NOTE: This is a complex issue and is not black and white! More often than not, multiple root causes lead to gender dysphoria, just as multiple personal experiences lead to identifying as trans. Everything is relative to a multitude of factors. This is NOT about exclusion or inclusion, but gaining a better understanding that will help YOU make the best decision for YOU! Transition or not.
@DollyOmegaX2 ай бұрын
THE ROOTS!!! The tree roots!!! This is what you need to do an entire video about!!! What do you mean by The Roots? Please recognize how badly this needs to be covered.
@DollyOmegaX2 ай бұрын
And how do you know when the root cause IS gender identity?
@keithdavies522 ай бұрын
Wherever I am on the spectrum is certainly not black and white. I haven't found a therapist that understands what I mean, at all. Old, married to a woman, dude not cheating with anyone, very masculine presenting...I haven't found anyone that gets my point about how I actually feel. It's not fun being alone with it. They think it's a kink, and it is not, and that stops me from talking with anyone anymore.
@GreasyVBuck17 күн бұрын
Why don't we talk about the root causes? Or do you want to keep it under wraps because it'll make people feel really bad.
@FrozEnbyWolf150-b9t2 ай бұрын
This was one of the hardest lessons for me to learn when it came to accepting myself. You don't need to have dysphoria to be trans, and you don't need to be trans to have dysphoria. You don't have to medically transition to prove you're trans. You don't have to "pass" if you can't or don't want to. It's okay to change your mind later, in either direction, especially since one's gender identity can change over time. Also, questioning or exploring one's gender isn't just for trans people either. Cis people have done this to come to a better understanding of who they are, and they tend to make for the strongest allies.
@gingerliscious2 ай бұрын
Great topic. My root cause was being molested by a man when I was 13. I was petrified that I would become gay as a result of his action, and vigorously sought to have sex with a girl so I could eliminate this bad memory and prove to myself I was indeed going to be heterosexual as I grew up. However, I was not able to ever find a girl to have sex with until I was 16. During those 3 years, in my quest to have sex with a girl, I decided to turn myself into one by wearing my mother's clothes and then masterbating with her vibrator and dildoes. My reasoning at the time was, if I enjoyed having sex with a girl (me) then that would prove to me I was indeed heterosexual and would not have to worry about becoming gay. And so I did. Thing was, I loved it so much, and it felt so good, that I ended up dressing and playing with myself this way twice a day for the next 50 years. Persistent and consistent. Thing is, I never had dysphoria for my male parts, and have enjoyed my life as a male, however, I found extraordinary Euphoria by having sex as a woman. Today, I'm in my 60s, and I have a solid male gender identity, but find great Euphoria in presenting as a woman and in playing female roles, but found out that living fulltime as a woman just didn't feel 100% right for me, after living fulltime for a couple of months. I do take estrogen and have had electrolysis, which has been tremendously beneficial to me, but I live mostly as a male in public, and as a female at home and trans specific events, which makes me Gender Fluid. It took a long time to figure it out, and it was your channel that helped me get that clarity. Thank you very much!❤
@Random519602 ай бұрын
Ok, someone can identify as trans if they want to, but I think that only people with true gender dysphoria should be allowed to use the bathroom of the opposite sex.
@elsiemaep202 ай бұрын
The thing that always throws me off with these discussions is the focus on gender identity, not sex. I can trace my need to be female back to my earliest memories and throughout my life, but the feeling that I am a woman is far more tenuous. To me it's, "I've always needed to be female, and now that I basically am, I'm perceived as a woman, and that's fine with me." That said, while I was highly successful as a man, it also caused social challenges to the point that I thought I might be autistic. It's just a weird experience where I did not know I was a girl since I was little, but at the same time I've always known deep down my body was wrong. Trying to fit that into theories about trans gender identity seems futile. I've spent way too much time overanalyzing my history as a result. But at the end of the day, now that I'm post transition I'm happy to wake up every morning in my body and go out into the world as a woman. That's what matters far more than aligning with any gender theory. Anyways, have you seen this presentation in your practice? It's a side of the trans experience I rarely hear spoken about. It seems that people assume that if you have lifelong severe physical dysphoria without accompanying trauma you must also have a lifelong experience with incongruent gender identity.
@marradka25842 ай бұрын
@@JaneChristensen. I relate to both of you. I can’t even settle in social gender-identity stuff until I changed my gender biological traits enough. For me I have always felt more of a problem with not-being a bio female bodied person than gender roles or gender expression. I’ve always been attracted to masculine women, and I felt like I couldn’t get a handle on social gender stuff or even gender-identity until I changed my bio gender. I tried to social transition first, but later I backtracked and decided that I needed to do hormones and surgeries before I could finish social transition, but by social transition I mostly just mean my gender presentation (I changed all my documents, and am out to everyone in my life). But like how masculine or feminine am I? I have no clue, I’m just female.
