Interesting from msnbc on srs

[briannad]

Just watched this on msnbc online. It may have been posted here before and I apologize if I am posting it again. Was interesting to watch. Would love to hear forum members thoughts on it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26470734#26470734

[deja true]

Thanks for this Alyssa!

But it's sad, isn't it?

The almost manic pursuit of another life, whether it's as a 10 as a woman or an uber bodybuilder or lone wolf biker as a man, gives us hints that there is a lot more to the search for self for both of these folks than a matter of gender dysphoria.

Judy to Joe seems a lot more comfortable in his choices, but the sadness of Michelle's / Michael's 'forced' retrenchment made me cry...

Valuable lessons here from both of these guys. The most important, I guess, is the importance of knowing yourself well first and being confident in the rightness of your decisions.

[michelle2b]

The stories of the two transgender people in the documentary are quite thought-provoking.

The lessons I take away from the documentary are -

1. Being a woman (or a man for FtMs) is not simply about how you look on the outside.

2. If sexual urges are the only things that lead to the thought of transitioning, then stop and turn around immediately, because those sexual urges will disappear when you take the blockers or hormones. Continuing further due to ego or due to commitment can lead to despair.

3. A trans person must develop hobbies, friends, etc that he/she would have had if he/she were cis-gender. Gender should not be the only thing in life.

4. Everyone has a unique story.

[Zenith]

I think chasing a male ideal of a woman "a hot babe" or "a 10" is going to lead to disappointment.

Best to have the goal of being closer to your true self just in the opposite gender.

Appearance should not be as important as being the female (or male) spirit that you truly are but were not born as...

:2c:

[Steph Butterfield]

I found this very dissapointing, she looked amazing, after FFS etc etc which I cannot afford.

This in my humble opinion does us down


Steph

[MJ]

i found that heartbreaking very sad. thats something my ex family would use to prove there side of the gender issue.. :sad:

[Jenna1561]

i found that heartbreaking very sad. thats something my ex family would use to prove there side of the gender issue.. :sad:

I agree with MJ. Just fodder for the naysayers. We do not need more fuel for our critics.

Jenna

[Plasibeau]

BUt at the same time it is important to be aware that everything is not all roses just because we want them to be. People make mistakes and we are all human. Thus in herently flawed. . . Yes it is fodder for the naysayers but are we just upset because these persons were flawless in their presentation and rejected it, or because we aren't and wish we were?

[Kaitlyn Michele]

mj -- which side is that ?? that 5% of TS people express some regret!!!

LOL....if that's the best they got ..then they don't got much!!:drink:

[MJ]

I agree with MJ. Just fodder for the naysayers. We do not need more fuel for our critics.
Jenna

some of my family will never understand ever and anything they can find to prove there side they will use... not only them but all naysayers everywhere .


But at the same time it is important to be aware that everything is not all roses just because we want them to be. People make mistakes and we are all human. Thus in herently flawed. . . Yes it is fodder for the naysayers but are we just upset because these persons were flawless in their presentation and rejected it, or because we aren't and wish we were?

so when the powers at bee... decide that sex reassignment will no longer be given to m to f because we might change our minds 20 years later. and the naysayers agree with them and the legal ramifications with that.
do you think that will do us any good at all it's bad enough now what we have to go through to get our letters for surgery.


are we just upset because these persons were flawless in their presentation and rejected it, or because we aren't and wish we were

she was not flawless she was very good but not flawless something always gives us away.. plus what happens in the near future when "he " wishes to turn back to a woman yet again ... :brolleyes:
and the fact that the church was to blame or had something to do with it...



mj -- which side is that ?? that 5% of TS people express some regret!!!

LOL....if that's the best they got ..then they don't got much!!:drink:

lol you would think life changing decisions would be thought out more ..
hmm think I'll get a new bum cause this one as a crack in it

[Plasibeau]

You misunderstand me. I'm merely pointing out the fact that there seems to be a burying of heads in the sand when someone might decide that they made the wrong decision. Especially when the rest of us are so certain of that exact same desicion. It forces us as a whole to examine our own drive and reasoning in this endevour to become what we feel is whole. We should not wish these people silent to better our own ends. Wish should be listening to what they are saying so that we do not make the same mistakes. . .in any fashion.

[Sandra Dunn]

This was very educating. I have always felt that we as a society should allow the children to express the gender as they feel more alike. We should recognize a third gender. If we are allowed to express ourselves early on and allowed to explore those feelings early on we can find a balance as we go through the awkward years of puberty. Even if we still struggle through that time as we go through the teen years we can at least avoid the suicide tendencies because we wouldbe allowed to figure out who we are.

By exploring and or experimenting with our gender at any age and society allowing us to do so, I feel many of us would find a balance without the need to do a total transition. By accepting a thrid gender in society we would have a place in the cookie cutter world we live in o be ourselves.

In both of these stories I felt that as long as they felt like a total bombshell, they were in their right places. When that feeling was gone for however long, they felt out of place. As stated in another post here, we have to accept ourselves for who we are first. Me, I'm a middle aged woman that has a lot of male qualities and I am who I am. Both of these girls were aging gracefully, to me they still looked great.

I did notice the church's attempt to "save Mike", to me that is the worst thing they could have done. When he was Michelle she was happier and had freinds, as Mike he had no freinds and tried suicide 3 times. I am thankful I have a church family that allows me to be me and because of the I am going back to church and back to God. This return is a learning experience about myself and my God. I accept more possibilities then I ever had in the past and it has helped me grow spiritialy. Each of us must find our own way of beleiving, or not, in God.

If I was allowed to be myself at an earlier age I would have probably had SRS, the desire has not gone away and I tried several different things to convince myself otherwise.

Thanks for suggesting the MSNBC site, I did find it very educating.

HUGS Sandra

[victoriamwilliams1]

This is a very interesting program. From what I had seen of it I know of a Girl who changed back to Male. One of the areas of concern is that people do not notice that Joesph is actually an agnostic and Mike's transition back was too fast! and it should have been been slower as well. I think more damage was done to Mike because of a 24 hour life change and the church should have done counseling and now a few churches are saying it is best to accept and when the person feels they are ready to change then they can make the decision for themselves which is better than the church making the decision for the person. I believe that Mike may have transitioned and may have returned to male again later like Judy. I just think that Mike is hurting from his decision.

Now I remember Judy's website and many of us thought it was a joke. I also think this is a great documentary and I am glad MSNBC did the program.

However I think I remember seeing them online at one time.

It was very well done and intresting.

[Mariah]

My though doctors misdignosted them the first being intersex is a good bit diffrent than transexual. the second one being borderline ident disorder should be a clue, heck I'm held up for a month becuase I'm bipolar. these guy might have split personalty get's going in less than a year yesh. mj is right and these 2 and there doc's are moron.