullin/status/1224044949160611840 +siblings: + prev: /gdb/treatment + prevCaption: Treating Gender Dysphoria + next: /gdb/chromosomes + nextCaption: But... but... the chromosomes! +--- + +#What is the Cause of Gender Incongruence? + +Here is what we know today. If you’ve seen Jurassic Park then you may remember this scene: + +{!{ {{import '~/img' images.jurassicpark className="card borderless center span34" alt="All vertebrate embryos are inherently female anyway. They just require an extra hormone given at the right developmental stage to make them male."}} }!} + +This isn't science fiction, tho it is very dumbed down. In human fetuses the gonads initially develop in a bi-potential state, meaning they can become either ovaries or testes. The SRY gene on the Y chromosome releases a protein called [Testis Determining Factor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testis-determining_factor) (TDF). This protein then starts a chain reaction with SOX9 production (another protein), which causes the gonadal cells to form into the Sertoli and Leydig cells that make up the testes. If TDF is never produced or is interfered with then the gonad cells form into the Theca cells and follicles which comprise the ovaries. + +{!{
{{import '~/img' images.fetalgenitals className="card" caption="Source" alt="Fetal development of internal sexual anatomy"}}
}!} + +Once formed, the testes then begin producing a testosterone surge which typically starts in the 8th week of gestation and continues until the 24th week. This surge, [combined with another hormone from the placenta](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190214153053.htm), is responsible for the development of the penis and scrotum. Genitalia formation starts around week 9 and becomes identifiable by the 11th week. If the surge does not occur, or the body does not respond to it (such as in the case of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome) then the genitalia form into the vulva, vagina and uterus instead. + +If there is an interference in this process then you can end up with the wrong bits, and this is the result of many intersex conditions. Often times this is a partial development, where the external genitalia only partially form, but functional gonads still exist. Sometimes the child comes out with fully functional male or female genitalia, but mismatched gonads. Sometimes the TDF protein fails to release and the fetus grows completely functional female reproductive organs, despite the presence of a Y chromosome. + +This is known as Swyer Syndrome, and an unknown number of women may have this condition. In 2015 [an XY woman with Swyer Syndrome who was born without ovaries](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mostly-male-woman-gives-birth-to-twins-in-medical-miracle-10033528.html) successfully carried and gave birth to a child via IVF. Usually Swyer Syndrome results in completely non-functional ovaries, but [in 2008 a woman was found with Swyer Syndrome](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2190741/) who had gone through puberty, menstruated normally, and had two unassisted pregnancies. Her condition went undiscovered until her daughter was was found to also have it. + +The fact is, the vast majority of the population has never been tested for genetic karyotype, so we don’t know how common these cases actually are. Where does this come into affect for gender identity? Well, the exact same process that causes the external genitals to differentiate also occurs for the brain. + +{!{
+ And it gets even weirder! +{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1224039568971710464' + '1224040716365524993' + '1224041800513380352' + '1224042620164296705' + '1224043995413639168' + '1224044949160611840' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="oneblock hide-reply" }}
}!} + +#### Brain Split + +The prenatal brain doesn’t really start to develop until between week 12 and 24. The cerebral cortex, the thin outer layer of the brain that contains most of what we think of as consciousness, grows substantially during those periods of time. Prior to that, the structure present is more like a scaffolding, the basic parts of the nervous system necessary for bodily function. The primary sulci (the wrinkles in the cerebral cortex that allow for more surface area) [start to form at week 14](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989000/#Sec5title), well after the genitals have developed. + +It [has been confirmed multiple times](https://www.the-scientist.com/features/are-the-brains-of-transgender-people-different-from-those-of-cisgender-people-30027) via MRI studies that there are small but significant differences between cis male and cis female brains, differences which align with the gender identities of trans people in the study. Note, **this does not mean that anyone with those differences will have that gender**, because gender identity isn’t that simple, but it provides evidence that there is a clear difference in masculine and feminine brains. + +A change in the testosterone levels in the fetus after the 11th week can directly impact the masculinization of the cerebral cortex, as well as changes in other parts of the brain structure. This has been examined [over and over again](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4350266/) in studies of female assigned children with CAH (congenital adrenal hyperplasia) and CAIS (complete androgen insensitivity syndrome). + +

We found a significant relationship between fetal testosterone and sexually differentiated play behavior in both girls and boys.

— Fetal Testosterone Predicts Sexually Differentiated Childhood Behavior in Girls and in Boys
+ +An excess of testosterone in the mother’s body during the second trimester can (and does) cause masculinization of the brain in an externally female fetus, and an interference in testosterone production or uptake can (and does) cause feminisation of an externally male fetus. This interference does not have to be external in origin, either. Any number of genetic traits can cause the brain to respond differently to testosterone. + +A fairly large study of transgender individuals released in 2018 [found several key genes](https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/104/2/390/5104458) which were statistically more likely to be longer among trans women (longer, as in having more repeated fragments). Individually these genes may not have an impact strong enough to cause a malfunction of masculinization, but collectively they absolutely could reduce the ability for the fetal brain to masculinize. These genes are all passed from parent to child, giving credence to a tendency for trans parents to have trans children. + +#### Gender is Biological + +Sadly, western society has actively prevented a deeper understanding of gender. Ancient civilizations understood it well, but colonialism wiped them off the map. 100 years ago, [scientists in Germany were actively studying](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft) transgender medicine and made extraordinary advancements, until the nazis burned it all in 1933. Conservative and fascist pressures in the modern day have hindered advancements in transgender healthcare whenever possible. + +Yet, progress continues, and every few years we learn a little bit more. + +What we know for certain is that it is not a psychological condition, it is not something caused by trauma or by any external influence, nothing can make a person transgender. It happens in the womb, and is not something that a person can choose to be, any more than they could choose their race or their eye color. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation, it has nothing to do with kinks or fetishes, it has nothing to do with social influences from their parents or from their peers. [Transgender children are as firm in their identities as cisgender children are.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnstaceyennis/2020/12/29/study-transgender-children-recognize-their-authentic-gender-at-early-age-just-like-other-kids/#20bbb14526bf). diff --git a/public/gdb/es/chromosomes.md b/public/gdb/es/chromosomes.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a8303b --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/chromosomes.md @@ -0,0 +1,93 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "Disorders of Sex Development: Gender is not Chromosomal" +description: "DNA is more what you'd call guidelines, than actual rules." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +classes: + - gdb +siblings: + prev: /gdb/causes + prevCaption: Causes of Gender Dysphoria + next: /gdb/conclusion + nextCaption: Conclusion +tweets: + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207834357639139328 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207835110617309191 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207835384358604802 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207835597206937600 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207835815071473664 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207835999130259456 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207837155667718145 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207838570276372480 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207838924263084033 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207839452619522048 + - https://twitter.com/RebeccaRHelm/status/1207839986801922048 + - https://twitter.com/alicemiriel/status/1208181235593490433 + - https://twitter.com/TransEthics/status/1223942625708761088 + +--- + +# But the Chromosomes!!! + +{!{
+ {{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1223942625708761088' + ) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }} + {{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1207834357639139328' + '1207835110617309191' + '1207835384358604802' + '1207835597206937600' + '1207835815071473664' + '1207835999130259456' + '1207837155667718145' + '1207838570276372480' + '1207839986801922048' + '1207838924263084033' + '1207839452619522048' + ) tweets=meta.tweets className="oneblock" }} + {{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1208181235593490433' + ) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }} +
}!} + + +There are dozens of ways that chromosomes can be much more complex than XX and XY. Medically these are referred to as DSDs ([Disorders of Sex Development](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disorders_of_sex_development)). Not all result in an intersex condition, and many only manifest at the onset of puberty. + +- [De la Chapelle Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XX_male_syndrome) (46,XX Male) occurs when the SRY gene from the sperm parent crosses over into a non-Y-bearing sperm during spermatogenesis. When the egg and sperm merge, it results in an XX embryo with an SRY gene, creating a phenotypical male child with two X chromosomes. + +- [Swyer Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swyer_syndrome) (46,XY Female) produces a phenotypically female child with an XY chromosome. This results from a dozen different genetic conditions, including: + + - Absence or defect of an SRY gene + - Absence or defect of [DHH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_hedgehog_(protein)) synthesis + - Absence of the [SF-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroidogenic_factor_1) protein due to adrenal failure + - Absence of or defect the [CBX2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBX2_(gene)) gene, preventing TDF cascade + +- [XX Gonadal Dysgenesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XX_gonadal_dysgenesis) is very similar to Swyer Syndrome, except occurs in XX children and results in nonfunctional ovaries. + + +- [Turner Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_syndrome) (45,X) produces a phenotypically female child with numerous abnormalities. It occurs when neither an X or Y chromosome crosses over from the sperm. + +- [Klinefelter Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klinefelter_syndrome) (47,XXY) results in a phenotypically male child with more feminine traits. In extremely rare cases [it appears in female assigned children](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15755052) as well, resulting in feminized testicles instead of ovaries. + +- [49,XXXXY Klinefelter Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/49,XXXXY) is often fatal, but when it isn't, it will always results in a sterile child. + +- [Trisomy X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_X_syndrome) (47,XXX), [Tetrasomy X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrasomy_X) (48,XXXX), and [Pentasomy X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/49,_XXXXX) (49,XXXXX) all result in a female child, but with progressively more intense health issues. + +- [XXYY Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XXYY_syndrome) results in male children (due to two SRY genes) which often experience hypogonadism, needing testosterone supplements, but otherwise seeming like a typical male + +- [Mosaicism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(genetics)) results when some cells in the body have one set of chromosomes and other cells have another due to a mutation of the genome during gestation. This may be XX/XY (resulting in a dual set of genitalia), X/XY (a milder form of Swyer or Turner syndromes) or XX/XXY (a milder form of Klinefelter syndrome). + +- [Chimerism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)) occurs when two fertilized embryos merge together into one zygote, causing half of the child to contain one set of DNA and the other half to contain another. This can result in an otherwise completely typical human being of either male or female phenotype, even capable of producing offspring, but which comes back on a kareotype test as not matching their phenotype based on where the sample was taken on their body. In extremely rare cases this can result in two full sets of reproductive organs. + +- [Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_adrenal_hyperplasia)(CAH) is masculinization of the female genitals in an XX child due to overactive adrenal glands. + +- [Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensitivity_syndrome)(AIS) is a total or partial resistance to all androgens, preventing masculinization of all organs, save for the testicles, in an XY child. AIS subjects typically develop a female gender identity, but some partial cases may be male. + +- [5-alpha-reductase deficiency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-alpha-reductase_deficiency)(5ARD) is a failure in the body's ability to metabolize testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), preventing masculinization of the genitalia until the onset of puberty, when the child suddenly grows a penis. + +- [Aromatase Deficiency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatase_deficiency) causes masculinization of an otherwise female child due to excess levels of testosterone (and can bleed-over into the mother during gestation). + +- [Aromatase Excess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatase_excess_syndrome) causes feminisation in an otherwise male child, as all testosterone is converted into estrogen. + +{!