@elsiemaep202 ай бұрын
@@marradka2584 That's how I feel too. My balance of masculine and feminine energy is just on the feminine side. Like, I present fem, but almost all of my interests are stereotypically masculine. In relationships I flow between roles. But at the same time, I tend to understand women automatically in a way men don't often. And I could've NEVER socially transitioned without the physical changes. A female body is the necessary context for the full spectrum of my gender identity and expression to exist.
@Roseyla2 ай бұрын
Part of me knew for a long time that there was something off. It was like having a background awareness, cognitions that I couldn't quite grasp enough to ask, "Am I trans?" One day I was challenged on my gender, being told that I was cis, and without hesitation I blurted out, "You don't know that!" I spent years understanding my gender after, my motivations, reasons for why I have transitioned, and whether or not to remain this way. I have a lifetime of reasons, from identifying with girls and women my entire life, to shame that redirected my thought patterns, to being nothing like those around my then supposed gender. I would hesitate filling out forms, wishing to circle "female" instead of "male," not understanding why it bothered me so much. Today, I identify more as genderfluid, or perhaps genderqueer, as how I feel fluctuates, but I'll always be trans feminine, even with a beard. 😉
@amyashlyn92932 ай бұрын
Thank you. Your nuanced explanation is excellent. Uncoupling gender dysphoria from being transgender is imperative to overcoming transphobic discrimination.
@missricka68012 ай бұрын
I found your comments particularly insightful and affirming. Thank you! I would add that IMHO the root cause of much of the confusion is in non-dialectical, black or white thinking and in the learning and practice of holding and sometimes embracing two or more seemingly contradictory facts or truths in order to understand reality, including one's gender identity and gender expression.
@DRZPHD2 ай бұрын
Yes it’s all relative and there often multiple root causes vs one. The key is to help person have clarity so THEY can make the best informed decision.
@Summer-kb2dm2 ай бұрын
Such a great comment.
@Milosuede132 ай бұрын
I’ve been watching you for over a year now. I am also now 4 months on HRT. THANK YOU for helping me find myself.
@ColdBaltBlue2 ай бұрын
In my experience, there are also more subtle things that do manifest as dysphoria. I think people have this idea that dysphoria is this huge thing where everyone who has it is compelled to hide everything about their body at all times. For me, it manifests as a big “bummer”. It used to be a big deal, but after hormone therapy, I don’t care as much as I used to because things have changed and I like what I see better.
@Lostcause19742 ай бұрын
Thank You! ❤ I never felt extreme dysphoria. It wasnt until I felt euphoria that really lead to transitioning. Can i survive as masculine, in a masculine body? Yes. But i can "survive" a lot. It wasnt my dissatisfaction that really helped wuth clarification, it was love of presenting as feminine and the affirmations that i felt within myself from myself, not external validation, that really helped me. (Hopefully, in time, my profile picture can be updated once HRT has more of an impact and hopefully someday I can afford FFS)
@celefin64942 ай бұрын
I relate to this a lot. I also never felt extreme dysphoria, more like a sense of wrongness that was sometimes strong and sometimes barely noticeable, even though always coupled with gender envy. when I finally started talking about it with a therapist, and subsequently with my family, it lead to an incredible euphoria that lasted for weeks... and that's what removed the doubt. And yes, survival is overrated. You need to actually live as well. Best of luck on your journey.
@randallsterrett59862 ай бұрын
Thank you for this video. It emphasizes the complexity of gender issues in a non-judgmental way, as you do so well. While I identify with issues of sexual trauma as a possible root cause of my own gender dysphoria, it still affirms my right to transition if I so please. I approach transition as an exploration, an adventure, with no pre-determined outcome. That's not to say I don't have desired goals, only that those may change according to circumstances. It may even include de-transition, who knows. I am grateful to live in a time and place where I have the privilege to do so.
@Barbarapape2 ай бұрын
Everyones journey is different, only you know how far down the road to transistion you wish to go. Don't allow the trans channels on social media to make you think that you have go all the way. They are the lucky few who now look more like models than real people, that is their choice. Learn to feel comfortable with what is right for you.
