This is a question I've had for a while but I've never asked it because of how sensitive of a topic it is.
I have seen several trans people talk about this on Reddit though (including on this sub). And there's also been a couple of articles written about this. One was an article about a liberal and pro-LGBT mother who questioned if her suddenly trans child (AMAB) was bending to peer pressure and calling themself trans to fit in with their friends. And especially with their new girlfriend who said she "doesn't date cis men".
Another article on Quillette touched on this a bit:
Many of the young men in question have, in moments of candour, hinted that their motivations for transition are unrelated to actual gender dysphoria. They’re lonely; they want affection; they don’t see another way to relate to girls; they don’t want to become the infamous “straight white man.” It’s interesting to me how many of these boys wax and wane: one moment, they are reportedly adamant that they will have surgery as soon as they hit 18; the next moment, they seem to be wavering, only to return to intransigence a few days later, leaving their parents’ heads spinning.
https://quillette.com/2021/04/02/when-sons-become-daughters-parents-of-transitioning-boys-speak-out-on-their-own-suffering/
Now I'm not writing this to say that gender dysphoria isn't real or that these teens are "going through a phase".
But I do wonder if the demonization of men in society either contributes to gender dysphoria, or helps push people who have gender dysphoria into actually transitioning.
It could also be that if you're trans, you identify with these experiences more, so it's less of a motivation, and more of a part of being trans.
For example, men are often derided as being dirty and gross and mean. Which can obviously be taken too far and be hateful. But a trans man might identify with that experience a little more. Even when it comes to blatant hatred. There are trans men here who have talked about how much they dislike it when some feminists (including mainstream non-TERF feminists) give trans men a little bit of a break from their usual misandry. "All men are evil rapists, unless you're trans, then I can respect you". Because they identify as men, they want the full experience of being hated because of their gender, because that is a part of the male experience.
Meanwhile women seem to receive more sympathy and compassion and are treated kinder in a lot of contexts (not in every context obviously, but this is especially true if you're "neurodivergent", which is why mental health is such a big problem for men). And while that treatment and compassion ought to be universal for all people, and extended to men, if you identify as a woman, you might identify with that a little more. In part because you notice that's how women get treated. So maybe you talk about it and desire to have that experience, more than a cis man anyway, because you're a (trans) woman. Thus explaining why those teens in that article talk the way they do.
Anyway I'm curious how other trans people feel about this. I might crosspost this later to a trans sub. So no brigading, etc, if you see that. But if anyone wants to come here to LWMA and comment I'm sure that would be ok too.
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