Comparing GID to...

[Felix]

your friend probably made herself fat after being born as a normal weight baby

Jesus Christ, really? Even if you're fat yourself I'm not sure you should say something like this. That's just mean. A person's weight is the result of a lot of factors, many of which are difficult to understand or control. I'm thin, I've almost always been thin, and I've never in my life been on a diet, never had a gym membership, never had to put any work into not "making [myself] fat," as you put it.

My daughter is slightly overweight because of antipsychotic medications. The drugs drove away a lot of her fears and hallucinations, but she gained 20 pounds her first month on them (for a 6th grader, that's crazy). She struggles and feels bad about her weight. We exercise a lot, we have no TV, and I've never kept meat, eggs, milk, butter, margarine, or cheese in the house. She's not lazy or greedy or doing anything wrong.

Please please try to get past your reactive social instincts on this issue. None of us know exactly where other people are coming from.

[lilacwoman]

we never had fat people until all the processed food replaced natural stuff in our diets.

all those additives in it are intended to make us guzzle more of it than is good for us.

the people in all the old dustbowl photos were slim because they did not have access to rich foods.

obesity is soaking up far too much medical money that would be better spent on other things like SRS.

your daughter may be overweight because of lack of protein - some reasonable quality minced meat aka groundbeef might make a big difference. 

do I look fat?

[Felix]

we never had fat people until all the processed food replaced natural stuff in our diets.

all those additives in it are intended to make us guzzle more of it than is good for us.

the people in all the old dustbowl photos were slim because they did not have access to rich foods.

obesity is soaking up far too much medical money that would be better spent on other things like SRS.

your daughter may be overweight because of lack of protein - some reasonable quality minced meat aka groundbeef might make a big difference. 

do I look fat?

My daughter's an omnivore. She eats meat at least 5 days a week (at school, usually), I just don't allow animal bits in the house when I can avoid it. If you want to talk about old dustbowl photos, those people did not eat meat as often as my kid does. Meat is expensive.

Nobody is missing SRS because of money spent on obesity. Though some people are prevented from getting it for themselves because of their own obesity.

And I can't tell if you're fat or not, and I only mentioned it because people in a category get a little more freedom to speak about that category.

I know why I care about this topic, but why do you? You don't seem like a food crusader. Do fat people just gross you out, or is it modern life in general that you find offensive?

[lilacwoman]

modern fat people

[Felix]

modern fat people

Fair enough.

[Julian]

Um, no.

I describe it to my parents in comparison to depression or other mental illness, which they're familiar with. It hurts a lot, invisibly, for reasons no one really understands. There are medications (hormones) that can really help ease the pain for some people. Sometimes you need to be hospitalized for it (surgery), which jump-starts the feeling-better process and helps point you in the right direction.

I can't think of a way to describe how it feels though. I guess that's part of the analogy. It's hard to help someone who's never been depressed to understand what paralyzing depression feels like.

[Bird]

A friend once told me, when I came out: "It is not like you were born without an arm anyway". I replied it was worse than that, and if I could pick that one over GID, I would.

[Felix]

A friend once told me, when I came out: "It is not like you were born without an arm anyway". I replied it was worse than that, and if I could pick that one over GID, I would.

Ditto.

[Lyric]

Jen, what I like about your story is that at least he's trying to understand. That's a whole lot more than most TG people's fathers are willing to do, I think. Consider yourself lucky in that respect.

Lyric ~

[Keaira]

I always tell people it's like that nagging feeling that you left the oven on, and no way to be sure you didn't. Some days that feeling is just a quiet whisper Like someone telling you gently in your mind "something is wrong, something is wrong, can you feel it?, your not like the other girls." Other days and you're wondering if at this very moment your house is burning down and someone in your mind is screaming at you with "ARE YOU STUPID? LOOK IN THAT MIRROR! YOU'RE NOT A GUY. SO STOP TRYING TO BE ONE. BY THE WAY, I THINK YOU LEFT THE OVEN ON."

I know it's a bit over the top but to me, it's been that nagging feeling constantly for as long as I can remember.

[King Malachite]

Far from fair. That is like trying to compare Rosie O' Donnell and Stone Cold Steve Austin....