I've thought about this a lot lately, posted in one or two other threads on the topic even. I hope what I am a bout to say isn't contentious, but regardless, if it is, I mean it as neutrally as humanly possible and in no way intend to judge others.
So, where I am at right now with this issue is that dysphoria is not a requirement to be transgender, but perhaps is a defacto requirement to be transsexual (with allowances mentioned below, and the defacto explained as well). This hinges on the use of the umbrella term incorporating non-conformation to gender norms in relatively minor ways, beyond the common associations to transsexuality or more evident non-conformation and presentations such as with crossdressing/drag. This also inherently means that potentially less symptomatic identities, such as non-binary and non-conforming gender expressions, are largely a matter of self-identification, and cannot be denied those who wish it.
Having said that, I do believe there are a large group of modern youth who have latched onto the transgender identity as a way to define themselves or rebel, similar to suburban white kids feigning hip hop personas. (I believe this may be the group that perhaps shaped the feelings behind the original post.) Essentially, there are people who self identify as transgender for potentially less than honest reasons, and to them it is more about progressive political cred, rebellion against tradition, or simply wanting to be something more than a random white kid without anything special about them in the eyes of society (because let's be honest, those types are overwhelmingly white middle and upper class kids). However, I do not believe that any of us the right to judge another individual, and that we must take everyone at face value as much as humanly possible. (Essentially, I draw a line between what I view as a probable social phenomena and how I would handle it on a person to person basis.) Is there harm? Probably not anything substantial, but at the same time it can feel a bit disrespectful. To return to the feigned hip hop personas of years past, kids would often adopt and lay claim to urban culture, yet at the end of day they would not share in the suffering that so many experienced within that culture. Likewise, someone may lay claim to being transgender, but do not share in potential dysphoria, depression, and so forth. In a few years, they may graduate college, forget about the whole thing, and go on to live a completely cis-hetero-normative life. And good for them, I wouldn't wish this on anyone. A lot of that can be more than excused in the name of personal exploration, though I do admit I would probably prefer a little less radical politics in the meanwhile. (Ie: Try not to speak for a group unless you are as sure as you can be you are actually part of that group is just a good standard for anything. If you joined any organization 2 weeks ago, probably not a good idea to start putting out your own press releases.
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Ultimately, though, the world is a matter of degrees. (Not to delve off topic, but this is true in everything. Matt Damon was, in my view, recently unfairly attacked for his comments expressing this in regards to sexual harassment vs rape and pedophilia, and I believe we have to recognize the fact that there is no one size fits all for life.) You can have different degrees of a condition, require different types of treatment, but still share the condition--and it still not be a competition. For instance, if two people have the flu, one very light and the other quite severe... It doesn't mean that both don't have the flu, or that the person with a more severe flu is "flu-ier". Likewise, while someone with dysphoria may have a more severe condition, it does not make them "more transgender" than someone with a smaller degree of or no dysphoria. (This was a very destructive hang up for myself, as I believe for a long time I didn't qualify or was pretending to something I didn't deserve, simply because I was never suicidal or driven to extreme hatred of my body. Was a large source of confusion for me that took a lot to get past in order to begin transitioning.)
Allowances To the seeming lack of presence of Dysphoria and Transexuality:
- Not all dysphoria manifests the same. I know mine didn't. Just because someone does not have evident dysphoria in the same way as any other person may, it does not mean that dysphoria does not exist. Dysphoria is also tricky to recognize, and so there may be large degrees of dysphoria that an individual simply does not know is dysphoria. (This was the case for me for many years, as I compare myself past and present.) Some/most of us were not fortunate enough to recognize things for what they were when we were 15, much to our current chagrin.
Use of the word defacto:
- Surgery and hormones aren't something to be taken lightly, and the overwhelming majority of people do not do so (hence the low detransition and regret rates). In order to desire surgery and hormones, there is some driving force, that something most likely being dysphoria. Therefore, it stands to reason that dysphoria is often a prerequisite to transsexual transitioning.
There are exceptions, and everyone is unique, this is simply what I believe is the case in the statistical majority.
