Hi everybody,
Awhile ago I started a thread based on a thought experiment regarding a premise; the premise was that in the future, when surgeons are able to either alter our crossgender desires and identities through psychosurgery, or alter our bodies through safe, effective and affordable SRS; would one chose any of these options or leave their brains and bodies intact while continuing to endure being displaced by society.
The reason for this experiment was to gauge what people's attitudes are around social control and personal freedom. Psychosurgery can be argued as a selfless act where one decides to 'kill' a part of themselves in order to conform. SRS on the other hand can be deemed a selfish act of defiance against societal norms.
However, there is no guarantee that the discrimination would stop despite psychosurgery or SRS.
The overwhelming response was to 'to leave things unchanged' although there were some who preferred psychosurgery or SRS.
Here is the link : http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/...our-body/page2
================================================== ==========================
My little thought experiment reminded me that we are in a constant battle with society; like in a perpetual tug of war. No one was willing to give in hence the tug continue. On one side, society is pulling us into submission and conformity, while on the other, we are battling for our acceptance.
GID (edited), like many other "mental illness", can only exist within a social context. As the philosopher George Berkerly said "if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it still make a noise?". In other words, if a man puts on a dress on an island with no one around, is he still crazy?
I do not believe gender identity disorder is a 'disorder' in a true sense the way cancer or heart failure is, but it is rather a social construct. Hence, to relieve ourselves of suffering, we need to cut out the social element of it (as much as we feasibly can).
The tug of war, I found, to be a perfect analogy to described our struggle. They, pulling us into conformity, and us, pulling them into accepting us.
Many of us have lost in this tug of war and ended up being pulled into the ground, battered, bruised, and humiliated. Perhaps it is possible, with enough time and support, that we can win this tug and convince society that we have the right to be who we are. But we would still end up on this side and they on the other. We will essentially still be divided.
But what if we chose not to engage in this tug? What if we chose let go of the rope and just stood there? You'd find that society can't pull us into the ground, and they would not be able to hurt us. Of course, the divide continues to exist, but at least nobody gets hurt.
We put too much emphasis on social repercussions that it becomes utterly paralyzing. For example, I sometimes fear that I'm too gender dysphoric for this society to accept, but not dysphoric enough for the transcommunity to accept. Its a no-win situation.
Although I understand and acknowledge the importance of acceptance among friends, family, and wider society, it is nonetheless an unrealistic thing to wish for. It took me about 20 years to accept myself, I don't expect others to do so overnight.
At the end of the day, we can only live the best we can, with the love and respect we give ourselves, and hopefully by doing that, we can convince others that we too deserve to be loved and respected. The temptation is to expect others to make us feel good which is when we fall into the trap of tugging on the rope again.
We have never won in this tug of war, and we never will.
Hmm...
Love,
S