Russia - Transsexualism is largely caused by certain factors of one's Upbringing

[Buffy]

Russian Study

Transsexualism is the disruption of a person's sexual self- identification whereby a person views himself as a member of the  
gender opposite to the one assigned to him at birth. Transsexualism  often manifests itself as a dysphoria or anxiety and discomfort  
toward one's biological birth sex, and a feeling of being completely out of place in terms of sexual role. The condition occurs despite  
the proper development of a person's sexual glands and secondary  sexual characteristics.

Buffy

[Jess]

*waves to buffy*
I hope nobody takes that seriously, its ridiculous.

[Suzy]

"About 18% of male transsexual teenagers opt on the practice of self-castration i.e. amputation of both the penis and testes."  

Youch!  Pretty radical thing for a teenager to do!

Kristi

[Buffy]

Thats why I posted the link....

Vodka is the only good thing to come out of Russia....

Buffy

[Kate]

The factors include the opposite gender behavioral stereotypes that are either encouraged or enforced by parents on their offspring (situation occurs frequently if parents had dreamed of a girl but a boy was born instead).

My parents did badly want a girl. And I mean BADLY. I've often wondered about that.

And I did get away with being feminine as a very young child. I remember them thinking it was "cute" and "adorable." That didn't last of course, and it wasn't long before it became embarassing for them and I started trying to hide it... for the next four decades.

I'm not saying this study is valid, but... I have wondered about these things for myself.

[cindianna_jones]

Hmmm....

My very first thoughts were of wanting to be a girl at three years old.  I remember them keenly.  I was never favored and never dressed as a girl.  I grew up in a farming community and much was expected from the boys to help with the chores.  I can be absolutely sure that I received no girly girly treatment.

I was never attracted to men.  Yeah... tell me, I'm married to a wonderful guy.  Go figure.  Since the sexual aspects of my life are quite unimportant it isn't an issue.  But I think that I'd rather kiss a beautiful woman than a handsome man.

Chin up!

Cindi

[ChildOfTheLight]

Did they just translate decades-old psychology into Russian for that, then translate it back to English for the English version of their site?

[LostInTime]

When dealing with someone who has had very little to no exposure to transsexuals I usually start with:

I was not abused as a child.
My parents wanted a boy.
I was treated as a boy through my entire childhood.
I was part of a stable household.
My parents loved one another deeply.
My father was very much a part of my life (scouting, soccer, fishing, hunting, etc).
I have a younger sister, my parents always had time for both of us and never favoured one or the other.  (Although I was the good one.   LOL)

That actually surprises some people because they were somehow exposed to the notion that all gender variant individuals were abused as a child and grew up with "weak fathers".  

LIT, doing her best to confuse the masses since (insert birth year here)

[Kate]

LOL, we couldn't be more dissimilar:

I was not abused as a child.
I wasn't physically abused, but my mother would literally scream at me without provocation, calling me an SOB (an endless source of amusement for me), generally ending with "you should be ashamed of yourself."

My parents wanted a boy.
Mine desperately wanted a girl... which I think is the only reason they tried to have another child (me) since they'd had one son already.

I was treated as a boy through my entire childhood.
My "softeness" was encouraged as being adorable when really young. I was constantly told I was cute, gentle, etc. And although I barely remember it, my parents tell me I was CONSTANTLY "mistaken" for - and treated as - a girl when very young.

I was part of a stable household.
My parents were constantly on the verge of divorce. It was a day-by-day thing. Amazingly, they're still together, doing the same routines.

My parents loved one another deeply.
My father would get drunk every night after work, call my mother nasty names, and go through the list of reasons of how she "ruinf'd hiz leff" and muse about getting his gun and killing us all. Fall into druknen stupor of sleep. Wake up. Work. Repeat.

My father was very much a part of my life (scouting, soccer, fishing, hunting, etc).
Mine was always working, and drove a truck for much of my childhood, coming home late at night. He did occasionally take me hunting and fishing, but it was obvious I had no interest in killing things for amusement (the tears were a clue) - something I swear he still hates me for it, him being the Great Hunter and all. He pretty much took me since HE was going anyway. Otherwise... little interest in my life. Not entirely his fault - I wasn't interested in his stuff either.

I have a younger sister, my parents always had time for both of us and never favoured one or the other.  (Although I was the good one.   LOL)
I have an older brother (eight years ahead of me) who beat me up every day after school for entertainment.

And people wonder why we hide and repress these feelings while growing up.

STILL though, even with all that, I don't believe it had a THING to do with my GID. The GID was already there, probably even before thought, which is why people instinctively saw me as a girl during my youngest years.

[LostInTime]

We do have something in common.  Before I started lifting weights (about the seventh grade) people would think I was a girl too.  Puberty hit later than usual (but it did hit, darn it).  Of course back then I was horrified (Oh Noes!  They can see through the disguise!).  Except when I was a baby, did not really have a reaction then that I am aware of.  LOL.  I was told that it was my pretty hair (which still get compliments even after being abused for so many decades) and my beautiful eyes that threw everyone off.  

[beth]

LOL, we couldn't be more dissimilar:

I was not abused as a child.
I wasn't physically abused, but my mother would literally scream at me without provocation, calling me an SOB (an endless source of amusement for me), generally ending with "you should be ashamed of yourself."