{ {{import '~/img' images.barbosa className="card borderless center" alt="The code is more what you'd call guidelines, than actual rules."}} }!} diff --git a/public/gdb/es/conclusion.md b/public/gdb/es/conclusion.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea4113b --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/conclusion.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "In Conclusion" +description: "Enough with the gatekeeping already." +siblings: + prev: /gdb/chromosomes + prevCaption: Disorders of Sexual Development +classes: + - gdb +preBody: '_disclaimer' +--- + +# Conclusion + +Every single year we get new studies that show an increase in the size of the transgender population. As awareness continues to grow, more and more people are realizing what has been wrong with their lives and are coming out of the closet. People who transitioned decades ago are coming out of stealth. GLAAD estimates as much as 3% of the population could be transgender, and I have seen numbers as high as 5% or even 10% from more liberal estimations. The more we come to understand about gender, the more language we gain to describe gender, the more people realize that the rigid Male and Female sexual structure that we have been forced into is false. + +Yet all this change frightens people. It frightens conservatives who see their patriarchal social structures dissolving under the new understanding of gender. It frightens old-school transgender people who transitioned under the Harry Benjamin rules and now see so many people easily obtaining what they had to act and lie and manipulate to achieve. They fear that if anyone can be trans, then the public will stop taking trans people seriously. It frightens the misogynistic trans-exclusionary groups that fight so hard to invalidate transgender rights, because they think if anyone can be a man or a woman, then their status as a man or a woman is harmed. + +There is no such thing as a "Transtrender". + +There is no such thing as "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria". + +There is no such thing as parents "transing" their kids. + +These mentalities have to stop. + diff --git a/public/gdb/es/diagnoses.md b/public/gdb/es/diagnoses.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3818ca2 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/diagnoses.md @@ -0,0 +1,66 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "Diagnosing Gender Dysphoria" +description: "It's clinical." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +classes: + - gdb +siblings: + prev: /gdb/impostor-syndrome + prevCaption: Impostor Syndrome + next: /gdb/treatment + nextCaption: Treating Gender Dysphoria +--- + +# How is Gender Dysphoria Diagnosed? + +This section is going to focus on the diagnostic criteria under the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, version five (DSM-5). The reason I'm focusing on this standard is because, well, nobody else has one. The UK's National Health Service basically mirrors the APA's DSM. Other countries have their own local standards, but they're all either very similar, or a lot more outdated. + +The WPATH SoC describes ways that Gender Dysphoria manifests, but does not define clear diagnostic criteria, instead leaving it up to individual mental health professionals to make their own diagnoses. In general it advocates that if the patient is of sound mind and body and says that they have Gender Dysphoria, then they should be believed. The key piece here is "sound mind and body", it is left to the mental health professional to do the due diligence to ensure that there are no other conditions which may be causing the patient to believe this. + +Or to put it bluntly, WPATH says that if you think you're trans, you're trans. This has been the attitude that the majority of the community has adopted as well. As long as you believe your gender does not match what you were assigned at birth, you are transgender. However, insurance companies aren't so happy with self-diagnoses, so here are the criteria which are defined in DSM-5 for diagnosing someone with Gender Dysphoria. + +{!{

For Your Information

}!} + +Diagnoses of Gender Dysphoria in pre-pubescent children requires the child must have a documented six month history of meeting 6 of these criteria, as well as demonstrated distress or impairment in function. + +1. A strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence that one is the other gender +2. A strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the opposite gender +3. A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play +4. A strong preference for the toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender +5. A strong preference for playmates of the other gender +6. A strong rejection of toys, games and activities typical of one’s assigned gender +7. A strong dislike of one’s sexual anatomy +8. A strong desire for the physical sex characteristics that match one’s experienced gender + +{!{
}!} + +**Note** These are the criteria for adolescents and adults. Children have a different set of criteria, which [you can find here](https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria). I have also changed the wording slightly, here, as the official criteria are binary centric. + +For an adult to be diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria by a licensed mental health professional they must meet two of these six criteria, and have experienced those criteria for longer than six months. + +- **A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics** + + The way the person sees the world and interacts with the world does not align with the way it is typically expected for someone of the gender they were assigned at birth. There are a very broad number of traits which fit into this description. It can be in the way they interact with others, how they talk, what hobbies they prefer, how they dress, their body language and mannerisms, what genders they relate to more. + +- **A strong desire to be rid of one’s primary and/or secondary sex characteristics** +- **A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of another gender** + + These two are pretty well paired, this is physical dysphoria as I defined it above. The person finds discomfort with aspects of their body which are a result of their sex at birth, or may even be their sex at birth. + +- **A strong desire to be of another gender** +- **A strong desire to be treated as another gender** + + These are the social and societal dysphoria. They are how a person wants to interact with the world, and wants the world to interact with them. + +- **A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of another gender** + + This is pretty self explanatory. + +As I said, only two of these conditions need be met for a formal diagnoses. You may notice that only two of these comprise the physical body. It is perfectly valid for a trans person to be experiencing Gender Dysphoria without actually hating any part of their body, or wanting to change any part of their body. Physical Dysphoria is only one fraction of the many ways that lead to being trans. + +Now, here is the kicker. If you identify as transgender, meaning that your gender does not align with the binary sex you were assigned at birth, you already meet two of these criteria! You have a strong enough desire to be of another gender that you are identifying that you *are* another gender, and you have a strong conviction of what your gender feels like, and it isn't what you were given at birth. + +So, it is literally impossible for a person to identify as trans and not experience gender dysphoria. By the WPATH requirements anyone can identify as trans. Ergo, the statement "you do not have to have dysphoria to be transgender" is a logical paradox. + +Then why do we still say it? Because most people don't know what gender dysphoria actually is, and it is easier to repeat the mantra, than to explain the nuances and subtleties of how Gender Dysphoria manifests. But hey, look, now you've got a nice article to link to that can help people understand that. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/euphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/euphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e039a58 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/euphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Euphoria" +description: "In order for there to be shadow there must be light." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/es/history + prevCaption: The History of Gender Dysphoria + next: /gdb/es/physical-dysphoria + nextCaption: Physical Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1215716433210105856' + - https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1228141518386585607 + - https://twitter.com/TwippingVanilla/status/1228165207316287489 + - https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1228165767264256003 +--- + +# Euforia de Género + +{!{ +
+ Eu·pho·ri·a - Noun
+ A feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness. Elation, joy, glee. +
+}!} + +Antes de que pueda empezar a hablar sobre la incomodidad, tengo que hablar sobre el alivio. La Euforia de Género es en sí misma un signo de Disforia de Género. Puedes estar preguntándote. “¿cómo puede la felicidad ser tristeza?” La respuesta a eso es simple. + +Imagina a una persona que nació en una cueva, que pasó su vida entera viviendo bajo tierra, cuya única fuente de iluminación eran velas y lámparas de aceite. Imagina que nunca ha estado afuera en la superficie, que ni siquiera sabe que la superficie existe. Luego, un día, ocurre un derrumbe en un túnel secundario que revela una apertura a la superficie. La luz del sol se cuela por el orificio, y al inicio es cegadora y la persona huye atemorizada. Más tarde regresa a la apertura, y cuando los ojos de la persona se adaptan, miran a través del agujero y ven un mundo luminoso y brillante lleno de colores que ni siquiera sabía que existía. + +Ese mundo da miedo, es enorme y lleno de misterios, así que se arrastra de regreso a la cueva por seguridad, pero ese agujero sigue ahí, y ve la luz cada vez que pasa a su lado. Gradualmente se asoma más y con mayor frecuencia, y cada vez más lejos de la apertura. Empieza a desear esa luz, a encontrar razones para visitarla con mayor frecuencia. + +Eventualmente, se da cuenta que ya no quiere regresar a la cueva. Tiene que volver, porque su familia y amigos están ahí, pero este lugar es mucho mejor, se quiere quedar aquí. Ir de vuelta a la cueva se siente mal, estar en la oscuridad empieza a doler tanto. + +Así es la Euforia de Género, son breves destellos de luz que pueden ser muy luminosos para manejar al inicio, muy confusos de entender, pero que conforme el tiempo pasa, te acostumbras más a ellos y te das cuenta de que ahí es a donde perteneces, y la oscuridad se vuelve la disforia. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1215716433210105856' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="hide-reply" }}
}!} + +Muchas personas trans no tienen idea de en cuánto dolor se encuentran hasta que hallan un poco de alivio. Cosplay, actuación en escenarios, drag, juegos de rol, videojuegos; pequeñas incursiones a un género diferente del que han vivido. Encuentran que se siente un poco más cómodo. Hacen excusas del porqué (“Si voy a estarle viendo el trasero a este personaje, mejor que sea el trasero de una chica.”), se tratan de convencer a sí mismxs de que todo es por diversión, o una expresión artística. Se pueden decir a sí mismxs que los momentos de alegría que sienten escuchando un pronombre diferente son solo por novedad. Pero pronto se encuentran buscando razones para hacer con mayor frecuencia. Más y más seguido juegan con personajes de un sexo diferente, realizan más disfraces, compran más ropa, actúan más seguido. Te encuentras a ti mismx deseando hacer eso todo el tiempo, porque se siente mejor que tu vida real, y ser “tú” empieza a doler. Eventualmente, el viejo tú se convierte en el disfraz. + +Esta es la razón más fundamental por la que en nuestra comunidad decimos “no necesitas tener disforia para ser trans”, porque la tinta negra en un lienzo negro no es visible sin una examinación cercana y mucha luz. + +Cualquier cosa que puede ser una fuente de disforia tiene su contraparte de euforia. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1228141518386585607' + '1228165207316287489' + '1228165767264256003' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="hide-reply" }}
