Difference between being trans and body integrity identity disorder?

[RachelsMantra]

I actually think it is a compelling analogy. Here's some points of comparison:

-Long-standing intense desire often stemming from childhood
-Mismatch between brain's representation of the body and the actual body
-Intense suffering that interferes with daily life
-Desires are precise. It's not just "i dont want my leg" but "I dont want my leg 2 centimeters below the knee)
-Amputation relieves the suffering (from what little evidence we have)

People have mentioned that it's not "normal" to want to be disabled. But how do we define what's normal? Who gets to define that? I think that there are no absolute objective one-size-fits-all normative definitions of what is normal and what is not normal or what is healthy and what is non healthy. Who are we to judge what is normal or healthy? For me the important part is about relieving suffering. Amputating BIID patients seems to make them happier. Also, amputating BIID patients is a way to respect their autonomy. It's not obvious that BIID patients are "irrational" or "incompetent" in any way - they seem capable of making autonomous choices and deciding for themselves how they want their bodies to look. I say we respect that no matter how difficult it seems from society.

If you think about all the things people are saying NOW about BIID - these things were once also said about transgender people. Think about that. Do you really want to contribute to the oppression of more people? Haven't we learned our lesson from the past about labeling people as "mentally ill" and "pathological"? They used to say that about us. They used to say that about gender confirming surgeries. I think we need perspective on this issue.

The only major disanalogy I can see from transgender and BIID is that BIID seems to be super duper rare (thousands of people) whereas being trans is more common (hundreds of thousands/millions of people).

[DarkWolf_7]

I can see the comparison, the mismatch of how the brain perceives the body and the actual physical body causing mental distress much like how the immune system reacts to a foreign body. Both sometimes result in physical harm to unwanted parts (BIID sometimes try to self-amputate, some with gender dysphoria try to cause genital harm).

I don't like using the word "normal" but neither one is a typical thing because obviously it would be much easier for the body and brain to match up but I guess the big difference between BIID and trans as people said it's much easier to live in a body that is corrected to match your gender than it is without a leg. But I'm sure those with BIID are much happier mentally once they loose that part of their body just like we are happier when we transition.

[Deborah]

Normal doesn't indicate a value judgement.  It's simply a statement of fact from nature that male bodies possess a specific configuration and female bodies a different configuration.  These configurations include matching minds.  If the minds don't match then it's not normal so transition occurs to bring things back into normalcy as much as is possible today.

Yes, many would disagree that transition moves one towards normalcy because they reject the fact that male and female minds exist independent of other body parts.  They simply think we are insane.

With BID it's different because we know what a normal/healthy body consists of.  Removing body parts moves away from the normal ideal unlike transition which is moving towards a normal ideal.  Again, it's not a value judgement but simply a statement of what is physically happening.


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[Tristyn]

I can answer the specific example you mentioned about 'healthy breasts' Captain because I was also asked this question many times from family members when I was suffering having to carry those burdens. My situation was beyond 'gender dysphoria' because when they started forming, I didn't even think of gender, I was consumed by the utmost disgust because it wasn't right.  It was metamorphosis for me and I was literally punching them (like I would a punching bag)  almost every single day although I would feel the pain badly afterwards but I knew they shouldn't belong to me.  I hated them so much that I even wrathfully wished for the surgeon to save them so we could see "eye to eye" and spit on the damn things after being post op.

Not to mention, those healthy functioning extra bits were USELESS for me, more like EXTRA WEIGHTS I didn't want to carry, to look at and ultimately messed up my back from binding so extremely.  I took my showers without light  because of those things.

I feel just like this! Like the way you describe this breast dysphoria so perfectly matches exactly how I felt during puberty and how I feel every single day afterwards.

I once told a "pen pal" from Sweden how I see my breasts as being tumors and he just called me a weirdo. And well, they still feel that way. ...

~Nixy~