@clarissanavarro27622 ай бұрын
You do understand that the trans community is not just tik tok videos right? Secondly yes,... every journey is different. As a member of the trans community that is there for a LOT of these discussions,...none of us is saying that trans people need to go " all the way." this is BS. Next: While the Trans people on tik tok are model gorgeous that is not what transgender people rely on (edited) while transitioning. We rely on medical doctors and mental health professionals....None of them is saying " you need to go all the way." Not tik tok streamers. Maybe you can tell me which social media streamers are saying " you need to go all the way." Because I have never seen any,...unless it's Blaire White.... and she has so much wrong I do not have time here to explain. Last: "Learn to be comfortable with what is right for you" can be seen as a "conversion therapy" dog whistle. Concidering all the other things you got wrong in this... You sound Like someone that will say " Puberty Blockers are bad" or " wait til you are 26." Maybe you can clear up this misunderstanding if it is one?
@Catrina-r2j2 ай бұрын
8 years I've been watching you viewpoints are awesome
@DannieGemz2 ай бұрын
I am who I am and that is a woman, I am transitioning and I am doing it to my own timetable and with how I wish to travel my journey ultimately the only opinion that has ever matter to me is my own and that of my family. I suppressed who I was for years for the sake of my grandparents and my mother and for fear of loosing them. The moment the last of my immediate family died aka my mother legit the day after i started my journey but it was never something i simply decided to do like turning on a light switch, I have always been who I am but only since about 2020 could I fully be me in all aspects. I agree it is all very different for all, and some people sadly can't take certain paths. I know who I am though and im only here really because i used to watch Dr Z's videos and was intrigued by the title but yeh this clip is stuff i already know so i just wanted to drop a wee comment to contribute to some of the convo's below. In these crazy times I wish you all stay safe in these crazy crazy times we live in right now.
@littl_late2 ай бұрын
I would be one of those cases in which it could definitely be due to trauma. Thats why I am hesitant but it hurts to be hesitant because I may also be one of the cases in which there is not only trauma but also a core trans identity. It is hard to uncover all the layers. I can't even identify a lot of my distress as gender dysphoria because it all could be trauma... But my hunch is that I would feel better transitioning. I already am partly transitioned and it made a lot of difference. It hurts to be in this position tbh.
@marradka25842 ай бұрын
I am a trans woman, but for practical and spiritual reasons I have other gender-identities. First, because I have experienced difficulty passing, and even with estradiol and some surgeries, my body is so different from cis female bodies, I have found it useful to identify as a biological nonbinary woman. In wpath-8: Ch-5 “adults”, paragraph-3, sentence-1, they list six gender-identities including male, female, gender-diverse, nonbinary, agender, and eunuch. I think sometimes it is overlooked that trans can be about changing out biological-gender and isn’t always about social gender roles or social gender things. It appears to be used for both changing biological-gender and for changing social-gender. They also added a new chapter; ch-9 “eunuch”. They say that eunuch identified people are usually “male” and usually identify as male or eunuch, and most often choose to use testosterone for GAHT. In other words, wpath-8 has added a chapter for cisgender people. Other terms used for eunuch are “female eunuch” and “Nullo”; and eunuch procedures have been called “nullectomy.” In the 1990’s, I became familiar with the eunuch and Nullo community via the body-modification community (tattoos, piercings, and body-modification). To me the eunuch identity is meant to include gendered body-modification, sometimes as a spiritual/religious/cultural practice. And I find it useful to identify as a female enumuch/Nullo because for me spirituality/religion/culture has been an important source of coping and grounding as I go through experiences that a lot of my friends can’t directly relate to. For me gender-dysphoria feels like being alienated from the goddess-energy, and transitioning feels like a way of worshipping the goddess. And doing this as a religious practice has been a way for me to connect with cis women who also practice goddess spirituality. I call myself a gender-priestess-nun and I am trying to write this perspective into something that I can publish eventually and will probably call it gender-mysticism. But I want to back up to that WPATH-8 has added a chapter that includes cisgender people, ch-9 “eunuch.” We are a big big tent. Thank you
@ystava6868 күн бұрын
It took a while for me to reconcile that I am not male, but also not female (although I could be if my life were differently. I am agender... but spent a decade thinking I was trans female.
@MyLadyPanda2 ай бұрын
I'm afab and I simply do not want to be perceived as a woman. I've never felt connected to being seen as female (though I don't have genital dysphoria). I also think part of it is how I saw women being treated as I grew up (and even now). But yeah, I'd rather be seen as male/masc or enby. Just not female. I've started medical transitioning already, and hopefully I can get top surgery soon so I can feel better.
