I've seen a number of posts that paint transgenderism in the same vein as plastic surgeries and other such modifications to self born out of insecurity and dislike of one's appearance. This is a very fundamental misunderstanding of the transgender condition.
You're conflating dissonance with dissatisfaction. They can go hand-in-hand, but you need to realize that they are still two very discrete concepts.
To put it more plainly, body dysmorphia (dissatisfaction with one's appearance) and gender dysphoria (dissonance with the gendered aspects of one's body and social perception) are not the same. The former being so common in our society makes it easy to assume the latter is inexorably tied to it: virtually everyone in our society considers some parts of their bodies flawed or undesirable, and trans people are no exception; in fact, their gender dysphoria is often exponentially amplified by this, especially with trans women, who (if entering gender transition to female after puberty) have the misfortune of nearly irreversible virilization (facial hair, masculine features, etc), which is considered almost universally "unattractive" as far as social expectations for women go. So, it is no surprise that insecurity would result. Our culture is fairly vicious about standards of beauty for females as indicative of their worth to others-- how many overweight, 'plain-looking' women do you see represented as successful (or even just respectable) in television or movies, verses overweight, plain-looking men? Or perhaps just think about the rate of eating disorders among women, many of whom are fairly conventionally attractive to begin with (though not to themselves, given judgmental cultural pressures).
As for my background: I am a transsexual man (meaning I was perceived as-- or was, depending on your choice of definition-- female during my childhood); I won't hide that bias.
While I won't claim to be an all-out leading expert on transgenderism, I've worked closely with some that are, due to having worked on research about the topic during my studies at Yale. My experience with it is fairly extensive, both in an academic (and yes, having studied oppositional and supportive sides) and personal way.
To get back to addressing the point that was being asserted, I'll relate my experience with the difference between these similar concepts.
To be dissonant with the gendered aspects of oneself, as stated previously, does not necessarily mean that one is dissatisfied with one's appearance, or that change is sought for the sake of improving that. For example, in myself, while I certainly experienced insecurity with my appearance when I was younger, this was not at all true by the time I finally came to terms with and acknowledged the gender issues I had continually pushed down out of fear; in fact, having resolved those insecurities had been, in my mind, a prerequisite to even allowing myself to humor the possibility of gendered distress having been anything more than a misinterpreted symptom of a different insecurity (from a misogynistic culture? from a culture critical of appearance? something else?). In fact, I wanted desperately for it to have been one of those things-- I spent countless months of soul-searching and written self-analysis on each possibility hoping to uncover that it was, in fact, just some kind of misplaced dissatisfaction with my body on some aspect of attractiveness, or just some kind of bitterness with mistreatment of women in society, even some consequence of some sort of abuse (that I can't recall, given that I have not actually experienced that), etc, etc. I wanted that, because it would have been so much simpler, easier, more understandable. To have a deep and intractable dissonance with the sex and gendered characteristics of one's body is terrifying, largely because there is no way to address it-- or even really acknowledge it-- that is even remotely socially acceptable. Even without any relation to sexuality (having existed since my earliest memories as a toddler, as
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I've seen a number of posts that paint transgenderism in the same vein as plastic surgeries and other such modifications to self born out of insecurity and dislike of one's appearance. This is a very fundamental misunderstanding of the transgender condition.
You're conflating dissonance with dissatisfaction. They can go hand-in-hand, but you need to realize that they are still two very discrete concepts.
To put it more plainly, body dysmorphia (dissatisfaction with one's appearance) and gender dysphoria (dissonance with the gendered aspects of one's body and social perception) are not the same. The former being so common in our society makes it easy to assume the latter is inexorably tied to it: virtually everyone in our society considers some parts of their bodies flawed or undesirable, and trans people are no exception; in fact, their gender dysphoria is often exponentially amplified by this, especially with trans women, who (if entering gender transition to female after puberty) have the misfortune of nearly irreversible virilization (facial hair, masculine features, etc), which is considered almost universally "unattractive" as far as social expectations for women go. So, it is no surprise that insecurity would result. Our culture is fairly vicious about standards of beauty for females as indicative of their worth to others-- how many overweight, 'plain-looking' women do you see represented as successful (or even just respectable) in television or movies, verses overweight, plain-looking men? Or perhaps just think about the rate of eating disorders among women, many of whom are fairly conventionally attractive to begin with (though not to themselves, given judgmental cultural pressures).
As for my background: I am a transsexual man (meaning I was perceived as-- or was, depending on your choice of definition-- female during my childhood); I won't hide that bias.
While I won't claim to be an all-out leading expert on transgenderism, I've worked closely with some that are, due to having worked on research about the topic during my studies at Yale. My experience with it is fairly extensive, both in an academic (and yes, having studied oppositional and supportive sides) and personal way.
To get back to addressing the point that was being asserted, I'll relate my experience with the difference between these similar concepts.
To be dissonant with the gendered aspects of oneself, as stated previously, does not necessarily mean that one is dissatisfied with one's appearance, or that change is sought for the sake of improving that. For example, in myself, while I certainly experienced insecurity with my appearance when I was younger, this was not at all true by the time I finally came to terms with and acknowledged the gender issues I had continually pushed down out of fear; in fact, having resolved those insecurities had been, in my mind, a prerequisite to even allowing myself to humor the possibility of gendered distress having been anything more than a misinterpreted symptom of a different insecurity (from a misogynistic culture? from a culture critical of appearance? something else?). In fact, I wanted desperately for it to have been one of those things-- I spent countless months of soul-searching and written self-analysis on each possibility hoping to uncover that it was, in fact, just some kind of misplaced dissatisfaction with my body on some aspect of attractiveness, or just some kind of bitterness with mistreatment of women in society, even some consequence of some sort of abuse (that I can't recall, given that I have not actually experienced that), etc, etc. I wanted that, because it would have been so much simpler, easier, more understandable. To have a deep and intractable dissonance with the sex and gendered characteristics of one's body is terrifying, largely because there is no way to address it-- or even really acknowledge it-- that is even remotely socially acceptable. Even without any relation to sexuality (having existed since my earliest memories as a toddler, as