Vive la difference!

 

Sometimes the place where people get stuck is inside their own bodies, and it can be rough.   Few, if any of us, love everything about our bodies.  We perceive them to be too large, too short, too old, dark or pale, too hairy, not hairy enough, too fat, wrinkly, wobbly etc.  This is probably pretty universal but when a person has a severely distorted view of themselves, and really hates their body, it can cause a mental health condition called body dysmorphic disorder.  Body dysmorphia is a very real and distressing anxiety disorder and is usually treated with CBT and/or medication, although some people go through numerous cosmetic procedures to try to “fix” their perceived flaws.

Many transgender individuals have a complex relationship with their bodies too, but gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia are absolutely not the same thing.  Gender dysphoria is rooted in the issue of identity as opposed to a self-doubt fuelled by societal expectations and shame around body ideals (that’s dysmorphia).

Transgender refers to having a gender identity that differs from that assigned at birth.  While gender dysphoria is, of course, about more than just one part of the body, it can actually be eased, for example, for transgender people who don’t identify as female/having breasts, by top surgery (to remove breast tissue).  Other gender affirming actions like hormone replacement therapy, or wearing different clothes, can also improve gender dysphoria. 

People find different ways and may need different medical interventions to find a comfortable gender expression. Of course I think that the decision to have or not have surgery should be an individual’s choice.  The requirement for surgery to enable transgender people to be legally recognised in their own gender is thankfully being reappraised in many countries although, in 2019, Japan’s Supreme Court upheld a policy requiring trans people to have their reproductive organs removed (basically forced sterilisation).

The issues facing transgender individuals and communities have recently received greater attention from the public and from governments, and global perceptions of transgender individuals and communities vary widely, both now and historically.  In modern history Sweden was the first country in western Europe to allow people to change their gender marker in 1972, and Argentina adopted a “self-determination” gender identity law in 2012 where individuals could change their legal gender simply by filling out a form – no surgery or doctor’s permission required.  You definitely wouldn’t want to be openly transgender is Russia though, and 24% of respondents to a BuzzFeed survey in the US said that legal gender reassignment should not be allowed under any circumstances.  The Human Rights Campaign estimated that there were more than 2 million transgender people in the United States in 2018.  Poor them.  They really are stuck.

“Ancient and diverse cultures allowed people to choose more sex/gender paths. And this diversity of human expression was honoured as sacred.” Leslie Feinberg

Transgender people have always existed and will always exist.  Around 200-300BC, in ancient Greece, some priests wore feminine clothes and identified as women - they have been identified as transgender figures. In South Asia there have historically been at least 8 gender identities, the most well-known being Hijra or third-gender people. India’s Hijra (a trans women community) has a recorded history of over 4000 years.  In the 18th century the Itelmens of Siberia recognised the Koekchurch to describe individuals who were assigned male at birth but expressed themselves as women and in 1990 North American Indigenous communities established the term “two-spirit” as a collective term to describe individuals not considered men or women.  Why is much of the modern, "developed" world determined to keep people stuck in bodies that do not represent their identity?  Probably a question for another blog. 

Jeanie 

Comments

  1. BridgetOctober 24, 2021 at 9:34 AM

    hmm, very thought provoking. History very interesting too.

    ReplyDelete

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