@Persephone,
I don't think that most men nor women would trade their lives for that of the opposite sex. Anyone, regardless of sex, who seriously is engaging in discussions like the one on this thread, likely has some gender issues going on, and falls somewhere on the gender spectrum. That doesn't mean that everyone here is a transsexual and needs to transition - far from it. But I would say that most of the people who posted on this thread have some degree of gender dysphoria, and there is a correlation (not 100%) between severe gender dysphoria and severely thinking the grass is greener on the other side. The key word is severely. Everyone sometimes thinks the grass is greener on the other side, but it doesn't cause most people such pain that they would trade their life for the one of the opposite sex. Those of us whom it causes us pain are often transsexuals, at least in most cases.
In rare cases, there may be a failed man or a failed woman who would want to trade their life for the one of the opposite sex, but they quickly find out that they are their assigned birth sex and work towards being better at their birth sex. These failed men or failed woman are rare cases. In fact, my therapist has never actually seen a "failed woman", and only one percent of her TS clients turn out to be "failed men."
I have seen many male privilege threads, and the common factor is the most vocal critics of male privilege usually are MTF TS who had a difficult time pretending to be a man. I was one of them. A year ago, I was a train wreck. I thought I was a CD. I believed that male privilege was a bunch of bunk, and that girls had it easier. I hated being a man, and wanted to die to be reincarnated as a woman. Even after a psychic told me that "being a woman sucks" and that "gender confusion comes from the devil."
Fast forward a year, I now live most of my life as a woman. I am going to start hormones in 9 days. I am finding that as I accept myself and start transition, that I now see that both sexes have it difficult in different areas. I recognize that there is definitely male privilege, and that that privilege comes with male responsibility. Men have it easier in some areas, and more difficult in other areas. Women have it easier in some areas, and more difficult in other areas. I find that as I accept myself there is no need to debate male privilege any more. To me, it doesn't matter how much male privilege there is out there, because I am not a man. I was born into the wrong body. I would never want to go back to pretending to be a man. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to transition and am prepared for every possible bump in the road.
One more thing, no matter how much male privilege there is, and even if it is "easier to be a man", having privilege or "easiness" doesn't make you happy. I have heard stories of miserable millionaires and happy beggars. I have noticed many of the people who posted on this very thread who believe that a girl's life is harder, or at least no easier than a man's, used to believe that woman were the privileged gender. This tells me about some of the pain and suffering gender dysporia is causing many people here on this forum.
Just perhaps that psychic is actually a man trapped in a woman's body. Maybe she hates being a woman so much, and would trade her life for the one of a man, because, well, she is a man. I told this story about the psychic to an FTM and an MTF in my group, and both believe the psychic might be transgender in denial.