My parents wanted a boy.
Mine desperately wanted a girl... which I think is the only reason they tried to have another child (me) since they'd had one son already.

I was treated as a boy through my entire childhood.
My "softeness" was encouraged as being adorable when really young. I was constantly told I was cute, gentle, etc. And although I barely remember it, my parents tell me I was CONSTANTLY "mistaken" for - and treated as - a girl when very young.

I was part of a stable household.
My parents were constantly on the verge of divorce. It was a day-by-day thing. Amazingly, they're still together, doing the same routines.

My parents loved one another deeply.
My father would get drunk every night after work, call my mother nasty names, and go through the list of reasons of how she "ruinf'd hiz leff" and muse about getting his gun and killing us all. Fall into druknen stupor of sleep. Wake up. Work. Repeat.

My father was very much a part of my life (scouting, soccer, fishing, hunting, etc).
Mine was always working, and drove a truck for much of my childhood, coming home late at night. He did occasionally take me hunting and fishing, but it was obvious I had no interest in killing things for amusement (the tears were a clue) - something I swear he still hates me for it, him being the Great Hunter and all. He pretty much took me since HE was going anyway. Otherwise... little interest in my life. Not entirely his fault - I wasn't interested in his stuff either.

I have a younger sister, my parents always had time for both of us and never favoured one or the other.  (Although I was the good one.   LOL)
I have an older brother (eight years ahead of me) who beat me up every day after school for entertainment.

And people wonder why we hide and repress these feelings while growing up.

STILL though, even with all that, I don't believe it had a THING to do with my GID. The GID was already there, probably even before thought, which is why people instinctively saw me as a girl during my youngest years.

Excellent post Kate,




                            Your answers could have just as well been mine.   When my 5 year older brother beat me he said it was "To make a man out of me" so I know how you felt.




beth

[Suzy]

It's interesting that the only things we all seem to share is being aware of it at a very early age.

Kristi

[Kate]

It's interesting that the only things we all seem to share is being aware of it at a very early age.

Many don't realize that they're TS until very late in life, though most will say they always knew *something* was wrong, but couldn't quite put their finger on it.

[Nero]

The fact that the text is accompanied by a photo of 4 drag queens speaks volumes as to the validity of this article.

[Hazumu]

The factors include the opposite gender behavioral stereotypes that are either encouraged or enforced by parents on their offspring (situation occurs frequently if parents had dreamed of a girl but a boy was born instead).

I remember the girlfriend of a bass player friend of mine.  Her parents wanted a boy, had the baby room done up in blue, and stocked it with sports tools.  She turned out an all-girl tomboy (rather than a trans-man-in-waiting   ), she was totally comfortable with being female, just unwilling to put up with society's limitations on the feminie role.

Did they just translate decades-old psychology into Russian for that, then translate it back to English for the English version of their site?

When they were trying to develop the first software language translators, they fed the prototype English->Russian / Russian->English translator the phrase, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak".  They took the Russian output and fed it back throgh to English.

What came out: "The wine is strong, but the meat is rotten"

P'raps that prototype is still around?   >

Karen

[Melissa]

I was not abused as a child.
My parents wanted a boy.
I was treated as a boy through my entire childhood.
I was part of a stable household.
My parents loved one another deeply.
My father was very much a part of my life (scouting, soccer, fishing, hunting, etc).
I have a younger sister, my parents always had time for both of us and never favoured one or the other.  (Although I was the good one.   LOL)

Very, very close to me too.  The only difference was I had a twin sister and she was favored a bit more.  Oh well, c'est la vie.

The fact that the text is accompanied by a photo of 4 drag queens speaks volumes as to the validity of this article.

So True.

P'raps that prototype is still around?   >

Now that's funny.

Melissa

[Julie Marie]

In a conversation with my mother the other day she was trying to blame my dad for me being transsexual.  She reminded me of the countless times he said, even demanded, "Be a man!"  I probably heard that first when I was very young, maybe 6 or 7 years old and it continued until the day I moved out.  

I had never thought of this before but maybe he saw something female in me and tried to drill it out of me.  I never remember him saying that to my brother.  

My mother told me she never saw anything feminine about me.  She cited examples that, at that time, were seen as male only activities, such as building things, which I probably enjoyed more than anything else.  She was just in total disbelief that I could have ever felt this way all my life.

So as far as my parents were concerned, my dad wanted a boy more than anything when I was born.  I already had an older sister so my mom didn't care which I was.  Both parents either encouraged masculine activities and actions or insisted on it, as in the case of my dad.  There was never any person in my life who encouraged me to be feminine in any way.  But I often wished there was.

Julie

[Melissa]

My mother told me she never saw anything feminine about me.  She cited examples that, at that time, were seen as male only activities, such as building things, which I probably enjoyed more than anything else.  She was just in total disbelief that I could have ever felt this way all my life.

That describes my Mom's reaction down to a T.

Melissa

[SomeMTF]

Afterwards my mother have confessed that I acted more like a girl. I am those cases that makes negative  theoreotypics about transwomen more true.

[tekla]

Russia is almost a third world country as I write this.  They can't even make pencils or toilet paper correctly.  Who cares what they think?