@martinaaileen17292 ай бұрын
Soooo good to see you again. You have helped me and others tremendously. Love your content and your beautiful smile ❤️🥰😍
@sdavenport34502 ай бұрын
I think this video is so helpful in so many ways but is still quite slightly vague. I do think a video is needed to specifically address each of these roots and each one of them in multiple ways as i feel it will be so useful to so many people struggling with questioning their root cause. I have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria but also some traits of Borderline Personality disorder. Having periods of emotional instability triggered by past trauma caused me to severely doubt my transition and question deeply what the root cause of my BPD and gender dysphoria was . I look at my symptoms of bpd and it is clear that abuse and a very changeable and unstable up bringing is the root of it due to the reliving of trauma over and over during my episodes. Some of this trauma is gender related and occurred after i started transition which has made me question if transition was connected or rooted to my historic trauma. This caused me to doubt by whole transition and made me severely depressed. This has made transition very difficult and i have done it mostly unsupported. Gender dysphoria for me though is very much rooted gender identity. I knew from puberty that inside i was a woman and during the last 17 of this sense of identity growing stronger and stronger, these years of experiencing gender dysphoria in a way that is rooted to gender identity tells me very clearly now that it has no root embedded in trauma at all. It is very much independent from my symptoms of bpd. Its only the trauma in the last 4.5 years since starting gender transition that my trauma has impacted my experience of gender dysphoria. BPD was caused by historic physical, sexual and psychological trauma being its root cause, and gender dysphoria was an internal self that got so strong that living as a man became unbearable. My experience is complex and it has taken me a long time to figure it out. But now that it makes sense, i find my symptoms of BPD are getting better over the last few months.
@Summer-kb2dm2 ай бұрын
Wow! What an impotant video! I started out my transition having come to terms with being a woman. I had no understanding what gender dysphoria was. First of all I knew immediattey I wanted to present female, start hrt and have bottom surgery. All of this has been to the good. Affirming my gender and dispelling dysphoria. As I began to transition, I began to experience gender euphoria. It was then that I started notice the opposite that is: experiencing dysphoria. I was identifying what I had been feeling all along. I was aware of the possibility that many of my feelings could be analized as coming frome SA and the hatred my mother had toward men. And yet I didn't feel that any of that really was the source of feeling like a girl, wanting to be a girl, wishing I had been born a girl. I literally felt like I as in the wrong body. That nature had played a cruel joke on me. Now let's further problematize this I was born intersex, a condition called PMDS. I have many traits that would be considered female to ambiguous. I am only 5'4" very small boned. My vocal chords were operated on when I was young because, 'I sounded too much like a girl.' I have no Adams apple. None of this was known or realized before I began transition. I had atypical behavior for a person AMAB. Played with dolls, preferred company of girls. All of this I consider circumstantial. Because at the core of me I felt like a girl, like i should be. And further complications. 2 years ago my therapist hinted that I might be DID. I started treatment about 8 months ago. She says she is not putting it in my file. So I have not been formerly diagnosed. Some of my alters use masculine pronouns most use female. With the exception of one alter that is gender fluid She/they. I have one alter that is unhappy/worried about the transition. For years this alter mask who I was on the inside..protecting the rest of us from being found out as being gay (at the time I secretly worried about my attraction to males), being a girl. This alter (when present) does not want to draw attention to himself. But understands that he no longer needs to protect us...we are out. Other than that no one in my system has a problem with our transition. Many are very please with it. Today I consider myself fully transitioned. Hrt, legal name and gender change bottom surgery. I present fully female 100% of the time. It's been a journey, with no regrets.
@johnlipsey59862 ай бұрын
TK you Dr.Z you are so on point,i was raped when I was 8 years of age, and it lasted until I was 17 at that point I didn't know if I was going or coming.
@KIRYUCO692 ай бұрын
7:01 gd and trans. 8:36 root cause of gd. Gd in cis. Sexual traumas. 10:44 abuse. Body dysmorphia. 12:28 should you go through transitioning? 13:26 root issue. Childhood. Teenagers to late adults. 14:07 what you need to do is to self inquire your root cause of your gd. 15:19 gender fluidity.
@troycantrell15492 ай бұрын
Your content is priceless
@shorty91242 ай бұрын
I think there needs to be a separation between the medical health field and the political spectrum. I don’t think it’s proper for medical professionals too politicize and radicalize what they do. At the end of the day it’s the medical professionals job to help someone not influence them politically.
@clarissanavarro27622 ай бұрын
The conservatives are the ones politicizing our healthcare. As transgender people all we want to do is cook. If the conservatives stopped treating our healthcare as something they need to take away from us to appease their religious base, and left us alone, we would shut up and go about our lives. The issue is,... as long as conservatives are politicizing our healthcare, we need to engage with politics to protect it, and our rights. You are basically demanding that trans peopel keep our hands down while a bully punches us over and over. Over 500 anti-trans bills in red states,.... and counting. How quiet would you be if a group with Money and power were trying to criminalize your daily existence?
