4thWaveNow

roslynholcomb:

vulvapeople:

4thwavenow:

I’ve been thinking about this lately, I kind of tend to say yes but I’d be willing to compromise if trans women stopped trying to demand entry to…

This is a fascinating thread which touches on several posts I and others have made on the subject of the medicalization of GID/gender dysphoria. Read all the comments if you have time; there is some interesting nuance. The big question that arises for me after reading all the comments is: 

Given how extreme surgery and hormones are as a treatment—a lifelong, highly invasive treatment—why aren’t they seen as the very last resort? 

This is where the gender thing has gone completely off the rails. Kids and teens who profess gender dysphoria aren’t encouraged to at least explore ways that are less extreme than hormones and surgery to cope. They are now celebrated for their announcement, and the trend now is to make surgery and hormones much more accessible, to younger and younger people. “Informed consent” is replacing the WPATH standards, which many trans activists now deride as “gatekeeping” because of the requirement to seek therapy, receive a letter from a therapist confirming GID, and other requirements that encourage taking the process of “transition” slowly and carefully.

There currently are people who can find surgeons willing to give them extreme body modifications.  I read an article recently about a gay man who’d had his testicles removed, and there’s that guy who made himself look like some sort of demon.  So there isn’t much in the way of people doing what they want to do as long as they can pay for it themselves.

But there is still the question of why is it/how is it that the medical establishment has embraced medical transitioning so enthusiastically?  Where is the data that say full medical transitioning is absolutely medically necessary?  And, if it’s not sufficiently medically necessary, why are government health care systems and insurance paying for it?

I’m somewhat agnostic on this issue; I don’t come down hard one way or another, mainly because I have more questions than answers, but one thing I really dislike about medical transitioning is how it’s turned into a political issue.  That’s really dangerous because it means any conclusions from research that are politically inexpedient are going to be buried, and the researchers will be personally attacked.

I think it should be banned for children, but if adults want to do it I don’t suppose there’s any way to dissuade them.