}!} + +Ejemplos: + +- Ser tratado del género correcto +- Ser llamado por el nombre que elegiste +- Usar ropa de tu género +- Ver y sentir cambios en tu cuerpo +- Verte a ti mismx en el espejo (remoción de la despersonalización) +- Socializar en modos que se conforman con las expectativas de género +- Obtener un corte de cabello masculino / femenino / andrógino +- Depilar tus piernas +- NO depilar tus piernas +- Ser incluidx en algo que normalmente no lo serías por el género que te asignaron al nacer (ej., una despedida de soltera o una despedida de soltero) +- Sentirse sexy / tener sexo de una forma que se alinea con tu género y sexualidad. + +Incluso simplemente estar afuera en el mundo como tú mismx y ser visto como tú mismx puede ser sumamente eufórico. + +**Lo que la euforia NO es**, es un subidón sexual, excitación o fetiche. Algunas veces la euforia puede disparar una respuesta sexual, y hay muchos factores en juego que lo causan (sentirte bien sobre tu cuerpo puede prenderte, por ejemplo), pero no es una fuente de excitación sexual. Las personas trans no se están “poniendo” por presentarse o actuar como verdaderamente son. + +Dicho esto, muchas personas que aún no caen en la cuenta de que son trans pueden recurrir a fetiches y fantasías para expresar su género y/o aliviar su disforia. Pueden mantener algunas de estas prácticas durante su transición. No hay que avergonzarse por esto, la forma en que se encuentra satisfacción sexual es asunto suyo. Sin embargo, estas cosas van junto a su género. El sentido de género de una persona trans persiste indefinidamente, no se va cuando vuelven a sus vidas cotidianas. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/historical-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/historical-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..47d2df1 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/historical-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Historical Dysphoria" +description: "I don't regret the things I have done, I regret the things I didn't do when I had the chance." +classes: + - gdb +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/presentational-dysphoria + prevCaption: Presentational Dysphoria + next: /gdb/managed-dysphoria + nextCaption: Managed Dysphoria +--- + +# Historical Dysphoria + +When you grow up as the wrong assigned gender, you are going to miss out on a lot of things that should have been available to you if only people had known. Sleepovers, camping trips, girl/boy scouts, shopping trips, cheerleading or sports. Events that are co-ed may have very different feelings attached to them based on how you engage with them, like going to prom, religious ceremonies (such as having a bat mitzvah instead of a bar mitzvah), and even just the act of courtship. These dysphoria may also be biological in origin, such as a sorrow over having not given birth to or breastfed your children. + +These missed opportunities can manifest as feelings of loss and hurt. Furthermore, the memories of things you *did* have access to but wouldn't have otherwise, or events that were performed in the wrong gender, can also be a sour point, as these may have awkward attachments. Imagine having to be a groom at your wedding when you know you should have been a bride; growing up dreaming about your perfect wedding, and then playing the wrong role in it. + +Sometimes historical dysphoria can manifest existentially, hitting you with all the grief of the youth lost. All the dating, the teenage antics, the parties, even just having been able to be sexual with the correct parts while your body was young and you had no responsibilities. It is time that can never be gained back. + +Many trans people attempt to recapture some of these lost events, hosting or attending queer proms, organizing sleepovers, performing vow renewals with their spouses, and engaging in common puberty rites of passage like having a mother figure help them shop for their first bra, or having a father figure teach them to shave. However, ultimately, historical dysphoria is something that can never be relieved. You can make new experiences to replace the ones you lost, but you can never turn back the clock. + +This is one of many reasons why affirming trans youth is so important. Boys want to do common boy things and girls want to do common girl things, and when they miss out they will not forget. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/history.md b/public/gdb/es/history.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b7c512 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/history.md @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "A Brief History of Gender Dysphoria" +description: "The origins of Gender Dysphoria and the current meaning today." +classes: + - gdb +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/es/what-is-gender + prevCaption: What Is Gender? + next: /gdb/es/euphoria + nextCaption: Gender Euphoria +--- + +# Una Breve Historia de la Disforia de Género + +En 1984 el destacado sexólogo Dr. Alfred Kinsey ([sí, ese Kinsey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Kinsey)) fue contactado por una mujer cuyo hijo varón insistía con rotundidad que era de hecho una niña, y que algo había salido muy mal. La madre, en lugar de intentar suprimir a su hija, deseaba ayudarla a convertirse en quien ella sabía que era. Kinsey contactó a un endocrinólogo alemán llamado [Dr. Harry Benjamin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Benjamin) para ver si él podía ayudar a la niña. El Dr. Benjamin desarrolló un protocolo de terapia de estrógenos para la adolescente, y trabajó con la familia para encontrar ayuda quirúrgica. + +Benjamin después continuó refinando su protocolo y trató a miles de pacientes con sentimientos similares durante el curso de su carrera. Él se rehusó a aceptar algún pago por su trabajo, quedando en cambio satisfecho con el alivio que les proporcionaba a estos pacientes, y usando su tratamiento para aumentar su comprensión sobre la condición. Él acuñó un término para este sentimiento de incongruencia en 1973: Disforia de Género. Desafortunadamente, este término no sería usado en los Estados Unidos hasta el 2013, ya que la Asociación Estadounidense de Psiquiatría optó en su lugar por el término Desorden de Identidad de Género. + +{!{
{{import '~/img' images.hbscale className="card sideline" caption="Harry Benjamin Diagnostic Scale"}}
}!} + +Si eres una persona trans leyendo esto, puede que hayas escuchado el nombre de Harry Benjamin antes, pero probablemente no en un contexto favorable. En 1979 su nombre fue usado (sin su permiso) en la formación de la Asociación Internacional de la Disforia de Género Harry Benjamin (HBIGDA), que publicó sus Estándares de Cuidado (SoC) para las personas transgénero. Estos SoC se llegaron a conocer como las Reglas de Harry Benjamin, y fueron infámes por ser limitantes respecto a cómo se podía diagnosticar la Disforia de Género. Los pacientes eran colocados dentro de una escala de seis categorías basadas en su nivel de miseria y disfunción sexual. Si no caías dentro de la Categoría 5 o superior, clasificada como “Verdadero Transexual”, usualmente eras rechazado del tratamiento. + +El problema era que, las Categorías 5 y 6 requerían que estuvieras exclusivamente atraídx a tu propio sexo de nacimiento. La transición tenía que hacerte heterosexual, no homosexual, y lxs bisexuales no estaban permitidxs. También tenías que experimentar una angustia severa con tu cuerpo y genitales, y ya estar viviendo como tu verdadero género sin el tratamiento. Muchas personas trans le daban la vuelta a estas limitaciones mediante entrenamiento comunitario y presentaciones performativas, pero para muchas personas (yo incluída) se creía que si no encajabas dentro de todos los criterios, entonces no eras lo suficientemente trans para transicionar. + +En 2011 la HBIGDA se reorganizó para responder a la creciente presión de la aceptación y entendimiento de las personas trans, tomando el nuevo nombre de Asociación Profesional Mundial para la Salud del Transgénero (WPATH). Bajo la guía de verdaderas personas transgénero (por primera vez en la organización), la WPATH procedió a publicar enteramente nuevos Estándares de Cuidado (SoC, versión 7, la primera en diez años) que abandonó la Escala Benjamin, enfocándose en los síntomas específicos individuales y desconectando el género de la sexualidad por completo. Dos años más tarde, en 2013, la Asociación Estadounidense de Psiquiatría cambió su criterio de diagnóstico para empatar con los Soc de la WPATH en su Manual Diagnóstico y Estadístico de los Trastornos Mentales (DSM) versión 5, reemplazando el Desorden de Identidad de Género con Disforia de Género. Con este cambio, las transiciones quedaron disponibles para todas las personas trans en los Estados Unidos. + +Esta es la razón de que la presencia trans alrededor del mundo ha explotado repentinamente en la última década. Con un acceso más fácil vienen números más grandes, con números más grandes viene más visibilidad, con más visibilidad viene mas conciencia, y con más conciencia se obtienen más personas accediendo a un tratamiento. [Un estudio realizado en 2014](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/TransAgeReport.pdf) mostró que el 0.6% de adultos y el 0.7% de jóvenes en los Estados Unidos se identificaba como trasngénero, [un estudio conducido en 2016](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6803a3.htm) mostró que el 1.8% de estudiantes en edad de secundaria y bachillerato se identificaba como transgénero, y [una encuesta conducida por GLAAD en 2017](https://www.glaad.org/files/aa/2017_GLAAD_Accelerating_Acceptance.pdf) mostró un asombroso 12% de encuestados de entre 18 a 34 años que no se identificaban como cisgénero. + +Las personas transgénero están saliendo del clóset, estamos en todas partes. + +## Entonces, ¿Qué Es la Disforia de Género? + +{!{ +
+
+ Dis·fo·ria - Sustantivo
+ Un estado de inquietud o disatsfacción generalizada con la vida. Lo opuesto a la euforia. +
+ {{import '~/img' images.glue className="card sideline"}} +
+}!} + +Hay un malentendido común entre personas tanto cisgénero como transgénero de que la Disforia de Género se refiere exclusivamente a la incomodidad física con el propio cuerpo. Sin embargo, esta creencia de que la incomodidad del cuerpo es central a la Disforia de Género es de hecho errónea, y no es ni siquiera un componente mayoritario en el diagnóstico de la Disforia de Género. La Disforia de Género atraviesa un gran número de aspectos de la vida, incluyendo cómo interactúas con otros, cómo otros interactúan contigo, cómo te vistes, cómo te comportas, cómo encajas en la sociedad, cómo percibes el mundo a tu alrededor, y sí, cómo te relaciones con tu cuerpo. Consecuentemente, proponentes de los SoC 7 de la WPATH y el DSM-5, han tomado el hábito de decir que no necesitas tener disforia para ser transgénero. Esta afirmación es repetida frecuentemente como un mantra, pues informa a las personas que no sienten una incomodidad significativa con su cuerpo que también podrían ser transgénero. + +En principio, la Disforia de Género es un sentimiento de incongruencia intrínseca al ser. No hay lógica detrás de esta incongruencia, no hay nada que lo explique, y no puedes describir porqué te sientes de esta manera, solo está ahí. Las cosas en tu existencia son incorrectas, e incluso saber qué cosas son incorrectas puede ser difícil de identificar apropiadamente. + +Evey Winters lo describió muy acertadamente [en su publicación sobre Disforia.](https://eveywinters.com/2019/10/14/on-dysphoria-before-enduring-and-after/). + +> ¿Alguna vez has estado sentadx en un lugar público o un sitio formal y de repente la planta de tu pie te empieza a picar? No es como que pudieras quitarte los zapatos ahí mismo y rascarte, así que aguantas el sentimiento de morir por dentro mientras la picazón crece y crece hasta que estás listx para asesinar a la persona más cercana que se dirija a ti. +> +> O cuando era más joven, solía ver televisión por cable en las mañanas antes de la escuela. Como era TV por cable en la Virginia del Oeste rural a principios de los 90’s, cada tanto cambiaba a mi > canal favorito para ver mis programas mientras comía mi avena con maple y estaría viendo los Power Rangers – pero el audio venía de otra estación (usualmente el canal del tiempo). El video estaba > bien. El audio estaba bien. ¿Pero la discordancia entre los dos? Ese es el tipo de frustración que como niñx se queda contigo todo el día. +> +> Es el sentimiento que tienes cuando pides una refrescante Coca de dieta y el mesero dice, “¿Pepsi está bien?" +> +> Es saber que algo está mal y no ser capaz de hacer una maldita cosa al respecto. + +La manera en que yo solía describirlo era como usar guantes de adulto cuando eres niño. Puedes meter tu mano en el guante, y tus dedos caben en los orificios del guante, pero tu destreza con los guantes está seriamente obstaculizada. Puedes ser capaz de tomar y levantar algo, pero no lo puedes manipular como un adulto lo haría. Las cosas sencillamente no están bien. + +La Disforia de Género, en su núcleo, es simplemente reacciones del cerebro que sabe que algo no encaja. Esta incongruencia es tan profunda dentro de los subsistemas del cerebro que no hay un mensaje obvio de cuál es el problema. La única forma de identificarlo es por medio de las emociones que desencadena. Nuestra consciencia recibe retroalimentación positiva (euforia) o negativa (disforia) de acuerdo a qué tan bien nuestro ambiente se alinea con nuestro sentido interno del ser. Parte de la transición es aprender a reconocer estas señales. + +Las personas cisgénero las reciben también, pero dado que las señales usualmente se alinean con su ambiente, lo dan por sentado. Hay, sin embargo, algunas excepciones notables en las que una persona cisgénero ha sido [puesta en una situación](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/maisie-williams-arya-stark-game-of-thrones-affected-her-body-image) en la que experimenta disforia de género. Intentos de criar niñxs cisgénero [como del sexo opuesto](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/us/david-reimer-38-subject-of-the-john-joan-case.html) (advertencia de contenido sobre suicidio) siempre se han encontrado con el fracaso cuando el niñx inevitablemente se declara a sí mismo de forma diferente. + +Estos impulsos de euforia y disforia, excitación y aversión, todos se manifiestan de distintas formas, algunas obvias, otras mucho más sutiles. La Disforia, además, cambia a lo largo del tiempo, tomando nuevas formas conforme uno se mueve de la preconciencia al entendimiento y a través de la transición. La meta de este ensayo es desglosar estas manifestaciones en sus distintas categorías y describirlas de modo que otrxs puedan aprender a reconocerlas. Esta publicación es bastante larga, por lo que la he separado en múltiples páginas. + +Sin embargo, primero debo enfatizar algo muy importante. Tan importante que lo estoy poniendo en letras mayúsculas y en negritas. + +**CADA PERSONA TRANS EXPERIMENTA UN DIFERENTE CONJUNTO DE FUENTES DE DISFORIA Y EN DIFERENTES INTENSIDADES** + +No hay solo una experiencia trans, no hay un conjunto estándar de sentimientos e incomodidades, no hay una verdadera narrativa trans. Cada persona experimenta la disforia a su propia manera y en su propio grado, y lo que molesta a una persona puede no afectarle a otra. + +Bien, con esta aclaración fuera del camino, vayamos al grano. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/impostor-syndrome.md b/public/gdb/es/impostor-syndrome.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f901fe7 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/impostor-syndrome.md @@ -0,0 +1,111 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "Impostor Syndrome, but make it Trans" +description: "I don't regret the things I have done, I regret the things I didn't do when I had the chance." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/managed-dysphoria + prevCaption: Managed Dysphoria + next: /gdb/diagnoses + nextCaption: Clinical Diagnoses +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1219963582063968258' + - '1221970265862811650' + - '1153300365355307008' + - '1153300366902960128' + - '1153300368974991361' + - '1153300370631741440' + - '1153300372468801536' + - '1153300374133981186' +--- + +# Impostor Syndrome + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1219963582063968258' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="hide-reply" }}