@clarissanavarro27622 ай бұрын
In general, No doctor is politicizing anything. If anything it is conservatives that politicize our healthcare and what we do to retain mental health. Transgender people simply wish to live our lives and be left alone to engage with medicine to improve our mental health. Doctors in general are supportive of our political efforts because Science,, Medicine, and mental health shows that transgender people's experiences are as valid as cisgender people's experiences. Why shouldn't medical health professionals speak on medical health matters, especially when one group is powerful and the group that powerful group is going after has the science on our side?
@DRZPHD2 ай бұрын
Hi, I hear you but I think it has much less to do with politics and more with lack of competence! Many providers don’t clash politics. The problem, and a big one, is that all mental health providers are not regulated to ensure they are competent in population they serve. Saying you are LGBTQ friendly does not equal competency. I am of a strong believe that mental the health providers should only focus on 1-3 issues vs claiming able to treat EVERYONE.
@AspenSenaSenaAspen2 ай бұрын
You should never transition because of trama. I want to live my life as a woman because I am a woman but to those questioning. You shouldn’t get surgeries as a “fix” it’s about becoming you. Surgery,clothes don’t make the woman. But I feel personally I am happier living as a woman. It’s not about not liking yourself. It’s about resonating with your gender and how you want to express it. I’ve never been through sexual trama but was raped years later after I was living as a woman and on hormones years later
@edwardlaskowski56182 ай бұрын
Stop changing the word trans. Read what transition means in the dictionary. I have no issues with people who are not sure of their gender identity. They have added so many new pronouns to the dictionary we should add a new letter to the 2slgbtq+ to incorporate the non-binary gender neutral etc. Trans rights where created in the 1970's . The stonewall riots. Stop putting everyone under it. It was fought for people who needed to transition and fit into the binary roles and not be questioned of their gender. What is happening now is stripping the rights from the true transsexual people. Be like taking the rights away from the gay and lesbian communities making the part of the non-binary population. I care about everyone but please put everyone in the proper folder. U don't put the letter A under Z in your filling cabinet do you? Yes gender should be correctly diagnosed not just walk in and start. I have know since the age of four and it never went away. Even my father could not beat it out of me. I suppressed for way to long. Diagnoses should be done by a proper non bias specialist and dig for all the rot causes. I personally believe you are born with it. Yes a full transition is the correct way to deal with it. Being truly trans will never go away till you start the changes then the dysphoria changes from knocking at the door and driving you out of your mind to how to align your body correctly so you are the opposite gender again pretty much the beautiful word of cis which most women hate. Yes born male knowing that is the biological part of you that will never change. But life gets better as you get closer and become the authentic you and now you start to focus on living your life. Because the dysphoria disappears. Once the outside matches the inside you become that happy person to contribute to society just like everyone else . I will get a lot of controversy over this but it is time to separate this trans inclusive group and put everyone in there own part of the community and stop confusing the entire world of what trans is. God bless everyone.
@TransGurl.VrilX.14882 ай бұрын
I'm trans and the conversation is dialectically psuedo double interesting in a cognitive conceptual way. But it just seems like aong drawn out topic of our discussion about rock stars, experimentation, and trend setters. I'm a transsexual and have always been one. It' just seems like the conversation revolves around continued control and experimentation with rock stars instead of treatment for a biological hormonal condition. It's not that confusing
@jamellehearn13892 ай бұрын
Glad you are back cutie
@Federica-v3t2 ай бұрын
Exactely but not only. For example, I feel me very lucky I was not born female...the cycle, the mathernity..a lots of things..the cellulite...the stretch marks....a pain in the ass tò born female....I prefer the way I am...not easy but....
@bobbylee97272 ай бұрын
I've been doing a lot of "soul searching" while viewing the Olympics in Paris, France this past few weeks. I remember the Munich Olympics in 1976 and the Decathalon gold medal winner was Bruce Jenner. Time passed, and in his sixties, Bruce Jenner became Caitlin Jenner. I recently watched her being interviewed because of the MtF boxer who MAULED a female boxer which was traumatic to watch. I know being 78 that many fads start in California. Whenever I watch Caitlin Jenner I feel uncomfortable because she looks pathetic to me remembering her almost fifty years ago "going for the gold." I cheered her on watching my black and white tv. I don't know yet if I want to start the 'journey' as a MtF transgender. Yesterday, I heard that if Estrogen from the patch is introduced into my body, it is PERMANENT. What happens if I grow "A" size breasts, change my mind and look freaky for the rest of my life. I am presently going through a confusing stage, Doc.
