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[–]MarkTwainiac 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

of course transgender people are aware of the biological sex they are, after all, the physical sexed features are the source of their gender dysphoria. If you don't feel distress about your physical sexed features (simplifying here, for more in depth criteria see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_dysphoria#Diagnosis ) you are the gender identity of your physical sex.

Professionals rely on the clinical criteria in the DSM and the ICD, not Wikipedia. The clinical criteria for childhood-onset and adolescent/adult-onset "gender dysphoria" in the DSM and ICD as well as the vast professional literature on the topic DO NOT support the claim that transgender people's "physical sexed features are the source of their gender dysphoria." At all.

On the contrary, it is very possible to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of "gender dysphoria" at any age whilst having no negative feelings about one's genitals and other physical sex characteristics.

All that is required for a clinical DX of GD is a belief/claim that one should be the opposite sex (or no sex in the newer formulation), plus a desire/preference for the sex-stereotyped clothing, toys, interests and roles associated with the opposite sex, and perhaps a desire for (some or all of) the physical sex traits of the opposite sex. (Or in some newer variations of the criteria, a desire for the sex characteristics of neither sex.)

But desiring the sex characteristics of the opposite sex does not necessarily mean disliking one's own sex characteristics. Many males who are trans nowadays want to have a mix of female and male sex characteristics (feminized face, no beard, little or no body hair, female hairline and hair growth pattern, the appearance of female breasts, female body shape, penis and testicles). And some males who are trans today say their ideal genital configuration would be a penis and testicles along with a surgically-created pocket in the pelvis they could consider a vagina and could use for the purpose of being penetrated "like a woman."

The DSM-5 defines gender dysphoria in children as "a marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender" and one's sex lasting at least 6 months, as manifested by at least 6 of the following 8 criteria (one of which must be the first criterion):

  • A strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence that one is the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)
  • In boys (assigned gender), a strong preference for cross-dressing or simulating female attire; or in girls (assigned gender), a strong preference for wearing only typical masculine clothing and a strong resistance to the wearing of typical feminine clothing
  • A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play
  • A strong preference for the toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender
  • A strong preference for playmates of the other gender
  • In boys (assigned gender), a strong rejection of typically masculine toys, games, and activities and a strong avoidance of rough-and-tumble play; or in girls (assigned gender), a strong rejection of typically feminine toys, games, and activities
  • A strong dislike of one’s sexual anatomy
  • A strong desire for the physical sex characteristics that match one’s experienced gender

Only 1 of these 8 criteria involves disliking one's own sex anatomy and physical characteristics. As only 6 of the 8 criteria are required for a DX, having that one trait is not essential.

Same goes for adult/adolescent GD. To be DX'd with this, a person has to have "a marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender, of at least six months’ duration, as manifested by at least 2 or more of the following":

  • A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics (or in young adolescents, the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)
  • A strong desire to be rid of one’s primary and/or secondary sex characteristics because of a marked incongruence with one’s experienced/expressed gender (or in young adolescents, a desire to prevent the development of the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)
  • A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other gender
  • A strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)
  • A strong desire to be treated as the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)
  • A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)

Remember, only two of the above are required to get a clinical diagnosis of adult/adolescent GD. And what "the other gender" means is never explained. But when pressed about what "the other gender" means, people with "gender dysphoria" typically come up with a list of sex stereotypes - or vague mumbo jumbo that relies on circular reasoning and constant repetition of the word gender: people with gender dysphoria feel distress over their gender; people with gender dysphoria desire to be seen and treated as the other gender; gender dysphoria involves distress over their gender..."

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria

Gender identity is not stereotypes or gender roles. A person could love to perform activities stereotypical for and love to wear the clothing stereotypically asociated with their birth sex, and still have a different gender identity, if the person in question experiences gender dysphoria in regards to the sexed anatomy of their birth sex.

This makes no sense. Coz the concept and diagnosis of "gender dysphoria" are entirely reliant on embrace of, indeed preoccupation with, sex stereotypes. To get a DX of "gender dysphoria," you simply have to meet some of the criteria in the above checklists. In children, nearly all the criteria are about sex stereotypes - and since kids have to meet 6 of 8 criteria, embrace of sex stereotypes and preference for the sex stereotypes associated with the opposite sex are essential.

In adults, the clinical criteria for GD are mostly about desiring to be the other "gender," believing one is the other gender, thinking one has the feelings of the other gender, wanting to be treated as the other gender. When you drill down to find out what all this vague gobbledygook actually means, the responses make it clear that gender for people with "gender dysphoria" boils down to a bunch of regressive sex stereotypes. Take away sex stereotypes, and the whole edifice collapses like a house of cards.