}!} + +> [Impostor syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud". + +Society in general is very good about making trans people doubt themselves. We receive tons and tons of subliminal messages through out our lives saying that being trans isn't normal and that anyone who is has to be exceptionally special. Cis media's obsession with the "born in the wrong body" narrative has led to a lot of false information being internalized by trans youth. Many, *many* trans kids grow up thinking they aren't actually trans because they don't *know* that they are a different gender, they just wish they were. + +On top of this, messages saying that trans people hate their bodies or hate their genitalia have polluted the awareness landscape, so that many people who either do not experience physical dysphoria (or simply think theirs isn't very strong) go around believing they aren't "trans enough". + +***[YES, YOU ARE TRANS ENOUGH](https://www.amazon.com/Yes-You-Are-Trans-Enough/dp/1785923153/)*** + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1221970265862811650' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }}
}!} + +On top of this, the constant messaging from transphobic media that trans people are not actually their true genders and are simply trying to trick people into believing otherwise gets internalized like a virus. This creates a lot of self doubt about the authenticity of one's gender, especially in the face of so many gender stereotypes. Seeing ones self fail to meet those stereotypes can make it very easy to convince yourself that you do not live up to your own gender (note, cis men and women get this too, far too often). + +Furthermore, due to a history of transphobic abuse, many trans people suffer from damaged self-esteems, and often already have difficulty with self doubts. Gender Dysphoria also causes depression, which further contributes to and reinforces those doubts. This all leads into a massive cluster of self invalidation that can lead someone to struggle over and over again to accept their own gender identity. + +But here's the thing... only trans people are worried about if they are actually transgender! A cisgender person does not have this obsession with their identity, they think about it, they process it, they move on. If you keep returning to these thoughts over and over again, this is your brain telling you that you took a wrong turn. + +The world is *full* of influences put in place to fill us with doubt and keep us from breaking outside of the established social order. These + +### Autogynephilia + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1153300365355307008' + '1153300366902960128' + '1153300368974991361' + '1153300370631741440' + '1153300372468801536' + '1153300374133981186' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="oneblock" }}
}!} + +This pattern was strongly reinforced during the late 1980s when the Autogynephelia (AGP) theory of Ray Blanchard gained a lot of traction as trans awareness was just starting to escalate. AGP is a pseudo-scientific explanation intended to "explain" the source of trans women's identities using [paraphilias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphilia). Blanchard separated trans women according to if they were attracted to men or to women, while simultaneously invalidating their womanhood. His work completely ignored transgender men, and he dismisses non-binary identities outright. + +AGP attests that straight trans women are actually just gay men who seek a feminine appearance to draw desire from straight men, and that trans lesbians are actually straight men who have become so obsessed with their desire for women that they wish to become a woman in order to gain sexual gratification from themselves. + +Blanchard's theory largely hinged on the way that presenting feminine often resulted in sexual arousal within newly transitioning women. You see, most of his study subjects were patients who were trying to seek hormone therapy for the first time, and as such were still very new to presenting female. + +Yes, it boggles the mind, but this was actually considered a valid theory of psychology for years, it appeared in college textbooks. Blanchard's research studies did not meet scientific rigor, and his data was found to be extremely flawed (he manipulated his patients, and simply just threw out any data that didn't fit his hypothesis). A lot of his theories are based in misogynistic views of womanhood, and the man never actually involved any cisgender women in his study to function as a control group. You can read more about how flawed the theory is in Julia Serano's excellent essay, [The Case Against Autogynephilia](https://www.juliaserano.com/av/Serano-CaseAgainstAutogynephilia.pdf). + +AGP had been thoroughly dismissed by modern psychology by the late 2000s, but the damage has been done. In the public's eye, trans women were all perverted fetishists. Media portrayals of trans women mirrored this attitude, further spreading negative imagery into the public consciousness. + +Trans women then internalize these messages, and come to the conclusion that they are not actually transgender, just fetishists. It happened to me, it's happened to nearly every millennial trans woman I know who figured themselves out as a teen. + +You are not a fetishist, the feeling you get from thinking of yourself as a woman is gender euphoria. + +### Patriarchal Oppression + +A common source for invalidation for AFABs is the conflation of gender with the systemic oppression of women, particularly among non-medically transitioning non-binary people. The message of "oh you just don't want to be a woman because of how women are treated" is far too often heard, and it can deeply infest your subconscious to the point of self doubt. Yes, being seen as a woman can really suck, but that has absolutely nothing to do with one's gender. + +Radical Feminism's messaging of abandoning female gender roles can also conflate ones own feelings. "Am I actually non-binary, or am I just a feminist?" "Am I actually a man, or am I just a very butch lesbian?" These kinds of doubts sneak in and fester like weeds. + +Then you have the problem of people believing that to be non-binary is to be androgynous, and to be androgynous is to be less feminine. Feminine enbies are valid! It is OK if you do not want to remove your breasts. It is OK if you enjoy your curves. It is OK if you do not mind being called "she" and "her". That does not make you any less transgender. + +If you feel like you are not a binary woman, than you are not a binary woman. Cis women do not experience that detachment. + +### Toxic Masculinity + +Male assigned kids grow up positively drenched in messaging of what it is to "be a man". There are so few examples of positive masculinity in popular media, and AMAB Masculine Enbies are also commonly erased in trans representation that being a gender queer male can feel very lonely. AMAB Enbies are often either grouped in with gay cis men or treated like trans women. + +You can just be gender-queer! Your identity is valid! + +### Transmedicalism + +This one hits *everybody*. Transmedicalism (aka Truetrans) is a transgender ideology derived from the Harry Benjamin scale (ranks 5 and 6). It seeks to reinforce the pre-WPATH rules, requiring intense physical dysphoria, demanding medical transition, and often invalidating all non-binary identities. At its core, transmedicalism is a supremacist concept, elevating binary trans people above the needs of any other gender identity, and a push back against the expansion of the transgender identity. They wish for more gatekeeping than we have today, rail against enbies using the transgender label, and would prefer to see fewer people receive treatment for their gender dysphoria. + +To put it succinctly, many transmedicalists hate that the newer generation "has it so easy," despite the fact that many of their ranks are part of that generation. This ideology started among disgruntled trans elders, but has since spread to other binary individuals, particularly among young trans men. + +If a trans person's first exposure to transness is a transmedicalist, this can severely set back their own self-acceptance and push them even further into the closet. Transmed's are well known to actually tell people "No, you are not trans." + +**Do not believe these lies.** They are bully tactics explicitly designed to gaslight and dismiss people's pain for self gratification. + +### Trans Exclusionary Reactionary Feminism / Gender Critical Movement / Gender Essentialism + +[Gender Essentialism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_essentialism) is the belief that there are an innate attributes to a person's existence that are derived based on what sex organs the person is born with. TERF and GC ideology was born out of the lesbian separatist movement of second wave feminism and fully denies the existence of transgender biology or non-binary identities. The movement has been largely overtaken by right-wing reactionaries, racists and homophobes, and is now being bolstered by evangelical christian organizations. + +These people will stop at nothing to invalidate your existence. Do not give them the time of day. + +### Gender Abolitionism / Postgenderism + +[Postgenderism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postgenderism) is a [transhumanist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism) philosophy originating in radical feminism which states that gender causes more harm than good, and seeks to eradicate it from our society. GAs believe that all gender is a construct and that anyone who feels strongly connected to a binary gender is either nefariously propagating gender stereotypes or ignorantly following systemic indoctrination. + +GAs do not believe in the existence of gender dysphoria, and will attempt to invalidate those who experience it. They're functionally the extreme leftist version of the Gender Critical movement. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/index.md b/public/gdb/es/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c4e819 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "The Gender Dysphoria Bible" +description: "A dive into the multitude of ways that gender dysphoria manifests and what it means to be transgender." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +classes: + - gdb +siblings: + next: /gdb/what-is-gender + nextCaption: What is Gender? +--- + + +{!{ +{{import '~/img' images.titlecard srcSizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, (max-width: 1000px) 70vw, 767px" alt="The Gender Dysphoria Bible" style="margin-bottom: 1em;"}} +
+ Trans·ge·ne·ro - adjetivo
+ Denota o se relaciona a una persona cuyo sentido personal de identidad y género no corresponde con el sexo asignado al nacer. +
+}!} + +Desde que la civilización humana ha existido, [ha habido personas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_history) cuya experiencia interna de género no se alinea con las características físicas de su cuerpo. La Gala, una clase sacerdotal de género intermedio en el imperio Sumerio, existió hacer cuatro mil quinientos años. Las culturas indígenas de Norte América reconocían ]un tercer género](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tercer_sexo) mucho antes de la colonización europea, y lo hacen hasta nuestros días. El emperador romano Elagabalus (218 A.C.) insistió en ser nombrado como Señora en lugar de Señor, e incluso presentó una recompensa a cualquiera que pudiera llevar a cabo una cirugía de reconstrucción genital. + +Sin embargo, y a pesar de esto, el entendimiento moderno de la experiencia transgénero tiene apenas 130 años aproximadamente. Incluso la palabra “transgénero” solo se remonta al año 1965 cuando John Oliven la propuso como una alternativa más precisa al término “transexual” de David Cauldwell (acuñado en 1949), que en sí mismo reemplazó al término “travesti” de Magnus Hirschflied. + +Ser transgénero es tener una identidad de género que no corresponde con el género que se asumió que tenías basado en los genitales con los que naciste. Esto puede significar que una persona nacida con un pene es en realidad una chica, que una persona nacida con vulva es de hecho un niño, o que una persona con cualquier configuración genital que no encaje por completo en ninguno de los lados del espectro y es no-binarie. + +Una persona trans puede llegar a reconocer esto en cualquier punto de su vida. Algunxs niñxs lo identifican tan pronto como son capaces de comprender el concepto de la diferencia entre sexos, otros no empiezan a sentir nada hasta que da inicio la pubertad, y otros no se dan cuenta de que algo está mal hasta que son adultos. Muchas personas simplemente nunca han sido expuestas a la idea de que su género podría no empatar con su sexo de nacimiento o lo que se siente, así que simplemente han aceptado su destino. + +Incluso es más común la percepción de que aun si tienen sentimientos de infelicidad con el género que se les asignó al nacer, creen que esto no es lo mismo que lo que las personas transgénero experimentan. Algunos pueden sentir que el deseo de ser transgénero y acceder a una transición es de alguna forma irrespetuoso hacia las “verdaderas” personas trans, aquellas que de hecho sabían que eran niñas o niños “nacidxs en el cuerpo equivocado”. Estas narrativas de la experiencia transgénero que se han extendido por los medios populares crean una impresión muy falsa de lo que significa ser transgénero y lo que se siente crecer como tal. + +Esta experiencia de discontinuidad entre el yo interno y externo, es lo que se puede describir como Disforia de Género. Cada persona trans, sin importar su posición dentro o fuera del binario de género, experimenta alguna forma de Disforia de Género. Este tema tiene un tinte político dentro de las comunidades trans, debido a que diferentes grupos tienen sus propias ideas de lo que es la Disforia de Género, cómo se manifiesta, y qué califica a una persona como trans. Sin embargo, en general este debate es inútil e infructífero, ya que la definición al inicio de esta página abarca el inicio y el final de como se entremezclan estos términos. + +El propósito de este sitio es documentar las muchas formas en que la Disforia de Género se manifiesta, así como otros aspectos de la transición de género, con el fin de proveer una guía a aquellxs que se están cuestionando, aquellxs que están empezando, aquellxs que ya están encaminadxs, y aquellxs que simplemente desean ser mejores aliadxs. + + +{!{ +
+Title artwork based on works by Jumpei JP Ueoka +