@randallsterrett59862 ай бұрын
I thought about the breast issue for myself, being 68 when I started estrogen, and for me it was "so what?". Lots of older men have bigger breasts than I can ever hope to achieve, LOL. I hope that doesn't stand in the way of your decision, wherever it takes you. One of the great things about transitioning later in life is that many of societies expectations no longer apply. Like ones appearance. Good luck on your journey
@bobbylee97272 ай бұрын
@@randallsterrett5986 Thanks for the feedback. I just returned from the VA hospital, say my nurse of seven years, saw my Pharmacist of seven years...both are friends from the same town and both are my friends...I got some good and very honest feedback as they know me and agree with my decision to cancel the second video conference with my VA Endocrinologist. I want to stay with the person I am ...warts and all...LOL.
@ArAsDeCos2 ай бұрын
Khalif and Lin Tang(?) aren't trans. The former(and likely latter) just has hyperandrogenism.
@wigglyduck36902 ай бұрын
Khalif is a female assigned at birth with a DSD. Not trans
@msorn32 ай бұрын
But what if both is true? I was “hurt“ at age 10 by a family member. She was 12 and im AMAB. I do have memories prior to that incident where I liked more “girly” things growing up as a young child. I secretly wanted to play with the dollhouse. I wanted an easy bake oven. I did end up getting a coffee maker in the kitchen set for Christmas all before the incident happened. When I started going through puberty, I did get a dollhouse, I played with Barbie computer games, and I hated being called “a man.“ I was feeling really confident before this video because I’m on hormones. I’ve been diagnosed with gender dysphoria ever since I was a teen knife hated masculine things. I just didn’t have the words I’m 34 now and I’m trying so hard and I like how my body is changing and but now I’m doubting myself can you please respond?
@clarissanavarro27622 ай бұрын
You can be a victim of CSA and be transgender. They are not a dichotomy. In fact Transgender children experience CSA at a higher rate than the general population. having experienced CSA does not mean you are not trans. it does not mean you are trans. it just means you had a really horrific experience but... you being trans is independant of that experience. My heart gos out to you. I also experienced CSA when I was 14, at the hands of a 26 year old woman while AMAB boymoding. I am a transgender woman that is dealing with the consequences of that CSA after mumble grumble years.
@Borealisphoenix2 ай бұрын
Their is another option. Your gender identity is female at birth and you also delt with sexual trauma. All it does is make it hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. It does not mean you are not a woman.
@Charlie-iz3bm2 ай бұрын
people can be trans even though they’ve experienced trauma. Dr Z wasn’t trying to say if you’ve experienced sexual trauma you aren’t trans. and if transitioning medically is making you happy, I doubt you’re confusing your sexual trauma with your gender identity issues.
@M-CH_2 ай бұрын
I have a friend who is transfeminine and a victim of sexual abuse as a child. Two different things, which can coexist in one person. The big thing the video is about is - what is at the core of gender dysphoria. Even someone traumatized in this way may not develop gender dysphoria in efect of it - in fact, most survivors don't. They can develop gd not becauseof, but despite of their trauma.
@marti73432 ай бұрын
I experienced sexual trauma when I was about fourteen years old. It did not feel right when it happened, but I continued to be wooed by the charm of the person who seduced me. Not till much later in my life did I understand what had happened. I also had a testicle removed as a child. My parents never told me exactly what was happening at the time and only years later did a doctor tell me I have one testicle. It was very confusing and I formed all kinds of notions about myself since I could not help noticing something was odd down there. The thing that makes me believe these experiences have not interfered with my being transgender is I have thought hard and long about them and have spoken about them with different therapist. They do not torment now and really never have. They were just things that happened along with a myriad of other disappointments I had as part of growing up. At least that is how it seems to me. I am AMAB. I know I always was fascinated with being a girl and wanted to know what it was like to be one. When I started exploring, I knew being a woman, on a very fundamental level, is whom I am. It felt good and more like me. After twenty months into my transition I am finally a happy person. I am not young and I may never reach my ideal goals, but I am so glad to know whom I finally am. It has not been easy. I have had to sort out all of my internal transphobia and external transphobia I grew up with in my family and the world around me.
