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Amberspace: Information resources for transsexual (TS) and transgendered (TG) persons. Follow the journey of Amber, a post-transition MTF TS. Please use a browser which supports style sheets or make sure that JavaScript is enabled. Perhaps upgrade to the latest Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Mozilla?

	amberspace				"Been there. Been that."	Last updated on 2006.08.10.

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ramblings

Women Trapped in the Wrong Society
1999.01.07

You've heard that quote a million times: "women trapped in a man's body." That's probably what most people think of when they think of transsexuals. But is it really the body that's the problem? I put this to you that it's the structure of society that is the root of the problem.
If we lived in a society which didn't differentiate between male and female except in reproductive capability, then I think a lot of us would be much happier. Since everyone, regardless of sex, was basically treated the same then there couldn't possibly be such a great deal of gender dysphoria. My reasoning goes like this:

men and women are physically different;
men and women are psychologically different;
men and women will always be different;
despite the differences, we could all be taught that there is no one correct male or female behavior;
if we didn't care if something was male or female, there would be no need to transition because opportunities would be available to both sexes

      There would still be some dysphoria because the way women socially act with each other is different than that of males. But, if we didn't care about what sex you were, then males and females interacting in the mannerisms of women would seem perfectly OK. So, if you were male and wanted to talk like a woman, dress as a woman, gesture like a woman, then no one would think ill of that. But that is not the case in the world we live in.
      We live in a society with two standards: male and female. Not every male wants to live with the standards of his assigned sex. And if he decides to then do things as he pleases, then society slaps him on the wrist for not living up to the male rules of society. But this is a barrier now because he cannot act as himself; he must acquire skills to emulate men and to suppress any female tendencies. This is both annoying and tiresome and the name for it is gender dysphoria. What he wants he cannot have. And so either he suppresses it for as long as he can, or he seeks to transition.
      Transition itself isn't the cure to the problem of dysphoria. The dysphoria is still there because there is still a mismatch between what he wants to be and what he is. But, after transition, he has gained a new skin in which he now begins to be treated as a woman. Now that he is being treated as a woman, the dysphoria wanes because he can do things the way he wants and not get ridiculed for it. That is the key to unlocking the pain of transsexualism. Now that we've brought the body into alignment with society, the society accepts the mind. With that acceptance, the new woman can regain the lost sense of community and for the first time experience things naturally. So you can consider that transitioning is a means to a much greater end.