Four reasons to stop saying "gender dysphoria"

[catduckgoose]

https://4w.pub/avoid-saying-gender-dysphoria/

Saw this posted on Ovarit, the author makes some great points about how "gender dysphoria" is a sexist term that is underpinned by the ideology of transgender.

Excellent article, I agree.

Totally agree with the article.

It was only this morning I listened to the part in Hannah Barnes' book (Time to Think) where it says that many people criticised the medical definition of gender dysphoria when it was included in DSM due to the outdated gender stereotypes it relies on!

That is why I refer to all those who believe gender is an actual thing rather than just a bundle of restrictive, harmful, culturally-specific stereotypes as genderists.

They subscribe to a belief system I do not share. I do not believe gender exists. Therefore no-one can be either the wrong gender or the right gender.

A very interesting read.

Gender dysphoria is, perhaps, normal.

Gender dysphoria doesn't really have anything to do with transgenderism. It's been co-opted to justify an ideology, when it is, in fact, a normal part of living in a society. Not a mismatch between our sexed bodies and something else, but a mismatch between our likes/wishes/personalities and the gender stereotypes imposed upon us by society by virtue of our biology. Who has never experienced this? We just called it 'growing up' or 'developing character', rather than pathologising it.

Great article.

I had to use the term today but really felt it was wrong as it communicated I believed in it. I Will find another way in future.

I started thinking later on that "style" could be used in some situations, eg instead of gender identity. It's your "style."

Which I happen to know the Tavi used to talk to children about back in the day.,

Great article thanks OP.

I agree with the article. Perhaps what is needed is another version of it for wider public consumption that doesn't set it in the context of radical feminism, a phrase which would stop the vast majority of ordinary people from reading further.

Because at the end of the day it does all hinge on man made cultural stereotypes of how men and women and boys and girls should behave, and the fact that we are medicalising children and adults for not confirming to these sexist (and homophobic) stereotypes is simply evil. And most people will agree with that when it is spelled out.

I've lost count of the number of times parents with 'transkids' have said that it's not all about stereotypes but they can never, ever, tell you what that other bit is.

Yes to “genderists”. Great article - am sure it will lead to some peaking.

Good point @JellySaurus. Given the reification of stereotypes I've always said that I, plus the 90% of women who are totally normal, suffer from Gender Dysphoria because we don't like crazy stereotypes. Funny how when men feel that way it becomes a major medical intervention that turns the world upside down.

I don’t agree at all. I’m perfectly happy with using the word ‘gender’ to signify ‘sex role stereotypes’. I think it’s distracting and censoring to hassle people for using the word gender.
As a gender non conforming woman, I find a lot of these stereotypes very true among the majority of men and women. I also don’t agree that sex role stereotyping is necessarily regressive- it depends on how it’s used. And I think the feminists’ reactionary response to the word gender is a waste of time.

And your mileage may vary.

I think that the word gender is useful to describe those stereotypes, but "gender dysphoria" is the problematic phrase.

I disagree that the majority of men and women conform to gender stereotypes... especially as gender stereotypes differ based on culture. Which stereotypes do you mean?

I suppose I'd agree that things like higher sex drive or higher incidence of physical aggression in men might be true because there's a biological reason for that, same with a more 'maternal' instinct of caring in women - but there are always many, many exceptions to those, and men and women who don't conform shouldn't be thought of as any less for not holding those more biologically-rooted stereotypes.

The majority of stereotypes though e.g. make-up, heels and pink for women, macho muscles, sportiness and dark colours for men is just utter bollocks - and I've found the majority of people don't conform to that at all.

I find it hard to think of anything more censoring than this recent fad for stereotyping sex roles. Most normal human action through most of human history stamped down on because it doesn't conform to a blue versus pink narrative that even now is only relevant to a few youngish people in a few rich areas of the world.

Great for the advertising industry and big pharma. No good otherwise for anyone.

Fully agree

IMHO there are two key points -

(1) We need to be 100% clear that a trans person is a person who claims to be trans (there is no better definition), and that some trans people have a paraphilia (or more than one), some are nothing more than dishonest predators. The remaining subset of trans people all have some sort of mental health issue, including in many cases neuro diversity combined with trauma response, combined with a recognition of the disadvantages women face in the world (ie things other than gender dysphoria).

(2) Body dysmorphia is a thing. I have no idea whether "gender dysphoria" is a unique and special thing, or whether it is better thought of as a subset of body dysmorphia. If, as I suspect, it is better thought of as a subset of body dysmorphia then perhaps it would be better referred to as "sex specific body dysmorphia"?

