Both: Do you think increasing time on the internet has contributed to more people identifying themselves as trans/nb etc.?

submitted by DistantGlimmer from (self.GCdebatesQT)

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[–]transwomanHesitantly QT? 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I think whether a person is trans (or not trans) is an innate trait; however, it's evident that environmental factors can lead someone to believe they are trans even if they are actually not, such as with those who detransition after some time. That being said, I would argue that, technically speaking, the internet has evident impacts on whether someone identifies as trans, but not on whether someone actually is trans.

[–]DistantGlimmer[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

So you think someone with dysphoria who doesn't transition is actually trans innately? I disagree but that is an interesting point of view compared to the more common one that it is the act of identifying as trans that "makes you trans".

I mean, I may qualify as trans according to your definition as I have had some dysphoria symptoms but I definitely don't feel like I should be a woman (even before discovering GC ideology I never thought that).

[–]transwomanHesitantly QT? 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I suppose I was a little too vague in my last comment. Allow me to clarify on that point.

I usually make a distinction between gender dysphoria, and "sex dysphoria". Gender dysphoria is a description of distress someone experiences due to a conflict of their gender identity and their sex, while "sex dysphoria" is the distress someone experiences due to a conflict with their "internal" (for lack of better word) sex and their birth sex.

Gender dysphoria is a product of living in a gendered society (socialized behavior), and we would no longer have individuals with gender dysphoria in a genderless society. I do believe that sex dysphoric individuals would still exist in a genderless society, since it is strictly a sex-based distress being experienced.

In essence, sex dysphoric symptoms are innate, while gender dysphoric symptoms are a product of being socialized in a gendered society.

The act of having a gender identity that is not typically associated with your sex (i.e. a male identifying as a woman), makes you are transgender (alleviating gender dysphoric symptoms). So if you believe yourself to be a woman, and your birth sex is female, you would not qualify as transgender.

Meanwhile, if you pursue some form of medicalized treatment (i.e. a male pursuing female hormone replacement therapy), then you are transsexual (alleviating sex dysphoric symptoms). Generally, transsexual individuals also tend to be transgender, such as a male identifying as a woman, but also pursuing hormone therapy or surgery.