Theory about gender identity

Its diffently a good theory.

 

Or it might just be that the statistical likelihood of the neurological "difference" occurring and therefore causing transgenderism is extremely slim.

The way I think about it is this way: In early development, something happens (be it a tiny genetic slip-up or the smallest over/underdose of a particular hormone) which causes the initial offset in the brain which determines how well assigned sex and mental gender fit together. That said, certain things could happen to make that initial offset worse throughout the person's life, and increase the likelihood that they will be trans - or vice versa. I'm not saying being trans is a mental disease or impairment (I'm trans!) but I'm saying that it is caused from a neurological abnormality, which is reinforced by psychological factors.

Anything neurological/psychological usually ends up being a web of confusing and intricately complex conundrums, especially considering something so rare and therefore less studied, such as transgenderism.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is this...

I think your theory is an interesting one, and probably plays a part in the psychology of being transgender (as well with how dysphoria works) but I don't think the answer is nearly that simple.

 

Sounds reasonable, i guess everybody has some level of dysphoria about their body because nobody is perfect but trans people just bother more.
So for trans people dysphoria just feels a lot worse then for cis people

 

I know I didn't have dysphoria till puberty and after puberty it went away, but it hasn't changed the fact that I know I should of been born male.

 

Please don't take this personally, I feel so bad for doing this, but I really don't think this is at all plausible.

First I would like to mention that this is not a theory, it's a hypothesis. I would hesitate to even call it that, as you provided no actual observations that would support your hypothesis. If people could be of a gender opposite of their body but didn't care, we should see AMAB people who say "oh yeah, I feel like a woman, but I don't really care", and AFAB people who say the opposite. There would likely be a lot of those people on the more conservative political side coming out and using it against trans* people's need to transition.

So do you have anything to actually base your hypothesis on? The only "observation" in your original article seems to suggest you base it on the fact that you personally aren't happy with the small number of trans people and would feel better if more people were trans. That's not an objective observation.

Again, please don't take this personally, I just don't think your hypothesis is very plausible. I'm much more likely to believe what Lawlett suggested in his first paragraph:

I'm sorry for being such a Debbie Downer.

ETA: This is just my personal observation, and not a statistical fact, but a of later in life people experience strong dysphoria while many who discover early don't seem to experience much. There doesn't seem to be a strong correlation there. If you were born 20 years ago, you may not have known at your current age. People born in the late 90s and later have a great age advantage because transgender issues is actually a fairly common topic today, while just 10 years ago it was barely talked about at all, and when it was it was usually not in a positive light.

 

When it comes down to it no one knows what causes transgenderism. People theorize that it is due to hormones, and it could be, but no one knows for sure.

---------- Post added 6th May 2015 at 05:38 PM ----------

And I kow dysphoria isn't the be all and end all of being trans, but a lot of people treat it like it is. A lot of people believe that if you are not uncomfortable in your body then you can't be trans at all and are just confused.
Yet I have also read stories where people grew up the typical boy or typical girl. They knew they were boy or knew they were girl, were happy that way. But at some point something shifted and they realized that as happy as they were in that gender role they would be much more happier as the other. A lot of these people have come to identify as agender, bi-gender, tri-gender, just one of the non-binary genders. They do transition and are happier for it.

 

Yeah, you never know! I'm relieved you weren't offended by my post. (*hug*)

 

Personally I just think that being trans is a relatively uncommon neurological difference. For the majority of the population, their sex and gender do match, but in the case of trans people, for whatever reason, there is some difference that causes them to feel there is a mismatch between gender and sex, and discomfort. I don't think any of that can really apply to cis people, since the difference isn't there. Although I suppose a trans person with minimal discomfort could easily live their life as cis and never know.

But yeah, we don't actually know anything for sure, this is just my take on it.

 

There's also factors like cultural conditioning and different ways of thinking. To have a gender in the first place probably implies spending a bit of time thinking "what if...?" about sexuality and the position that your body "fits" into society.

Imagine a primitive society with no Internet or advanced medicine. Their ideas about 'gender' might be completely different. Maybe they're forced to be more accepting of their body as it is because they know they can never change it. Maybe because they've got other problems on their mind. Maybe they don't have a cultural habit of indoctrinating everyone from a young age into binary gender roles (blue clothes for boys, pink for girls; boy toys, girl toys, etc...) in the first place. Or maybe the conditioning is typically just the same or similar (you are encouraged to marry and make lots of babies...), and the same gender issues are less talked about or recorded.

 

Good points, wasgij. The psychological and social bases for transgenderism is fascinating to think about, and I think it too plays a large role. Then again, everything psychological ties into neurobiology in some way or another.

@Acm, it is suggested that the frequency of transgendered individuals is 0.2-0.3% of the population (keep in mind that's only a part of one percent). Although even that is hard to tell.

 

If I recall my history/anthropology correctly, I think many tribal societies actually revered trans people as medicine men/women and priest type roles. I will have to research more...

 

i believe they did. Two Spirit is actually a native american term.
and because wikipedia is the fall back for finding information...it says this but always take things with a grain of salt.

There were usually 2 to 3 such people in a village and were usually held in high esteem.

there is also this article i found on the subject.

 

You know the further in I get, and I know being more comfortable with my body has a lot to do with it, but I don't really feel like dissecting myself so much to begin with. I always feel exhausted and like I am defending myself. I think that describes a lot of us, OP. We are just tired. Of course I can't speak for everyone, maybe most of the other folk here don't feel that way at all. But what I'm trying to say, I guess, is that I don't want you Hazel to ever be shy about bouncing ideas off other people if it helps you understand yourself and others better, even if you don't get the kind of replies you were hoping for. Some of us think you have a good grasp of something or ideas they can relate to. Some of us just don't at all. But either way take the responses you get with a grain of salt. Sometimes there is more going on on the other side of the monitor than is obvious. Some of us aren't responding to just you, we are responding to everyone who thinks they have us figured out because we are scared of being crammed into yet another box we don't fit in just as we are about to crawl out of this one.

 

That's actually a really interesting theory!! Maybe with every trans* individual is more on the axis of what you're saying? I don't know, but I really think your theory is cool.

 

Cis people care about their own gender identity, but since their bodies align with the gender they are they almost never experience dysphoria. Yes, I believe that some people care more about their gender than others, but I really doubt that a cisgender individual is unable to feel dysphoria if the person is put in a place where their gender is being denied/questioned. There are non-trans detransitioning people out there to prove that gender is a real thing because they experienced dysphoria after transitioning.