The challenge to transition can be brutal. , family, friends, job and the difficult and time consuming physical change. Do you think if the non trans were aware of our special challenge we would be more accepted. That it's not a sexual anomaly .l
Personally I don't think it would make a difference at all. :)
No matter how hard you try to explain it seems like that they all have that " deer in the headlights look". I have spoken to a lot of people and have come to the conclusion that we are the only ones who understand each other. They will nod with acknowledgement bob their head up and down yes but everything about them tells you they are clueless and only trying to placate you. Patty
Quote from: stephaniec on August 22, 2014, 06:24:45 PM
The challenge to transition can be brutal. , family, friends, job and the difficult and time consuming physical change. Do you think if the non trans were aware of our special challenge we would be more accepted. That it's not a sexual anomaly .l
When I explain it to cis people, the DO have an appreciation of what I've had to go through, so I agree that we might be more accepted. But they will still have their idea that it's some kind of deviance.
It would make a difference to some, for sure, but would it have a significant wide-spread effect? I sincerely doubt it. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that transphobia is always a symptom of ignorance, but that's simply not the case. As someone who grew up in a very bigoted environment (a place where racism, sexism, religious intolerance, homophobia, etc. are the norm), I can tell you that it's not usually the case that bigots simply "don't understand." They don't want to. They choose to ignore information that contradicts their pre-conceived opinions, even when it's staring them straight in the face and you've confronted them with it 'til you're blue in the face. There's a lot of willful ignorance in the world and people who simply don't care about groups they're not a part of. It's a sad fact of life.
I'm not saying we can never make a difference. Of course we can. But it's not a simple matter of educating every bigot we come across.
Not only is there ignorance, there is a lot of apathy out there. Most people don't bother to care about issues that don't affect them in any way.
Some people get an ego boost out of ruining it for others and being mean. This is why discrimination and prejudice has been around for so long. It feeds egos.
They can know about it, but will still never understand. They've never experienced it themselves. A lot of things in life are like that.
There's a difference between knowing that Mike Tyson punches really hard and actually understanding how just how hard he punches after you've been punched by him.
There is nothing we can say or do to them to have a personal feeling or reference.
That is why we go from a human one day to a it, or one of them just because we say we are trans*
Some get it most are worried what the jones will say.