+{{import '~/img' images.jpjumpei_1 className="" link="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq2uRCtFttU/"}} +{{import '~/img' images.jpjumpei_2 className="" link="https://www.instagram.com/p/BlA3IUrAnTi/"}} +
+
+}!} diff --git a/public/gdb/es/managed-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/managed-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c6e8f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/managed-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,84 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "Managed Dysphoria: Gender in Disguise" +description: "I don't regret the things I have done, I regret the things I didn't do when I had the chance." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/historical-dysphoria + prevCaption: Historical Dysphoria + next: /gdb/impostor-syndrome + nextCaption: Impostor Syndrome +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1215746083487461379' + - '1215749725456125952' +--- + +# Managed Dysphoria + +Growing up in the closet, even when you don't know you're in the closet, becomes an existence built on top of coping mechanisms intended to alleviate dysphoria. The following are ways in which a closeted trans person may find to alleviate the dysphoria they experience in their day to day lives. + +- When a video game gives you the option of choosing your gender, you tend to choose differently than your assigned gender. This may be accompanied with excuses to defend that choice. "It defaulted to male and I didn't care." "I don't want to stare a guy's butt for hours." + +- A preference for literature and film with characters of your true gender, or with characters who break gender norms (Mulan, Little Women) + +- Pornographic outlets which satisfy strong desires or feel more relatable, such as a draw towards gay/lesbian porn, bridal kink, or transformation sequences. + +- Crossdressing or performing drag + +- Finding excuses to cut hair short, or to grow it out. + +- Shaving of body hair, or a refusal to shave hair you're expected to. + +- Wearing loose and baggy clothing that hides the shape of your body. + +- Avoiding social gatherings whenever possible, seeking isolation. + +- Becoming intimately educated about some gender associated topic, such as men's or women's clothing design + +- Obsessively working out (AFABs) + +- Helping cis partners to shop in order to live vicariously through their presentation. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1215746083487461379' + '1215749725456125952' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="collapse" }}
}!} + +Because so much abuse is handed down on to gender non-conforming children, many trans people grow up learning to hide their natural personalities out of sheer necessity. Many trans people speak about having a phase of life where they attempted to "buy-in" on their assigned gender, performing masculinity or femininity to extremes in order to try to "fix" themselves. This leads to repression tendencies which may even superficially appear toxic, but are simply the results of trying to hide every scrap of their true selves. + +- Growing and meticulously grooming facial hair (the so called "denial beard") + +- Taking up makeup artistry in order to perfect a high femme look. + +- Presenting extremely masculine or hyper feminine. + +- Avoiding any conversation about fashion for any gender. Dissociating whenever fashion conversations or activities occur. + +- Obsessively working out (AMABs) + +- Assuming a strongly stereotyped gender role in a relationship (eg, the dutifully modest housewife) + +- Marrying and having kids in anticipation that it will "fix" what's wrong with you. + +- Buying in to ultra-conservative attitudes towards gender and sexuality + +- Homophobia and Transphobia expressed in self defense to ward off suspicion. + +- Aggressively passive engagement in anything connected to ones true gender. + + +Finally, another very common coping mechanism is to find means of escapement or mental engagement in order to forget your own feelings. + +- Intensely investing large amounts of time into hobbies + +- Long hours spent at work + +- Chain binging movies, tv shows or books. + +- Spending all idle time in video games or on social media + +- Obsessively cleaning ones living space + +- Sleeping. Lots and lots of sleeping. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/physical-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/physical-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c281f23 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/physical-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,162 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Physical Dysphoria" +description: "Body discomfort is only one of the many ways Gender Dysphoria manifests." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/es/euphoria + prevCaption: Gender Euphoria + next: /gdb/es/biochemical-dysphoria + nextCaption: Biochemical Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1220143004821938176' + - '1184580976581775366' + - '1184837108919230464' + - '947522372315369472' + - '947523244948680705' +--- + +# Disforia de Género Física + +Todos han escuchado la narrativa de “nacidx en el cuerpo equivocado”. La Disforia Física es una incomodidad sobra la forma del propio cuerpo debido a las características sexuales que presenta. Así que, ¿cuáles son las características de las que estamos hablando aquí? + +{!{ + +
+

Características Sexuales Primarias

+
+}!} + +Las características reproductivas principales que se desarrollan durante el embarazo. + +- Gónadas + - Testículos + - Ovarios +- Genitales externos + - Pene + - Clítoris + - Escroto + - Labios vaginales + - Vulva +- Órganos reproductivos internos + - Próstata / glándulas uretrales + - Útero + +{!{ +
+ +

Características Sexuales Secundarias

+
+}!} + +Todas las características del dimorfismo sexual que se desarrollan durante y después de la pubertad como resultado de la exposición a hormonas. En general, todas estas características son casi idénticas en niños y niñas prepubescentes. + +- Distribución de la grasa + - Forma de la cintura, cadera y nalgas + - Muslos, brazos y espalda + - Mejillas y línea de la mandíbula +- Masa muscular + - Cuello, hombros y cuerpo superior + - Brazos y piernas + - Abdominal +- Estructura ósea + - Rango de altura + - Tamaño de pies y manos + - Ancho de los hombros + - Ancho de la caja torácica + - Grosor y densidad de las extremidades + - Huesos en frente, cejas, mejillas y mandíbula + - Ancho de la pelvis +- Textura y tono de la piel +- Tono y resonancia de la voz +- Desarrollo del pecho +- Vello facial +- Vello corporal (excluyendo el de genitales y axilas) + + +{!{ +
+

Para tu información

+}!} + +Los genitales de una persona transgénero en terapia hormonal no se comportan ni remotamente como sus contrapartes cisgénero. + +- El Pene Estrogénico se suaviza, las erecciones se vuelven menos pronunciadas, la piel se adelgaza y empieza a transpirar como una pared vaginal. El escroto se suaviza y cambia de color, y el rafe perineal se vuelve más distintivo. Debido al cese de las erecciones aleatorias, el tejido eréctil se atrofiará si no es usado con regularidad, causando que el pene entero se haga más chico con el paso del tiempo. La vibración se vuelve una forma más efectiva de estimulación. + +- La Vagina Androgénica se vuelve más seca y propensa a desgarros (la lubricación puede ser un problema). La piel del clítoris se engrosa, y el glande del clítoris crece en longitud y circunferencia debido al inicio de erecciones aleatorias. Los labios se vuelven más gruesos, y usualmente con más vello. El inicio de la TRH usualmente resulta en una sensibilidad extrema del clítoris. + +{!{
}!} + +Las características primarias solo pueden ser alteradas por medio de intervención quirúrgica. Algunas características secundarias son además viajes de una sola vía y requieren de intervención médica para deshacerlas, es decir, el crecimiento del tejido mamario y el engrosamiento de las cuerdas vocales. El Estrógeno no hace la voz más femenina, la Testosterona no hace que los pechos se encojan (más allá de la pérdida de grasa). Cambios en la estructura ósea (como el alargamiento por la testosterona y el ensanchamiento de las caderas por el estrógeno) solo puede ocurrir previo a la edad de 25 años, mientras el cuerpo sigue desarrollándose. + +Algunas características secundarias pueden ser mejoradas quirúrgicamente (Aumento de Pechos, contorneo corporal, masculinización / feminización facial), y algunos no pueden ser cambiados. + +{!{
}!} + +La disforia física se manifiesta en múltiples y diferentes formas. Algunas veces es sentida como una especie de fenómeno del miembro fantasma, donde la persona puede sentir sensaciones de un pene o una vagina que no está ahí, un dolor en un útero que no existe, o una sensación de ausencia en el tórax por pechos que no han crecido ahí. + +Se puede sentir como una clase de efecto fantasma inverso, cuando la persona está consciente de forma persistente de algo que no debería estar ahí. El cerebro recibe información sensorial que no espera, tal como el peso de los pechos, o la presencia de testículos o de un útero, y esta entrada de información toma prioridad porque no es esperada. + +Puede sentirse como horror o repulsión al mirar o tocar los genitales externos, disparando estallidos emocionales o un fuerte deseo de remover el órgano ofensor. Las personas trans AFAB (acrónimo en inglés de persona asignada del sexo femenino al nacer; assigend female at birth) pueden experimentar sentimientos de incongruencia durante la menstruación, o sentir una extraña desconexión de sus ciclos hormonales. + +{!{ +
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1220143004821938176' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="hide-reply" }}
+}!} + +Se puede manifestar como una compulsión de deshacerse de ciertos rasgos corporales, como afeitarse el vello facial y corporal obsesivamente. Esto también se puede manifestar en la compulsión opuesta, llevando a un cuidado meticuloso de esos rasgos con el objetivo de intentar controlarlos, como mantener una barba perfecta, mantener persistentemente las uñas con manicura y pulidas, o pasar horas en el gimnasio intentando moldear la figura. + +Las características físicas indeseables pueden provocar que una persona experimente envidia de aquellas personas que han sido forzadas a remover esas características debido a enfermedades, tal como el cáncer testicular o de mama. Las personas AMAB (acrónimo en inglés de persona asignada del sexo masculino al nacer; assigend male at birth) con disforia genital severa, tienden a desear tener alguna clase de accidente que pudiera ocasionar la pérdida de su pene. + +Algunas veces puede simplemente ser un sentimiento de estar mal, que ni siquiera puede atribuirse al género o sexo. Durante la mayor parte de mi vida creía que la razón de que odiara mi cuerpo era por ser gorda. No fue hasta que empecé mi transición que me di cuenta de que no odio mi grasa en lo absoluto, odiaba tener grasa masculina. Las curvas femeninas que la TRH me dio me hizo sentir en mucha más sintonía con mi cuerpo. + +{!{ +
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1184580976581775366' + '1184837108919230464' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="hide-reply" }}
+}!} + +La disforia que unx siente respecto a su cuerpo puede y cambiará a lo largo del tiempo, para mejor o para peor. Las mujeres trans, por ejemplo, pueden iniciar hoy una transición sin sentir ninguna desconexión con sus genitales, pero después encontrar que eso cambia conforme el resto de las fuentes de disforia más prominentes desaparecen, la estimulación cambia, y sus genitales mismos cambian su forma y función. Algunxs pueden asumir que definitivamente necesitarán una cirugía de feminización facial, pero luego de 2 años se dan cuenta de que en realidad están bien con su aspecto. Yo solía ser terriblemente sensible sobre mi pico de viuda, pero ahora que mi cabello ha crecido me encuentro totalmente bien con mi línea de cabello. + +Está bien que te des cuenta de que necesitas más o menos, que cuando empezaste. + +Está bien si no odias nada sobre tu cuerpo y solo deseas lucir más femenina o masculino. + +Está bien si no necesitas una transición médica en lo absoluto. Los sentimientos sobre el cuerpo no son el fin último de una transición. + +**Tener disforia física total no es un requerimiento para ser transgénero. AFABs no tienen que odiar su pecho, AMABs no tienen que odiar su pene. La experiencia de cada persona trans es diferente. Todas son válidas.** + +### Problemas de Imagen Corporal Internalizados + +El mundo está lleno de mensajes subconscientes acerca de cómo los cuerpos de hombres y mujeres deberían ser. Somos bombardeadxs con publicidad y los medios crean una visión normalizada de lo que es y lo que no es bello. No seas muy gordx, no seas muy flacx, no seas demasiado altx, no seas demasiado bajx, no tengas la barbilla demasiado ancha, no tengas la nariz muy larga, usa maquillaje, pero no uses demasiado, no dejes la casa sin un brasier, pero no dejes que el brasier se vea. Siguen y siguen y siguen, en un constante bombardeo de expectativas de género. + +Todxs absorben estos mensajes, y las personas trans internalizan los factores que importan al género con el que se alinean. Las chicas trans crecen mapeando los estándares femeninos en sí mismas, los chicos trans mapean los estándares masculinos en sí mismos, y las personas no binaries frecuentemente internalizan vergüenza alrededor de la androginia. Esto es encima de la vergüenza con la que ya cargan por no cumplir con las expectativas del género al que fueron asignadxs. + +¿Cuál es el resultado de todo esto? Kathryn lo expresó perfectamente: + +{!{ {{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '947522372315369472' + '947523244948680705' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="grid-row" }} }!} diff --git a/public/gdb/es/presentational-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/presentational-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..40e38b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/presentational-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Presentational Dysphoria" +description: "Hoodies and sweatpants never go out of style." