Elliot Page undergoes “lifesaving” “top surgery”

What is the problem here? We can't measure somebody else's unhappiness by our own experiences, each is unique. His op hasn't cost us anything, good luck to him

The financial cost isn't what the problem here. It's the irresponsible reporting and in turn, the cost to young women /girls by normalising extreme surgery as 'life saving' that's the problem.

The term top surgery shouldn’t be used. This is highly euphemistic. We need to call it a double mastectomy so that we always keep in mind that people are surgically mutilating healthy bodies.

Agree. There's a surgeon that calls it ''teetus deletus'' and ''yeet the teet''. Trying to make serious surgery all twee and cute, it turns my stomach.

Who is that kind of language aimed at? Not mature adults, because any adult would likely run a thousand miles in the opposite fucking direction if they heard their surgeon talking like a tumblr teenager

@Maggiesfarm If you read the full thread, you will see what the problem is.

Oh to answer your question OP no the Samaritans aren’t helping people as they are badly underfunded. There’s more and more cases of people and suicide thanks different reasons not being able to get surgery is definitely one. body dysmorphia and gender dysmorphia are real and badly effect and change people.

I'm not familiar with Elliott Page but it appears he's Canadian so he wouldn't have been having the breast surgery on our NHS. He robably went privI think this is done more than we realise. Men can have breast cancer, Richard Rowntree did and had the male version of double mastectomy - and recovered!

Ellliott looks very young, younger than 34, and rather feminine. His scars are neat and healing nicely and he is obviously more confident without man boobs.

What is the problem here? We can't measure somebody else's unhappiness by our own experiences, each is unique. His op hasn't cost us anything, good luck to him.

For people joining this thread, the BBC online article (originally) had the headline that the surgery was "lifesaving". They've changed it now.

The Newsbeat radio report also said similar, which is where the OP heard it.

Another poster has explained that the reporting should have more accurately portrayed the "lifesaving" were EP's words.

Lots of posters have explained why the original headline was problematic.

The BBC website have changed the headline now, so they were in agreement that it was irresponsible/inappropriate reporting.

Haven’t RTFT but some observations-

The term top surgery shouldn’t be used. This is highly euphemistic. We need to call it a double mastectomy so that we always keep in mind that people are surgically mutilating healthy bodies.

Second, people saying it’s life-saving are irresponsible. Samaritans has loads of guidance on this topic but for example “ Speculation about the ‘trigger’ or cause of a suicide can oversimplify the issue and should be avoided. Suicide is extremely complex and most of the time there is no single event or factor that leads someone to take their own life”. They’ve also said that using emotive language such as this should be avoided as it can contribute to suicide contagion particularly amongst young people.

Also- for many young people yes I think the goth analogy is a good one, was thinking that recently… however this version involves irreversible effects both for the individual and society in the way in which we are responding to it.

It's lifesaving for a trans person

Exactly

Could you back that statement up with hard evidence, please, either of you?

And its not only offensive but also completely bonkers to compare transsurgery to botox and lip fillers.

I really for trans people who stumble onto MN.

It’s all relative, to him it was life saving, a nose job or breast implants may be life saving to someone else.

Elliot himself reports it as lifesaving. The article itself isn't generally saying it's lifesaving.

Everyone commenting that it's not presumably understand how devastating the mental health impact of being a trans person is and were in Elliot's brain to know if he was suicidal or not?

I wasn't for sure. But if someone says their life way saved by making a change to their lives, I believe them, all power to them.

Go Elliot.

I really don't follow how a Samaritans publication on the reporting of suicides is being linked to this article about how much better Elliot Page is feeling in himself now that he has had surgery.

That is some extremely convoluted logic.

Good for Elliot Page and I'm glad he's feeling better now, is all I can say. That's really as far as my interest in the whole thing goes, other than that he's a damn good actor and I hope we see him in some more movies soon!

I am a feminist and a woman who would like to be called a woman.

As far as Elliot Page is concerned, I am really pleased he seems so happy and hope he continues to be, and wish him all the best for the future.

"Life saving" presumably describes his emotion at a point in the Oprah interview rather than a more literal analogy to cancer treatment. I imagine that's how he feels about it.

It was lifesaving to him. I wouldn’t class it as lifesaving . As long as he paid for it then it doesn’t bother me

But it wasn't.

“Arguably anything that reduces the risk of death is life saving”

What? Reducing the risk isn’t ending the risk? So not life saving. Cutting out aggressive cancers is arguably life saving, throwing a life preserver, doing CPR = life saving. Anyway that’s semantics. I’m happy for Elliot to have any surgery he desires but I’m not happy that cosmetic surgery to affirm a gender identity makes it on to the fucking news. What next? Someone parading their nose job? It’s madness. What are we telling our young people? Don’t like something? Cut it off. Can’t afford to? Then you’re LITERALLY risking your life. Why are we amplifying this voice/experience? The number of trans people is vanishingly small the number of confused and impressionable teenagers is not.
I’d like to hear from more gender neutral people or non binary folk. That’s interesting to me and sparks debate. Celebrating invasive and major surgery? Nah.

It was lifesaving to him. I wouldn’t class it as lifesaving . As long as he paid for it then it doesn’t bother me.

I think I missed something because I got the impression he described it this way rather than the paper. I don't feel I have a right to tell other people how to describe how they feel.

Could you link to that resource @WeavingWandering or tell me what to google?

Thanks

So people with gender dysphoria just have to stay stuck in this horrible cycle forever because they can't make a decision because of their depression?

You think extreme surgery is the answer to depression? No other steps first? Just affirming surgery?