How would you feel if your brain came back 'normal' as that of your birth gender

[Sandy]

It'd be kinda late too late for me too.

The point is that it doesn't matter.  Your feelings are your feelings.  It doesn't matter how they arose.  They are what they are.

Now here is another hypothetical question.  What if there was a switch on that machine which would make your feelings of gender dysphoria disappear.  From that point on you would be totally cool with your birth gender.  Would you let them flip that switch?

Not for me thanks.  If I didn't feel like a woman, then I wouldn't be me, so I would tell them not to bother.  Especially now!

-Sandy

[Chaos_Dagger]

What if there was a switch on that machine which would make your feelings of gender dysphoria disappear.  From that point on you would be totally cool with your birth gender.  Would you let them flip that switch?

That's actually a tough question for me.  Were it right now, I'd probably say yes.  Not because I dislike who I am, or how I feel.  It's just it would make it so much easier for my SO, that and it's not even financially possible for me to even start fully transitioning at the moment... I guess if I was further along that would be a different story..

[Teknoir]

Mu. I would choose not undergo such a test in the first place.

I don't believe structure can define identity.

It's fun to read about differences in brain structure, pre-natal hormone washes and the like, but all too often we forget one important factor - inclination. These factors only raise the likelyhood of somebody being transgendered. They aren't a sure thing.

That being said, I know the point of the question is geared more in a social context - so I'll stop being difficult

First and foremost, I think I'd be shocked. It wouldn't change who I was, or my identity, but it might (subconsciously) make me more open to using and improving "female" skills (eg, language skills, communications skills, etc).

... or it could go the other way and I could start overcompensating 

But it wouldn't turn me into a female any more than having female bits did. It'd just be another physical bit that didn't match.

Would you let them flip that switch?

No. Gender is only part of my whole identity, but it is none the less a part.  I like who I am, "warts and all" as they say. That's not something I could say years ago, when I was living as female and thought I was cool with it.

Flipping that switch would cause more problems than it'd fix.

[Janet_Girl]

hey boys and girls,
I believe I asked someone this in another thread, but how would you feel if doctors ran your brain through some high tech machine that determined its gender, and yours came back as your birth sex? And say there was no margin for error. You're simply not your target sex.
Would it change anything?

Absolute nothing would change. Except for the machine, after I shortcircuited it with a bobby pin.

Janet

[paxcow]

Like some other people here, this is actually one of my biggest fears that in the future all trans people will have to go through that. I'm even more afraid that it would be the determining factor if people can transition or not.

If this machine said I was female, I would just continue living as much as possible as male.

Now here is another hypothetical question.  What if there was a switch on that machine which would make your feelings of gender dysphoria disappear.  From that point on you would be totally cool with your birth gender.  Would you let them flip that switch?

No, I wouldn't.

[jayjay]

The problem is there are so many different male/female differences in body systems that identifying a brain as Male or Female is an extreme oversimplification.   I suspect that my brain would come back something like 47% male and 48% female and 5% space alien.

There are literally dozens of different intersex conditions where people can get parts/attributes/conditions/preferences of both sexes. I think I have some kind of intersex condition, and am trying to find out where I can find specialists who know something about it.  I have a male reproductive system, but large breasts and short stature and a natural estrogen level that is at the very top of the "normal" male range. (My current hypothesis is excess aromatase syndrome).  My gender therapist said she thought I was FTM when she first met me, even though I consider myself M?TF.

[fae_reborn]

I would take a 5# sledgehammer to their machine and hammer away until there was nothing left.   

I am in control of my destiny, not some stupid machine.  If my brain gender corresponded with my birth gender, then why the hell would I have gone through all that I have in the first place?  Seriously?

[lisagurl]

My brain was never the problem. I am the same person regardless of my gender. It is society that thinks people should play roles. I avoid both those roles. I changed my body because I did not like the original equipment. No, I will never cow down to societies  normal.

[perfectisolation]

I wouldn't feel... at all.