@stevedavenport29752 ай бұрын
I'm too self conscious an fear assault in daytime but not much at nite
@marti73432 ай бұрын
IMO someone who is transgender is someone who has one or more of the following characteristics: 1) They feel they are in the wrong body. 2) They want to live and be treated opposite their gender assigned at birth. 3) They have or had dysphoria about one or more of their body parts that is inconsistent with how they identify and want to live. It is important to point out, for someone to be clear about their dysphoria they need to analyze deeply whether that dysphoria is a result of trauma or some other psychological conflict associated with body dysphoria. This is essential for someone to find ways to relieve their dysphoria. Are these people trans? Yes, at some point, it seems they are. But if their dysphoria is not consistent and can be relieved by uncovering past trauma or unresolved psychological conflicts, I would not consider them trans. Admittedly, this analysis is not easily done. That is why it is so advisable for someone questioning their gender to seek therapeutic help. My three characteristics enumerated above restricts a good portion of the population Dr. Z labels as transgender. If we are to use labels, to describe this other portion with gender issues, I would label them "between gender." For them, there is no sense of a need to change their gender or bodies. They are more likely to know their true self even though it seems out of alignment with society’s notion of gender. They may have a hard time accepting and liking their self, but they are more likely to be expressing and living in a way consistent with their true self, even though that seems aberrant in terms of main stream norms. I am MtoF transgender. I accept and have great empathy for anyone who struggles with not fitting in because of their gender assigned at birth, whether they are transgender or between gender as I have described. Both have to work out how to lead happy, productive lives in a world that does not easily accept them. Both groups are valid. For anyone in either of these groups, it most often is very hard. But, to put these two groups together does a disservice to both of them. If there is any generalization about the care they require, IMO it is better to be clear about how they differ. It saddens me to think as someone with gender dysphoria who struggled with wanting to be opposite my birth gender from an early age that my needs overlap with someone who has a hard time identifying as either gender, but is clear who they are. It is has taken me a lot of hard work to accept my true sense as female. There are many differences between people in transgender and between gender groups in their struggle to find their place in society. Even Dr. Z once discussed in a video the one question that will help you understand if you are MtoF trans - Do you want to feel like a woman or do you want to be a woman. For FtoM, it is the same question, but of course the gender specifications are reversed. This question has profoundly influenced my path to find and know myself. To me, if you answer you want to be the gender you were not assigned at birth, this is very different from someone who may be uncomfortable with their gender since it does not fit in with some binary notion of gender. The latter is quite different from someone who actually wants to physically change their gender characteristics and work to adjust psychologically to living as a gender different than the one they were assigned at birth. So, in the current video, Dr. Z says the core issue to understand if you are trans is gender identity. But, Dr. Z, when I asked you what if you are not sure of your identity, but you are very clear about desiring to live life as the other gender, you replied, desire precedes identity. In this sense, you have to desire to be the other gender to identify with it. You used as an analogy your desire to be a psychologist coming before you actually identified as one. I have the same experience when I decided I wanted to be a statistician. Once I decided this, it took me over ten years to actually say I am one. Being transgender or between gender are both hard and need unique strategies for people to come to terms with themselves. Honestly, maybe the best thing we can do is to follow Ashley Adamson’s advice - If you are questioning your gender, experiment. If it feels good, you are trans. There is much more to say about this topic, but this comment is way too long as it is. Thanks Dr. Z for a provocative video that raises important questions about what it means to be trans. You are the best.
@marradka25842 ай бұрын
But it took time for me to go through the GAHT and surgeries to become female even though I knew in my soul that I was a female at my deepest core. I also knew that I was an anthropologist in my core before I got my degree or even started college. Even if I failed out of college or didn’t have the resources to get an education, then I would still consider myself an ameteur anthropoligist.
@marti73432 ай бұрын
@@marradka2584 I have been on HRT for twenty months. I am hoping I will continue to see more changes over the next year. I have had a hair transplant and I am hoping to avoid FFS. I am seriously considering orchiectomy soon. GRS probably is not in the cards for me because I am not young. I do have bottom dysphoria. I grew up at a time when the word transgender did not exist. You were born a certain gender and that was that. If you were gay, you were considered queer and odd. It was not something to be proud of. Thank G-d that has changed. I always wanted to be a girl and as I said I did not fully relate to my female identity until I started to explore my gender. I am a woman in my core, but it has taken time and analysis of my past to come to terms with it. I think if I were born later, I would have transitioned in my teens or early twenties. We are all different. I think you can be interested in something, but you are not something until you develop some skill at it and start working at it, even as a amateur.
@wigglyduck36902 ай бұрын
Do you feel like a man/woman or do you want to be a man/woman was a hard one for me because I had a later onset of gender dysphoria, and upon hearing this question I immediately felt: I want to become a man because I want to truly understand what being a man feels like in a masc body. In a society where people see certain body parts and automatically assume who I am, I feel I never understand what being a man feels like. It’s my version of it, but I can’t confirm some parts of me unless people start treating me differently if that makes sense. I’m not a man yet is how I feel quite frankly.. And I do know that men come in all shapes and are diverse. It’s about how I struggled to answer the question personally.