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/sexual-dysphoria + prevCaption: Sexual Dysphoria + next: /gdb/historical-dysphoria + nextCaption: Historical Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - https://twitter.com/NightlingBug/status/1215716435068100611 + - https://twitter.com/NightlingBug/status/1215716435974066176 + - https://twitter.com/NightlingBug/status/1215716436980703233 + - https://twitter.com/NightlingBug/status/1215716438020849664 + - https://twitter.com/DameKraft/status/1191555135756853249 +--- + +# Presentational Dysphoria + +Clothes. Hair. Makeup. Jewelry. Glasses. Piercings and other body modifications. Even personal hygiene can be a factor of presentation, such as the shaving of body hair, or how you take care of your skin. All of these things are gendered in society, clothing and hair especially. + +While the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the business fashion craze of the 80s did wonders for blurring the gap between masculine and feminine presentation (largely by normalizing masc fashion as androgynous), there are still enormous pressures to conform to traditional gender norms. Gender Non-Conforming dress is so instantly marked as queer that any time a woman wears a tailored suit she is marked as a lesbian, and a dad who [puts on an Elsa costume because his son wants to have a Frozen party](https://twitter.com/cbsnews/status/1088441623846023168?lang=en) is labeled as subversive and abusing his child. + +Long hair on men has been seen as [an act of rocker rebellion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbAoXw_DqvM) for decades, and men with long hair get discriminated against as being layabouts and bums. Short hair on women is often read as queer or butch (unless they're old, then it's expected), and women are often pressured to keep their hair long. Pierced ears on men became somewhat more normalized in the 90s, but are still seen as an act of rebellion, and some employers wont allow men to wear earrings. Makeup on men is so stigmatized by toxic masculinity that even men who *like* makeup feel pressured to avoid it. + +Like it or not, presentation is gendered, and it is extremely common for trans people to want to present themselves in the fashion of their true gender, and a desire to be free of the shackles of gendered presentation is common among all trans people, regardless of where they sit on the gender spectrum. For AMAB individuals they may manifest as a wish to incorporate more feminine elements, for AFABs it may manifest as a want for more masculine appearance. This may come as a full push towards the opposite of their assigned gender, or a desire to seek a middle-ground in pursuit of androgyny. It may even simply be a wish to *not* present as your assigned gender. + +**Not all transfemmes are feminine, not all transmascs are masculine, not all enbies seek androgyny. Butch AMAB trans people are valid, femme AFAB trans people are valid. Presentation is not gender, gender is not presentation.** + +Presentational dysphoria typically appears early on in the form of a fascination with the styling of another gender, and a wish to be able to present as people of that gender do. That desire may be fulfilled somewhat by seeking out styling that is unisex, but typically that wish is self-gatekept by statements of "I'm not confident enough to attempt that." AMABs often run into issue here where this desire often gets trapped behind heteronormative expectations, causing an interest in feminine presentation to be misinterpreted as sexual desire. + +Post-transition presentational dysphoria is usually simply a case of high discomfort when attempt to present as one's assigned gender. It may not even be about how one looks, but just the way the clothing makes you feel. For the first year and a half of my own transition I could not bear to wear unisex t-shirts because they just made me feel more masculine. Even now I have to cut the collars out of them, because the close neck makes me feel dysphoric. + +### Presentation's Affect on Physical Dysphoria. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1215716435068100611' + '1215716435974066176' + '1215716436980703233' + '1215716438020849664' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="oneblock" }}
}!} + +Clothing can also play a major role in the level of physical dysphoria a person experiences. Mens clothing always cut very boxy, straight up and down on the vertical and very square in the horizontal. Women's clothing is cut for more curves, accentuating waistlines and hip shape. Men's pants feature a lower crotch to make room for external genitals, and no fitting for curves, where womens bottoms are the opposite. Women's clothing is often form fitting, where Male clothing is rarely form fitting at all. Men's clothing is often made of sturdier and thicker materials, meant to be worn as a single layer. Women's clothing is often made of thinner and stretchier materials, expected to be layered together. + +Because these structures are meant to fit the masculine or feminine forms, they tend to amplify the sensation of wrongness. A classic affect is the way that the difference between mens and womens jeans can have a radical affect on a trans person's comfort level. Unfortunately this works both ways, as even affirming clothing can reveal how your shape is a mismatch. + +I, myself am very feminine in my preferred presentation, and I had a longing to wear dresses from when I was just five years old. I abhorred wearing suits, hating the way they fit on my body, since they always tugged in ways that felt very incorrect for what my body needed. I refused to wear any denim for most of my life because men's jeans always felt so incorrect (women's jeans and leggings, however, feel amazing). Then as I entered into transition and began to present more female, my dysphoria struck again in the ways my body did not conform to what womens clothing was expecting (too much in the crotch, too wide and bulky in the shoulders, too large in the waist, not large enough in the chest). It wasn't until the second year that I had experienced enough change in my shape to where womens clothing was properly affirming of my shape. + +What does this look like? Well, it looks a lot like other common body image issues. A tendency to avoid anything form fitting, leaning towards softer fabrics and baggier clothes. A classic gender dysphoria trope is the kid who wears nothing but sweatpants and hoodies. Clothes will be oversized in order to keep them from hugging the body. AFABs may prefer to wear compressing sports bras in order to minimize their chests, and avoid anything with a tight waistline. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1191555135756853249' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }}
}!} + +Internally it most often manifests as intense jealousy of the people you wish you could be. Jealousy over an influencer's body shape, a strong desire for the outfit of a person on the street, and most especially envy of other trans people. This feeling often persists well into transition, because this sensation of wanting to be other people of your gender is actually completely natural, even for cis people. + + +### Presentation's Affect on Social Dysphoria. + +Presentation can be important for avoiding misgendering, especially early in transition. A lot of trans people feel a need to perform their gender in order to be accepted for who they are, leaning in to feminine or masculine presentation more than they actually would like in order to make up for their body and ensure that people gender them correctly. Those pursuing medical transition may find this need becomes less important as their bodies change and they become able to be gendered correctly without all of the performance. + +Performative Presentation was practically required prior to the reformation of WPATH in 2011; anyone who showed up to a doctors appointment without extreme feminine or masculine presentation risked be labeled a fake and losing their treatment under the Harry Benjamin Scale. Trans women actually would lost their estrogen simply for wearing jeans and a blouse instead of a dress, or for not putting on enough makeup. This is one of the reasons why transmedicalist ideology is so dangerous, it would see us returning to this system, labeling anyone who doesn't meet stereotypical views of femininity and masculinity as not actually transgender. + +Presentation is especially important among pre-pubescent children, as they lack any significant secondary sexual characteristics. Clothing and hair are the only ways we have to show the gender of a child, so much so that if a baby simply wears a pink shirt, strangers assume it is a girl. Even unisex clothing for kids is strongly gendered by way of colors and graphics. For trans children it can be extremely distressing to be either forced to cut their hair, or required to grow it out. Denying a young trans girl access to dresses, or forcing them onto a trans boy, can be debilitating to their morale. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/sexual-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/sexual-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fee4a1c --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/sexual-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Sexual Dysphoria" +description: "Sometimes a Cigar doesn't want to be smoked." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/societal-dysphoria + prevCaption: Societal Dysphoria + next: /gdb/presentational-dysphoria + nextCaption: Presentational Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1137399651458519040' + +--- + +# Sexual Dysphoria + +Closely related to Societal Dysphoria is dysphoria centered around sexuality, sexual relationships, and the act of having sex. [Heteronormative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronormativity) gender roles come loaded with the expectation that [AMABs will top and AFABs will bottom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top,_bottom_and_versatile). These dynamics get reinforced by our popular media, by toxic masculinity, and especially by our pornography, even in *transgender* pornography (the bulk of trans/cis pornography involves the trans woman topping, when in reality a majority of trans women are submissive). Deviations from these roles often result in shame, both from partners and from peers. + +Of course, this is not an absolute, by any means, and many heterosexual cis couples do find ways out of these molds, finding a new dynamic in their relationship, or engaging in kinks to satisfy desires. Some couples find they aren't sexually compatible at all and seek other partners. However, there are many many external pressures discouraging this kind of self-awareness and discovery, and breaking away from those demands can be extremely difficult, even traumatic. This is particularly true when there is a background of conservatism or religious virtuism. + +Cisgender gay relationships shirk this by virtue of necessity, opening the doors for individuals to explore what role leaves them more fulfilled. Some gay couples have an established dominant/submissive dynamic, and they enter into the relationship with that already understood. Others resolve it by switching up which partner is dominant. Yet, gay relationships can still get caught up in these kinds of expectations in regards to [butch/femme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_and_femme), [bear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_(gay_culture)), and [twink](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twink_(gay_slang)) dynamics. + +What does all this mean? Trans people who enter into perceptually heterosexual relationships pre-transition sometimes find themselves losing interest in sexual intercourse, as penetrative acts do not produce the fulfillment that they would expect. In extreme cases it can feel completely wrong and trigger panic. The sensations may feel pleasurable, but the experience is out of place, and the act itself feels forced. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1137399651458519040' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }}
}!} + +This can lead to one feeling less enthusiastic or even disinterested in sex, as half of what makes up sex drive is the mental context of the situation. Many trans people never even experience sex until adulthood, functionally operating as asexual due to how severely their dysphoria has shutdown all sex drive. They may still perform for the sake of their partners, but not get as much enjoyment as they could, and even end up disconnecting from reality around them in order to accomplish the task. + +This dysphoria may be so significant that they find themselves taking a sexual identity that they don't actually connect with. It is not unheard of for a trans person to realize after coming out that they never actually felt a connection to the sexual orientation that they had identified with previously, but were rather using it as a way to feel less dysphoric in their sex lives. + +Some trans women, for example, identified as gay men pre-transition out of a desire to have a partner that treats them like women during sex, but find themselves to actually be lesbians once that demand is lifted. Others may attempt to live as gay men, but find that the role doesn't fulfill them because they know their partners see them as men. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/social-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/social-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be5c41e --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/social-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,80 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Social Dysphoria" +description: "Pronouns and Deadnames and Gendering, oh my." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/biochemical-dysphoria + prevCaption: Biochemical Dysphoria + next: /gdb/societal-dysphoria + nextCaption: Societal Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1215718003310039040' + - '1215720411788382210' + - '1215724301065891841' + - '1215727546387648517' + - '1215727547780096000' + - '1215731319973523456' + - '1219968711681040384' + - '1137185510793678848' +--- + +# Social Dysphoria + +{!{