I think we're beyond the point of naivety about how words are the gateway to a whole lot of abuse for women being believable. It's becoming flat out disingenuity.

"The feminist activists Elie and Nele from the campaign Post Trans report that many affected women find relief in naming each feeling “for what it is,” instead of referring to the term “gender dysphoria.”"

"They explain that women can specify their experiences, for instance by saying they feel “discomfort from being seen as a woman” or “feeling uncomfortable with my breasts.” Breaking down psychiatric terms to specific experiences and perceptions is a great way to de-pathologize women, to stress our common experiences and to connect with each other."

I think this part is particularly helpful and a practical way to engage with people who are experiencing distress (which is what dysphoria is).

Part of the issue though is that, as has been said for years, gender dysphoria is not one thing
https://4thwavenow.com/2017/12/07/gender-dysphoria-is-not-one-thing/ 
What links Caitlyn Jenner to Jazz Jennings?

The ideological move from "transsexualism/transvestitism" to "gender identity disorder" to "gender dysphoria" to "gender incongruence" in consecutive DSMs / ICDs has been activist driven. And in a way, I think I would agree more with the article if it landed on "gender incongruence" as the diagnosis to demolish from a feminist point of view.

https://www.mentalhealthjournal.org/articles/gender-incongruence-is-no-longer-a-mental-disorder.html

Personally, my bugbears are:

~Linking anything medical to the slippery word gender.

~That, at root, for distressed children, teens and young adults this is still fundamentally an identity disorder though we have to pretend that it isn't and have to ignore all that we know about identity formation in this one area.

~With the move towards a diagnosis of "gender incongruence" (thereby removing the element of distress, which does evoke sympathy/a need for psychological intervention) we green light those who are not distressed. Far from it...

https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-gb/professional/psychiatric-disorders/paraphilias-and-paraphilic-disorders/transvestic-disorder

"Transvestism involves recurrent and intense sexual arousal from cross-dressing, which may manifest as fantasies, urges, or behaviors. Transvestic disorder is transvestism that causes clinically significant distress or functional impairment in one or more important areas of life" (so shame, guilt, anxiety etc)

~There's also the infuriating reification of stereotypes in assuming that 99.4% of people are therefore congruent with sex stereotypes.

The linguistic attempt via "gender incongruence" to depathologise the condition will, I fear, not benefit those who are genuinely distressed by their sexed bodies but rather benefit those whose "recurrent and intense sexual arousal" is their motivation.

As a gender non conforming woman.

I sometimes wonder what this phrase even means any more. Perhaps it makes more sense in very conservative societies where the norm is for women to wear certain clothing or perform certain strict gendered roles and only a few rally against that, but in the UK in the present day what does it mean?

Is a woman "gender non conforming" because of the clothing she chooses to wear or because she has short hair and wears no make up? Is it her career choice? Is it who she chooses to hang out with or the things she enjoys reading or her hobbies? Are there many women out there who think they conform to stereotypes? And if the majority of women do consider themselves to be gender non conforming (for any of the above reasons) doesn't that become a new conformity?

Indeed. Even the protagonist of Legally Blonde you could say was "gender non-conforming" in that she was doggedly determined to get one up on her ex boyfriend - where women are supposed to be meek, mild and accepting.

Because gender stereotypes are SO subjective, literally everyone is gender non conforming to one degree or another.

The linguistic attempt via "gender incongruence" to depathologise the condition will, I fear, not benefit those who are genuinely distressed by their sexed bodies but rather benefit those whose "recurrent and intense sexual arousal" is their motivation.

I've always assumed this is the whole point.

I've lost count of the number of times parents with 'transkids' have said that it's not all about stereotypes but they can never, ever, tell you what that other bit is.

Story of my social circles! It's always so opaque.

This.

I absolutely loathe the phrase "gender non_conforming", ESPECIALLY in relation to children.
I had never heard the phrase or the concept before about 2018 when I became aware of all this in the run up to the GRA consultation.

In the UK, in the past, we used to use the word "eccentric" for people who behaved in a mildly unusual way, (probably not in relation to children) there were cross dressers, (invariably men) and perhaps women who dressed like a man?

I thought we had got to a less judgemental place, children could play with whatever they wanted and for the most part Tom boys were allowed to be Tom boys without much comment.

And then suddenly children and grown ups who don't fit rigid boxes are labelled gender non-conforming.

Why the fuck should anyone confirm to any behavioural (within the law)? (Though also a modicum of good manners and respectful behaviour helps oil the wheels of life, but that's not really what I'm talking about).