@marti73432 ай бұрын
@@wigglyduck3690 For me it started with wanting to be a woman. It is something that was with me from about age ten. Until I was forty, that desire somehow was channeled through my sexuality. When I was with a woman I wanted to be her. I thought all men felt that way which is wrong. Once I had the courage to explore my gender and started to cross dress I began to have a better idea what was going on. My female identity took shape. I started to have dysphoria. My sexuality shifted. I wanted to be with men. Then I repressed it for another twenty years. I had relationships, a good job, transition just seemed impossible. But, I could not repress it forever. My egg cracked and I had to start my transition. Now, I can say I am finally a happy person. I understand when you say you feel you may never truly will understand what being a man feels like. I have those same thoughts as I transition to present as female. For me, I will say as time passes and I take steps in my transition my understanding of what it means to be a woman strengthens. I like to think of it like being a young girl with little understanding of gender who gradually grows into womanhood. I just feel more and more female. I know my biology will never let me have the complete experience and I grew up male. For me that is dysphoric. But, I must say I feel more and more female and less and less male. It is marvelous. It is hard. If I ever somehow go back to being a man it will be because it just is too hard to be accepted and pass. I very strongly doubt that will happen. I have a harder and harder time imagining myself as the man I was. I have needed to work through my doubt, internal transphobia, and acceptance of what I can and cannot do in my transition. That helps me accept whom I truly am. It takes commitment, time, patience, and resources depending on what your goals are. It has changed my life wonderfully. Transition will not solve all your problems, but it can help you move to a point where you no longer obsess about them and become a happier, more positive, connected person. It is happening for me. I hope it happens for you. ❤
@marradka25842 ай бұрын
I feel like it’s asking someone who is abused or caged or attacked if they “want to safe” or if they “are safe”? It is being in the wrong body and wrong social role that causes us to be trans, but we don’t know that we are in the wrong body or social role until we become aware of it in some way, and this awareness is the desire to be in a different body or a different gender role; except that we often don’t understand this desire or it is so taboo that we repress it. So instead of desire we experience “bad feelings” and this is what has been called Gender-Dysphoria. So at first we “are a male/female/nonbinary”, but we come to this realization only when we experience the feelings of Desire and “want to be a male/female/nonbinary”. The desire motivates us to try to resolve the problem through transition. In some way I am already a woman, and in this way for example a woman-with-penis. And if I get a vaginoplasty then I become something else. When I took estradiol and I grew breasts, I became some thing different. Transition changes me from the female I was into a female that is more stereotypical. There is nothing wrong with female bodied people having a penis, but defining myself as complete and whole before I go through my transition is strange. I become myself through transition. It doesn’t mean that I am morally required to transition, or that I have all the resources to do so. But a starving person might die; failing to get our needs met doesn’t make them less a need.
@benfranklinification2 ай бұрын
😊🎉❤
@maramclaine8302 ай бұрын
I AM a Queer Nuero Divergent Human an alter Abled one. I worked as a Private Healthcare Patient Advocate and d8rect caregiver to 5 different humans ALL OVER 35 2 FTM and 3 MTF I saw how the cross sex hormones over Years literally crippled the two FTM I was their Hospice caregiver. One a VERY high profile Human in business and politics His central nervous system was shot. He was so reactive seizures ticks Yelling for hours and violent and full of aggression. Also incandescent rage at their own bodies frailties. I could find ZERO Reliable studies on the Long term effects of cross hormones in particular for FTM . I was SHOCKED and Horrified to listen to the De Transition humans who were GREATLY harmed. MANY Diagnosed Autistic. They are now sterile and were given hormones after one visit. 11 and 13 now sterile and one asked after her Breasts were removed at 13 if they could please put them back. I was Sobbing listening to the Whistle-blowers and these BRAVE Young humans. When did it become OK to turn Queer children straight by surgery and hormones
@theadonnachie20142 ай бұрын
@MossyStone482 ай бұрын
a big thing for me has been the life long feeling of not belonging in my gaab. the moment i knew there was a specific socially accepted delineation between what i was told i was and how i felt i knew that something was wrong. the more i tried to express that the more the blow back told me it was something i was doing wrong. it was demons or mental problems or ghosts in my blood or some other such nonsense. i'm convinced 100% that if society had that nuanced approach to gender then i'd have happily been a joy filled lil donut of gender expression that didn't all make sense compared to norms but harmless and benign. i might have been ok with not going through a female puberty. i might have just vibed and lived a fulfilling and queer-adjacent life. instead i was bombarded with misinformation and panic and trauma and i'm the mess i am now as a result. the result of a society failing to understand nuance and not leaving me the f!ck alone. if more people had mineded their own damb business (and the right ones had made aiding me their primary concern instead of maintaining societal norms) i coulda been a whole other and much happier person. as it is now i'm on hrt. i can't afford any of the surgeries i feel would make me comfortable in my own body. i'm happier than i was. but those societal norms still seem to be more than 33% of the reason i feel surgical intervention is still needed.