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}!} + +All social gender dysphoria orbit around one central concept: What Gender do people believe me to be? Social Dysphoria is about how the outside world perceives you, how others address you, and how you are expected to address them. This applies differently prior to the trans person becoming self-aware of their own gender, versus how Social Dysphoria is experienced after a trans awakening (cracking one's shell). + +While still in the dark, the only awareness is that something seems off about the way you interact with your interactions with other people. People of your assigned gender seem to interact with each other in ways that do not feel natural to you. Their behaviors and mannerisms feel strange and surprising, where interactions with individuals of your true gender feel easier. You relate to people closer to your own truth. + +For example, an AMAB trans person may find themselves very uncomfortable in groups of men. They may feel out of place and struggle to fit in among their male peers. Masculine social interactions don't come naturally to them, and trying to emulate their male friends feels awkward. They may feel themselves drawn more to friendships with women, but become frustrated at the social and heterosexual dynamics that come into play between men and women, preventing them from forming platonic relationships. + +This feeling of wrongness intensifies as the person becomes more and more aware of their own incongruence, and upon realizing who they really are it takes on a new shape. For binary trans people this often may be about the intense need to be seen as your true gender, be it male or female. Some non-binary people experience this more as euphoria at being seen as neither male or female and thus only being referred to in ungendered ways, or from being read as different genders by different people in the same setting. Some experience intense euphoria when people are incapable of reading their gender and become confused. + +Social dysphoria is where pronouns and misgendering comes in to play; being addressed with a gendered pronoun such as she, he, him, or her which is not the pronoun that aligns with our gender is extremely discomforting. Granted, this is true for *all* people, including cisgender people, but where a cis person will be insulted by being misgendered, a trans person will feel hurt. It's like nails on a chalkboard, or steelwool across skin. Hearing the wrong pronoun is a reminder that the person you are talking to does not recognize you for the gender that you are. + +Gender neutral pronouns can also be unsettling for binary trans people if used in a way that make it clear the person is avoiding the pronoun that matches them. This often is an indication that a person has been read as being transgender, and the person addressing them doesn't know what pronouns they use. Asking their pronouns can resolve this situation immediately, but the paradox is that even in that scenario, having their pronouns asked may itself induce dysphoria around having been recognized as being trans. It is sort of a catch-22. + +Singular they can also be used maliciously when a transphobic individual refuses to use the correct pronoun, but knows they will get in trouble for using the wrong pronouns. Tone and intent matter a lot. + +The same also applies to names. Being called by one's given name (deadname) instead of their chosen name can feel invalidating when done ignorantly, and downright dismissive when done intentionally. + +Social Dysphoria may manifest pre-transition in feelings of isolation or misplacement when interacting with others. For example, an AMAB (Assigned Male At Birth) trans person may find themselves very uncomfortable when socializing with a group of men, like they just don't fit in. They may find themselves deeply hurt when women shy away from them in public, and get frustrated that they aren't able to form platonic relationships with women due to heterosexual expectations. + +It may also manifest as joy or embarrassment at being labeled as your true gender while still living as your assigned gender. Examples: + +- An AMAB person being labeled a girl, intending insult, but it causing them to blush rather than get angry. +- An AFAB person being called Sir, and feeling better for it. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1219968711681040384' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }}
}!} + +The discomfort caused by social dysphoria can pressure a trans person to act and present in an exaggerated manner in order to try to convince the rest of the world that they really are who they say they are. Trans feminine people may concentrate on makeup and feminine clothes, and become quieter in order to seem more demure, speaking in a higher voice. Trans masculine people will lean on masculine clothing styles, stand taller, suppress displays of emotion, start speaking louder, and make their voices intentionally deeper. + +### Physical vs Social Dysphoria + +Some physical traits which may cause discomfort all the time for some trans people may only manifest as a social dysphoria for others. For example, some people may only be self conscious about their physical appearance when it causes them to be misgendered or clocked (read as being trans), and feel completely comfortable when interacting in environments where they are always seen and treated as their true gender. + +I, myself, have no direct physical dysphoria around my voice, I actually really enjoy singing in my natal baritone, and when I am home with just my family I let me voice relax. When out in public, however, being able to speak in a feminine voice plays a critical role in my being seen as a woman by strangers, so I put a lot of effort into training it into a feminine sound. My feminine voice turns on the instant I answer the phone or leave the house, it isn't even a conscious thing. + +### "One of us!" + +A very curious and surprisingly phenomenon is that closeted trans people have a tendency to find each other without ever knowing they've done it. There's a funny pattern that I have heard duplicated over and over where one person in a friend group realizes they are transgender, starts to transition, and that inspires other members of the group to also realize they are trans and come out as well. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1137185510793678848' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }}
}!} + +Trans people subconsciously tend to gravitate towards each others friendships, both out of a need for peers who think and act the same as us without judgments, and due to a kinship of social ostracization. This is not exclusive to trans people, of course, the same happens for all types of queers, but the way it has a rippled effect is quite powerful. It's very similar to the way an entire friend group will get married and have kids all in response to one member of the group initiating. + +Trans people often continue to self-select their groups post-transition as well, as we simply understand each other better than cis people can. There is an energy that occurs when a group of trans people get together in a location, the room becomes charged with camaraderie and commiseration. We all have so much in common in our histories, so many shared experiences, that short of personality conflicts we instantly bond together. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/societal-dysphoria.md b/public/gdb/es/societal-dysphoria.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9fc8b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/societal-dysphoria.md @@ -0,0 +1,75 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "How Gender Dysphoria Manifests: Societal Dysphoria" +description: "Because a Role is a Role, and a Toll is a Toll, and it's a heavy toll to live the wrong role." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/social-dysphoria + prevCaption: Social Dysphoria + next: /gdb/sexual-dysphoria + nextCaption: Sexual Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - '1201138482569195526' + - '1216109204093722630' + - '1216109206509694979' + - '1216109207671508992' + - '1216109214994747393' + - '1216110299285200896' + - '1216110666626555904' + - '1216111083997605888' + - '1216112014411599877' + +--- + +# Societal Dysphoria + +Gender roles exist, and as much as we may try to buck them and point out the sexism that exists, there will always be expectations placed on people for their gender. The strongest of these are in marital and parental roles; "Husband", "Wife", "Mother", "Father", these terms come with loads of baggage attached to them, and the wrong role, or even any role at all, can feel like a lead lined straight jacket. You are given a whole book full of behaviors and actions, likes and dislikes, that you are just expected to fulfill, and if you fail to meet those requirements then you are seen as a bad spouse or a bad parent. + +An AFAB birthing parent may experience severe dysphoria around being labeled as a mother. The vast majority of resources for birth are *extremely* female gendered, so just the very process of conceiving, carrying and giving birth is exceptionally loaded with gender expectations. If you are pregnant then you are labeled a mom, regardless of how you actually feel about your role, and with that comes a whole load of assumptions. Assumptions about caregiving, breastfeeding, and child rearing. + +Cisgender [passing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_(gender)) trans feminine individuals also run into this. If you are holding an infant or tending to a child then you are labeled a mom (unless the child is mixed race, then you're demoted to nanny, but that's a whole other topic). This can be validating, because it is a sign that you've been seen as a woman, but it can also be extremely *invalidating* when cis women start to talk about what they think are shared experiences with reproductive processes. + +Some unexpected ways that Societal Dysphoria can appear are in the need to conform to the social standards of your true gender. For example, many trans women have stories about feeling the need to cover up their chest pre-transition out of an intrinsic sense of modesty. A discomfort at swimming topless is a common trait, even when there is no understanding of ones true self; something just knows. + +### Shame + +Failure to live up to these roles can manifest *intensely* as shame and humiliation. Growing up closeted and struggling to fit into common gender tropes often results in signs of disappointment from parents and peers who expected otherwise. A father may be disappointed that their AMAB child isn't willing to engage in sports or other masculine activities. Female peers may demonstrate disapproval of an AFAB teenager choosing to hang out with a male social circle. Teen boys may ostracize an AMAB trans person who doesn't join in with their humor. + +These kinds of situations can lead to bullying and abuse, pushing the trans person to feel isolated, alone, and out of place. This sense of division then creates feelings of shame for failing to be the person everyone expects them to be. This then manifests as depression on top of other dysphoria, compounding their pain. + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1201138482569195526' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="" }}
}!} + +The shame becomes especially intense at the moment of revealing themselves to be trans. Transphobic friends and family having negative, sometimes even violent reactions to a trans person coming out of the closet converts that shame into extreme guilt and disgrace. An adult trans person in a marriage may feel a tremendous amount of remorse at upending their spouse's life by revealing themselves. They may expect reproach from their neighbors and peers, and fear how that will affect their spouse and/or children. + +This too is a form of gender dysphoria, as these influences would not have been felt if the person had been cisgender. + +The other way shame comes in to play is in the systemic transphobia present in our society. Trans adults of today grew up watching transphobic media in their childhood. The transsexual obsession of the late 80s and early 90s was horrifically traumatic for trans kids of the time, watching all the adults and peers around them laugh, jeer and be disgusted by people who they not only identified with, but strongly empathized and looked up to. This shame sits with us for our entire lives; it is a fundamental reason for why so many trans people do not come out until their late 30s or later, because only when they reach mid-life are they able to overcome that shame. + +Shame also tends to build up until it boils over into radical action. A very common aspect among trans people's histories are cycles where they will build up their presentation, fighting their feelings less and less, until suddenly they feel overcome with the shame and purge everything, vowing to never pursue those feelings again. This pattern repeats over and over again. + +### Dating and Romantic Relationships + +{!{
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}!} + +Societal Dysphoria *strongly* comes into play with courtship rituals. Being forced into being the boyfriend or girlfriend when you are not a boy or a girl is extremely disorienting and often feels very unfair. AMABs may find themselves wishing *they* were the one being pampered, and AFABs may become uncomfortable with the amount of attention they receive from their prospective partners (beyond the discomfort that women experience, as this includes genuine attention, not just unwanted attention). The expectations placed on them by their partners to fill these courtship roles may feel like a heavy burden to bear. By contrast, dating as your true gender becomes euphoric. Buy a trans girl flowers and see how much she swoons. + +A closeted trans person may feel so much pressure to conform to heterosexuality that they suppress their own instincts with regards to relationships and take on a performative role. Many a trans woman has attempted to play the role of a heterosexual husband to a wife, only to realize with transition that they are actually submissive themselves and would prefer to have a male partner. They may not even be attracted to women. + +Beyond discomfort, many trans people realize that the dynamics of relationships that they have experienced simply did not fit the shape of how they appeared. Many trans people come to realize after transition that they had never actually dated like a cis person of their assigned gender, instead always having romantic relationships that fit their true orientation. Male to male and female to female relationships have completely different patterns from heterosexual relationships; different courtship rituals, different perceptions, different communication styles. Men relate differently to men than they do to women, and women to women differently than they do to men, even when they don't know they are men or women. + +For example, I myself realized after coming out to my wife that all of my previous dating attempts had absolutely been sapphic in nature. My first order had always been to become good friends with them. Dates would never be labeled as dates because we would just sit and talk somewhere, hanging out together. Consequently, several of my relationships ended simply because I was too scared to make the first move out of destroying the friendship. I would spend half my waking day thinking about them and wanting to be around them, not out of sexual lust, but out of personal infatuation. My first girlfriend straight up told me on our first date that I was unlike any man she'd ever dated because I enjoyed talking instead of just trying to get physical. She broke up with me two months later because I wasn't as assertive as she wanted from a partner. + +This all gets even more complex for non-binary people, some of whom can at best describe their dating style as Queer. diff --git a/public/gdb/es/treatment.md b/public/gdb/es/treatment.