To think trans is the new anorexia?

[SouperMario]

Controversial but I just read this piece and cannot help agreeing with a lot of it. Both forms of body dysmorphia, both social contagions.

https://unherd.com/2023/04/is-trans-the-new-anorexia/

Teenage girls are being encouraged to have wrong sec hormones and life changing 'top surgery' (double mastectomy). Look up detransitioners. It is self harm / mental health issue. Unfortunately out gets conflated with adult trans women who are intact males but want to be seen and treated as women. They are 2 very different situations but are being lumped together. Also the trans women are bit rushing to irreversible surgery (Eddie Izzard) but teenage girls are.

ChocolateHelps

Your allegations have nothing to do with Anorexia.

That it's a form of self harm. Mental.health issue. Irreversible danage. Not just a phase that some will grow out of. That's the similarities

You can reverse the damage done by Anorexia.There are no similarities between the 2.

The similarities are that they are both mental health disorders, both a form of self harm, and both a type of body dysmorphia or not feeling comfortable/ok with your body.

Not in the same way as they do today. And the motives were often different, eg. (often gay) women pretended to be men to escape marriage/oppression/the general pitfalls of being a woman in that society

The article is wrong, highly offensive and shows zero understanding of Anorexia which is complex. I’ll wager it’s understanding and summary of being trans is skewed too.

Self harm is not an illness but an expression of distress.

Body dysmorphia is different to Anorexia https://bddfoundation.org/information/bdd-related-conditions/eating-disorders/

And here is a summary of trans history
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_history

And the author sounds like a piece of work. Anti immigration( unless you’re a white American), pro Brexit and has been accused of racism.

I understand it's harmful unlike lesbianism, but I was comparing the way it is a trend and the in thing to be, just like being a lesbian was for a while. Unfortunately trans is not something to just grow out of or change your mind about, but the fashion for it is similar.

I notice that a lot of people complaining about how "offensive" the article is have apparently failed to spot that it's a review of a memoir by Hadley Freeman about her teenage anorexia. In the book (which I've read), Freeman makes the connection between anorexia and gender dysphoria explicit. She interviews three mental health professionals (psychiatrists and psychologists) who are all expert in gender dysphoria, and they also say there are strong similarities between anorexia and gender dysphoria.

Still, what do psychiatric experts with long experience of dealing with troubled teenage girls know about the subject compared with a bunch of easily offended posters on Mumsnet?

Sorry , How do you know what their feelings and motives were? Apart from anything else, these people are not a monolith. There have been gender diverse and trans people across history and across cultures.

Those who doubt there is an element of social contagion with anorexia should read the book Crazy Like Us which documents the epidemic of western eating disorders in Hong Kong following the high profile death of one young woman.

Anyone who says they doubt there is an element of social contagion in relation to trans must either be very young (and not comprehend how recently and heavy handedly this ideology has been thrust upon society) or they are not being entirely honest with themselves or others. It’s so clearly a trend at this point. Anyone with school age children (or anyone who knows school age children) can be in no doubt of that.

Sorry , How do you know what their feelings and motives were? Apart from anything else, these people are not a monolith. There have been gender diverse and trans people across history and across cultures.

One major clue is that history records a number of women (eg James Barry) who lived their lives as men, doing jobs that were only open to men, and were only discovered to be female after their death. How many men lived their lives as women and were only discovered to be male after their death?

That's debatable. It's true there have always been cross dressers but they didn't actually claim to be women, they didn't undergo surgery or attempt to alter the natural order of things or turn on real women.

Trans women have existed throughout history, and across cultures.

there are rhe Hijra of India, the Fa’afafine of Polynesia and the Kathoeys in Thailand, To name just a few examples. Trans histories in Europe have been relatively less visible and more marginalised compared to many eastern societies, but they are there. Gender diversity is not an artefact of contemporary western society, there have always been gender diverse people as part of the rich tapestry of human lives.

they didn't actually claim to be women, they didn't undergo surgery
This is factually incorrect .

attempt to alter the natural order
this is nonsensical , quasi religious , dogma.

or turn on real women
this is a manifestation of your own prejudice.

There’s quite an interesting “Gender a Wider Lens” podcast on how other cultures view “gender” and how those who do not conform are perceived by society and by themselves. It is nothing like the current gender identity narrative. It’s worth a listen if you haven’t already.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tkulTD3ZHfM

“Recent theories about gender often describe “third gender” categories found in other cultures. Prof Paul Vasey is one of the world’s leading academic experts on the Fa’fafine. These individuals are feminine males who live “in the manner of a woman” in Samoa. Sasha and Stella have a spellbinding discussion with Paul about how our western constructs can sometimes completely misinterpret well-researched phenomena in other societies. This conversation actually highligths the universal truths of sex difference between male and female and helps us understand the organice, naturally emerging trait of femininity in androphilic (or same sex attracted) males.”

of course how gender diversity is interpreted, lived and understood will have differences across cultures and languages, like any other human trait.
However, the fact remains that people whose bodies and identities do not fit binary social and scientific understandings of sex and gender have existed throughout time and throughout cultures. This includes people who have altered their appearance, bodies and primary and secondary sex characteristics to live in the opposite sex role. This is not an artefact of contemporary , western society.

*altered their appearance, social roles and bodies (inc primary and secondary sex characteristics).

I think trans is putting on a dress and calling yourself a woman with a lady penis.

100% agree.

Teacher here too and completely agree.

Trans women have existed throughout history, and across cultures.

Go on then, give me some examples from Europe.

Ok, on that enlightened note, I need to check out of this thread now.
take care all ✌🏻

Go on then, give me some examples from Europe.

I wonder if the use of eunuchs as slaves in Greco-Roman times, or castrati in old opera does count?
It was wrong then, its is even more wrong now.