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..33d7b27 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/treatment.md @@ -0,0 +1,121 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "Treating Gender Dysphoria" +description: "Transition is the cure." +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/diagnoses + prevCaption: Clinical Diagnoses + next: /gdb/causes + nextCaption: Causes of Gender Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +--- + +# How is Gender Dysphoria Treated? + +Treatment options vary significantly depending on the individual person's needs. Every single transition is unique, and there is no one way to transition. This section is a list of possible pathways. + +## Social Transition + +In a phrase: Coming out of the closet. This is simply announcing to the world that you are transgender and that you wish to use a new name and/or new pronouns. Or not, you may just wish for people to know that you are trans and do not actually identify with your assigned binary gender. For some non-binary people this may not even be a full step away from their assignment, since gender is a spectrum and there is such as thing as a "non-binary man" and a "non-binary woman". + +A social transition is the act of stepping out of the closet, and it can relieve a lot of stress from suppression of ones self. + +## Legal Transition + +This is the process of changing your legal documents to reflect your true gender. This may be through a legal name and gender change issued by a court, through a change of gender marker on an official ID, or through re-issuing of birth certificates and marriage licenses. + +## Presentational Transition + +These are changes to how you style yourself, be it your clothes, your hair, or the use of makeup. Our society heavily genders all of these things, and switching presentation is both affirming to one's self and also sends cues to those around them about how they wish to be addressed. + +## Medical Transition + +For adults this is hormone replacement therapy and surgery. For adolescents this often means puberty blockers until the teen is old enough to be certain of which gonadal hormone they want to have. For pre-pubescents, this is nothing. Let me repeat that again, since transphobes keep getting it wrong. + +***PREPUBESCENT CHILDREN DO NOT MEDICALLY TRANSITION***. + +While the American Academy of Pediatrics [strongly encourages the validation and acceptance of transgender youth](https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2018/09/13/peds.2018-2162.full.pdf), and the enabling of all other forms of transition, they explicitly do not support doctors beginning either hormone therapy or puberty blockers until a child has reached [Tanner stage 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanner_scale). + +Furthermore, no surgeon in the United States will perform a gender altering surgery on a minor (excluding intersex "corrections", which is a whole other problem outside the scope of this article). Very few children have strong enough features to be read as either male or female without clues provided through presentation. Allowing a child to change their hair and clothes is all that is needed for the child to be seen as male or female. + +## Hormonal Transition + +**Trans Masculine Hormone Therapy** (female to male sexual characteristics) consists of the introduction of testosterone, usually via intramuscular injection or topical gel. The increase in total gonadal hormones typically causes a cessation of ovulation, which is the source of the majority of estrogen produced in the ovaries. + +**Trans Feminine Hormone Therapy** (male to female sexual characteristics) consists of the introduction of estrogen, typically estradiol, via oral pills, patches, or regular injections (intramuscular or subcutaneous). The use of slow dispensing implants is also becoming more and more common. It is also common practice to prescribe an anti-androgen to block testosterone production or absorption. In the United States this is usually Spironolacotone, a blood pressure medication which has a testosterone blocking side-effect. Outside of the US the most common drug is Cyproterone Acetate, an androgen receptor blocker, which is not available in the US. Doctors may also prescribe Bicalutamide, which also blocks androgen receptors. However, some doctors may simply opt to use larger estradiol doses in order to cause the body to halt testosterone production. + +**In adolescents**, puberty blockers may involve the above androgen blockers, or if it is covered by insurance, the use of an antigonadtropin (drug which blocks the hormones that cause the production of estrogen and androgen) such as leuprolide acetate (a shot delivered every few months) or histrelin acetate (an annual implant). + +## Surgical Transition + +Transgender surgeries are typically divided into three separate categories: + +**Bottom Surgery** (modifications to genitals). + +- Trans Feminine: + + - Orchiectomy (removal of the testicles) + - Scrotectomy (removal of scrotal tissue, following orchiectomy) + - Vaginoplasty (creation of a vaginal cavity) + - Vulvaplasty (creation of a vulva, with or without depth). + +{!{

For Your Information

}!} + +A newly developing area of bottom surgery is in AMAB non-binary operations which attempt to perform vaginoplasty *without* the removal of the penis. This particular surgery is extremely experimental and has been performed less than a dozen times in the United States, but the outlook for the future is good. + +{!{
}!} + +- Trans Masculine: + + - Hysterectomy (removal of uterus and cervix) + - Oophorectomy (removal of one or both ovaries) + - Vaginectomy (removal of vaginal cavity) + - Metoidioplasty (a process which increases the size of the clitorus into a penis) + - Phalloplasty (construction of a penis from skin grafting) + - Urethroplasty (extension of the urethral canal through the phallus) + - Scrotoplasty (use of labia majora and false testicles to construct a scrotum). + +**Top Surgery** (modifications to the chest) + +- Trans Feminine: + + - Breast Augmentation via fat transfer or implants. + +- Trans Masculine: + + - Bilateral Mastectomy (breast tissue removal) with chest reconstruction. + +**Facial Feminizing / Masculinizing Surgery** (modifications to the skull, cartilage and skin on the face). + + The younger a person is, the less they will need these surgeries, especially if they medically transition prior to the age of 20. + +- Trans Feminine: + + - Forehead recontouring + - Eye socket recontouring + - Brow lift + - Hairline correction + - Blepharoplasty (lifting of eye bags) + - Rhinoplasty (reshaping of the nose) + - Cheek implants + - Lip lift + - Lip filling + - Jaw recontouring + - Tracheal shave (adam's apple reduction) + - Rhytidectomy (face lift) + +- Trans Masculine: + + - Forehead augmentation + - Jaw augmentation + - Chin augmentation + - Tracheal augmentation (adam's apple enlargement) + +Other Trans Feminine Surgeries: + +- Brazilian Butt Lift. Fat from the belly is transplanted into the butt in order to increase hip to waist ratio. +- Voice Feminisation Surgery. An incision is performed in the vocal chords in order to permanently raise the pitch. +- Cinderella Surgery. Bones in the foot are shortened in order to reduce foot size. EXTREMELY RISKY +- Shoulder Reduction. The collar bone is shortened to reduce the width of the shoulders. EXTREMELY RISKY diff --git a/public/gdb/es/what-is-gender.md b/public/gdb/es/what-is-gender.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ce216d --- /dev/null +++ b/public/gdb/es/what-is-gender.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +date: "2020-01-26T20:41:55.827Z" +title: "What is Gender?" +description: "How do we define the concept of Gender, and how does it differ from Sex?" +preBody: '_disclaimer' +siblings: + prev: /gdb/es/ + prevCaption: Introduction + next: /gdb/es/history + nextCaption: The History of Gender Dysphoria +classes: + - gdb +tweets: + - https://twitter.com/CognitiveSoc/status/1228717614630940672 +--- + +# ¿Qué es el Género? + +{!{
{{import '~/tweet' ids=(array + '1228717614630940672' +) tweets=meta.tweets className="hide-reply" }}
}!} + +If you trace the etymology of the word to its Latin roots, gender simply means "type". Historically the word was used in literature to refer to masculine, feminine and neutral nouns. In 1955 psychologist John Money proposed using the term to differentiate mental sex from physical sex, but he was not the first to do so. + +Si trazas la etimología de la palabra a sus raíces latinas, género simplemente significa “tipo”. Históricamente, la palabra fue utilizada en literatura para referirse a los sustantivos masculinos, femeninos y neutros. En 1955 el psicólogo John Money propuso usar el término para diferenciar al sexo mental del sexo físico, pero no fue el primero en hacerlo. + +El Sexo humano (el adjetivo, no el verbo) se divide en tres categorías: + +Genotipo: El cariotipo cromosómico definido genéticamente de un organismo (XX, XY, [y todas las variantes que hay](https://twitter.com/sciencevet2/status/1035250518870900737?lang=en)) +Fenotipo: Las características sexuales primarias y secundarias observables (genitales, distribución adiposa y muscular, estructura ósea, etc.) +Género: El modelo interno mental del propio sexo de una persona. + + +Cualquiera de estos aspectos puede caer en una posición o en un rango de valores. En tu clase de salud de educación básica probablemente te enseñaron que tu Genotipo es binario, o Femenino (XX) o Masculino (XY), cuando en realidad hay más de una docena de otras permutaciones que pueden ocurrir en los seres humanos. + + +{!{ {{import '~/img' images.bimodal className="card borderless center span34"}} }!} + +De la misma forma, muchas personas creen que el Fenotipo también es binario, pero la biología ha reconocido por cientos de años que cuando trazas todas las características sexuales a lo largo de una población, en realidad terminas con una distribución bimodal donde la mayoría de la población cae dentro de un percentil de dos grupos. Esto significa que algunas personas, simplemente por la naturaleza de cómo funciona la vida, caen fuera de los dos montones típicos. Mucha gente cae en el medio, con características de ambos sexos. + +{!{ +
+{{import '~/img' images.spectrum className="" link="https://bahamutzero.tumblr.com/post/56838411871/gender-a-visual-guide-when-most-people-think-of" style="margin-bottom: 5px"}} +{{import '~/img' images.graph className="" style="margin-bottom: 5px"}} +{{import '~/img' images.gender_unicorn className="" link="http://www.transstudent.org/gender" style="margin-bottom: 5px"}} +
+}!} + +El género, sin embargo, es mucho más… enredado y complicado. Hay muchas formas diferentes en que la gente ha intentado ilustrar el espectro de género, pero ninguna ha podido capturarlo por completo, debido a que el espectro es en sí un concepto bastante abstracto. + +La versión corta es, algunas personas son hombres, algunas son mujeres, algunas no sienten ningún género en lo absoluto, algunas sienten ambos, algunas están en el medio, algunas caen en los bordes. Otres oscilan a lo largo de todo el espectro de maneras impredecibles, cambiando como el viento. Solo un individuo puede identificar su propio género, nadie más se los puede dictar. + +El género es en parte un constructo social, en parte comportamientos aprendidos, y en parte procesos biológicos que se forman muy temprano en la vida de una persona. + +La evidencia presente parece sugerir que el género de una persona se establece durante la gestación, mientras la certeza cerebral se está formando (más al respecto en la sección Causas de la Disforia de Género). Este modelo mental luego informa, a un nivel subconsciente, a qué aspectos del espectro de género se inclinará una persona. Afecta el comportamiento, la percepción del mundo, la forma en que se experimenta la atracción (separado de la orientación sexual y la influencia de hormonas) y como nos relacionamos con otras personas. + +El género también afecta las expectativas que el cerebro tiene para el ambiente en el que reside (tu cuerpo), y cuando ese ambiente no cumple esas expectativas, el cerebro manda señales de alarma en la forma de depresión, despersonalización, desrealización y disociación. Estas son las formas subconscientes del cerebro de informarnos que algo está muy mal. + +En el lado social, el género involucra la presentación, cómo nos comunicamos, cuáles son nuestras expectativas de la vida, y los roles que cumplimos en nuestro paso por la vida. Todos estos son aspectos culturales, cosas que se han desarrollado dentro de la población a lo largo del tiempo, pero que a pesar de ser esencialmente “inventados”, siguen estando conectados a la identidad de género. Una persona suele conectar a los aspectos sociales de su género interno, sin siquiera darse cuenta de que lo hace, y cuando se les niega el acceso a estos aspectos sociales, esto resulta en incomodidad con su posición social en la vida. + +El experimento de John Money intentó confirmar su creencia de que el género es un constructo enteramente social, y que cualquier niñx puede ser criado para creerse lo que se le enseñe ser. Su experimento fue un fracaso absoluto (ver la sección Disforia Bioquímica). El género no cambia, cada humano tiene el mismo género a los 40 que a los 4 años. Lo que cambia es nuestro entendimiento personal de nuestro género mientras maduramos como individuos. + +Estos síntomas negativos (depresión, desrealización, incomodidad social) son los síntomas de la Disforia de Género. + +Lo que el **Género no es**, es orientación sexual. Describimos la orientación en términos relativos al género de unx mismx (homosexual/heterosexual/bisexual), pero el género en sí mismo no afecta la sexualidad, y la sexualidad no tiene rol en el género. + +En términos generales este ensayo describirá al género en un sentido binario de identidades (masculinas/femeninas) frente a identidades no binarias (agénero, bigénero, genderqueer, etc.), pero esto es únicamente por simplicidad de escritura. Por favor ten en cuenta que la profundidad de la experiencia y expresión de género es mucho, mucho más complicada que este simple análisis.